Is CBD / cannabis legal in Morocco?

I have to be completely unambiguous here, because the contradiction confuses travellers and the consequences are serious. Cannabis — kif, hashish — is illegal to consume and possess in Morocco for recreational purposes, full stop. Yes, the Rif Mountains around Chefchaouen and Ketama are one of the most famous hashish-producing regions on earth, and yes, you will get offered it openly by touts in Chefchaouen, Marrakech and elsewhere. None of that changes the law: buying, carrying or smoking it puts you at genuine legal risk.

The 2021 development that people half-remember does not help a tourist. Morocco did legalise cannabis in 2021, but strictly for medical, cosmetic and industrial use under a tightly controlled licensing regime aimed at regulated farming and export — not for recreational consumption, and not in any way that lets a visitor legally light up. So CBD and cannabis products are not freely and legally available to buy and use as a tourist the way they might be in parts of Europe or North America; assume they are off-limits.

On the ground, the real danger is the touts. The classic scam in Chefchaouen and the Rif is to sell a tourist hashish and then either an accomplice "police officer" appears demanding a huge bribe, or you are genuinely reported — either way you are extorted or in trouble, and you have broken the law so you have no good options. Buying from a stranger who approached you is how foreigners get into serious bother here. A firm, polite "la, shukran" (no, thank you) and walking on is the only sensible response to every offer.

My honest advice could not be simpler: do not buy it, do not carry it, do not use it, and never attempt to take any across a border — drug smuggling penalties are severe. Enjoy Chefchaouen for its extraordinary blue streets and mountain setting, which is the real reason to go, and treat every weed offer as a hassle to decline rather than a temptation. The legal and scam risks vastly outweigh any curiosity, and it is genuinely not worth jeopardising your trip or worse.