Though the specific period of cannabis's introduction to Morocco is unclear, it appears to have arrived in the region during the Arab Conquests of the Maghreb, from the seventh to fifteenth centuries. From the sixteenth century it was grown nationwide on a small scale for local use, in gardens and orchards, but it was only in the 18th century that the Rif region in the far north became a noted center of production, as it is in modern times.[2] In 1890, Sultan Hassan I instituted strict regulations on cultivation and trade, but also conferred clear cannabis production privileges on several Rif tribes.[3][2] In the 1950s, the rights of the Rif tribes to cultivate cannabis was reconfirmed, in response to tensions in the restive region.[3] In 1956, with the new independence of Morocco, King Mohammed V prohibited cannabis nationwide.[4]