Paraguay has become the main cannabis producer in South America and one of the largest exporters in the world. Some investigations about the cultivation of marijuana in the country portray a cruel environment in which peasants are exploited in “almost feudal” conditions by intermediaries who buy their crops at unreasonably low prices. However, a group of peasants who use the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve as their labour area have created a safe and profitable ecosystem for developing their business. Based on interviews with key informants and visits to the area, the article describes the constraints and incentives that lead those peasants to engage in criminal activities, the strategies they have used to establish protective barriers, and the moral justifications that emerge as a result of their success in doing business. Although there are violent practices and extortion, we claim that the decision-making process to get involved in illegal markets is a free action influenced by alternative moral understandings that provide reasons and justifications for breaking the law. The moral map of these cannabis growers goes far beyond the mere economic justification of generating material resources and is related to economic, institutional, and social premises linked to a generalized aspiration of dignity and a life worth living. The functioning of informal institutions learned through previous interactions with state and non-state actors who regulate and protect the market, the perceived social approval/legitimation of the activity by referent groups, and the awareness of the capacity and skills necessary to successfully conduct the business have a crucial importance in the moral reformulation.

巴拉圭已成为南美洲主要的大麻生产国和世界上最大的大麻出口国之一。一些关于该国大麻种植的调查描绘了一个残酷的环境，农民在“几乎是封建”的条件下被以不合理的低价购买农作物的中介剥削。然而，一群将 Mbaracayú 森林自然保护区作为劳动区域的农民为发展他们的业务创造了一个安全且有利可图的生态系统。通过对关键线人的采访和对该地区的访问，文章描述了导致这些农民从事犯罪活动的制约因素和诱因，他们用来建立保护屏障的策略，以及由于他们的行为而出现的道德理由。做生意的成功。尽管存在暴力行为和敲诈勒索，但我们声称参与非法市场的决策过程是一种自由行为，受替代道德理解的影响，这些道德理解为违法提供了理由和正当理由。这些大麻种植者的道德图谱远远超出了产生物质资源的单纯经济理由，并且与与尊严和有价值生活的普遍愿望相关的经济、制度和社会前提有关。非正式机构的运作是通过先前与规范和保护市场的国家和非国家行为者的互动、参照群体对活动的社会认可/合法化所了解的，