This integrated program, which will target 98 rural municipalities in the provinces affected by the cultivation of cannabis and whose population reaches one million inhabitants, is based on social, economic and environmental pillars, said El Bouyoussfi in an interview with MAP.

Regarding the social aspect, the official said that the APDN is working to develop a set of projects to support the inhabitants of the areas concerned, including youth, to create activities and social services for the benefit of the population, while in economic terms, support programs for income-generating projects will be developed, in addition to the development of some areas of economic activity in the municipalities.

At the environmental level, ecological projects for the preservation of the environment will be implemented to improve the territorial space, he added.

The ambitious project of legalizing the cultivation of cannabis and its licit uses, as well as the development program that the government will implement in the region is aimed primarily at reducing social disparities and improving economic and social indicators of the municipalities in order to create a territorial balance, said El Bouyoussfi, explaining that the development program is aimed at the transformation of emerging centers into small towns and municipalities, to enable residents to benefit from public and private services available in cities.

The bill, which comes in the context of international changes in this area, including the UN decision to remove cannabis from the category of most dangerous substances, aims initially to help growers of cannabis to practice this cultivation legally and publicly, he said, noting that the regulation of this cultivation will also allow farmers to engage in other income-generating activities, such as tourism, local products and handicrafts.

It should be noted that the bill on the legal uses of cannabis, developed in harmony with international commitments of the Kingdom of Morocco, intends to regulate the legal use of this plant for medical, cosmetic and industrial purposes, the official added.

He also stressed that the economic objective of the bill is to improve the income of farmers and the standard of living of the population.

"If the bill stipulates that each farmer can only cultivate one third of his land for legal purposes, the expected income, according to the studies we have, will be doubled compared to illegal crops. In addition, farmers will be able to exploit the remaining two-thirds of their land for other production activities," he explained.