Western policies toward growers of illicit drugs have traditionally been dominated by the "carrot" of crop substitution and the "stick" of suppression. But both appear to have been jettisoned under a new European Union (EU) program in Morocco, the world's largest supplier of the narcotic drug hashish. The EU is spending hundreds of millions of development dollars in Morocco's northern provinces. If the EU can boost rural development in Moroccp and thus discourage farmers from taking part in the hashtrade, fine. More importantly, development will encourage stability in a country that is both Europe's closest ally in North Africa and one of its largest sources of illegal immigrants.
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