The Moroccan Parliament passes a law legalizing Medical Use of Cannabis

Moroccan lawmakers on Wednesday approved a law legalizing the therapeutic use of cannabis.

The parliament’s lower house adopted the text on the lawful use of cannabis within the medical, cosmetic and industrial sectors with 119 votes to 48. The upper house now must vote on the bill before it’s ratified.

MPs from the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD), who opposed the law, sparked political controversy.

PJD lawmaker Mostafa Brahimi said his party has rejected the law “with full transparency and independence.”

He acknowledged that the therapeutic use of the cannabis is “unconfirmed” yet, adding that the studies administered during this regard were “few and their results aren’t final.”

He criticized the urgency in approving the law, but the opposition slammed PJD’s vote.

MP Abdullatif Wehbi of the opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) deemed the PJD team’s voting absurd, especially that its secretary-general is that the one who approved the law within the first place.

MP Nour Eddine Madian of the opposition Independence Party (Istiqlal party) described voting on the bill as a historic moment and a milestone for a serious transformation within the economic, social and psychological lifetime of residents in areas that cultivate this plant.

Secretary-General of the opposition Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) Nabil Benabdallah also slammed the PJD’s voting against the law.

What happened is “unacceptable constitutionally, politically and democratically,” he stressed on Facebook.