This archive report was first published on 6 October 2019.
Heroin use has become a growing concern in northern Morocco, where cannabis and contraband have long been a part of the region's culture.
According to Dr. Mohamed El Khammas, who runs a harm reduction programme launched by the Association for the Fight Against AIDS (ALCS) in 2009, heroin use is a 'public health priority' in the region.
"The heroin being sold is very bad quality: it is mixed with talcum powder, paracetamol and glue," Dr. Khammas said.
ALCS staff have reported that the typical heroin user in the region is a single man, aged 30-35 with little or no education who has never worked or works on an occasional basis.
The northern urban centres of Tetouan, Tangier and Nador are Morocco's worst affected areas, with the spread of heroin facilitated by the 'great population mobility' between southern Europe and northern Morocco.
According to a 2014 report from the National Observatory on Drugs and Addiction (ONDA), the heroin trade is also linked to the cannabis trade in the Rif mountains, with drug barons bartering heroin for cannabis.
While the exact number of heroin users in Morocco is unknown, ALCS estimates that there are likely several thousand heroin users in Tetouan alone, a city of 380,000 people.
Users in the region often inject or smoke heroin in public places, with a dose of the powerful opiate selling for between 2.8 and 6.5 euros (USD3-7) for a tenth of a gram.
ALCS staff have been working to distribute clean drug paraphernalia and provide health services to users, but the organisation says that the demand for methadone, an opioid substitute, is 'insufficient'.
"Withdrawal is terrible, you have cramps, anxiety," said one user, who wished to remain anonymous.
