Last August 2014, Barcelona city council, decided to act against dozens of cannabis associations in the city, acting quickly, specially against 50 different clubs, sealing some of them, and forcing them to stop their activities.
From Sant Yerbasi Grow Shop we made echo of this situation, unfavorable for marijuana tokers, and we thought about pros and against of this acting by Barcelona's city police. According to informations appeared in different media, Barcelona's council is preparing a strict regulation (that is being studied) in wich many aspects, like number of members, age and foreign people entrance, and growing gardens could be limited.
Actual laws for associations and cannabis clubs
In Spain's territory, actually, hundreds of Non-profit cannabis associations exist. These associations are based on a legal effectively that allow a group to grow as a collective to supply their members. This legal hole in wich clubs are hold could suffer an important reverse in the next months due to a regularization of these associations.
These clubs with assidious members, should guarantee some requirements imposed by each one of the different state's councils. These guarantees may vary much depending on the certain city, where enumerated as a must requeirements to open the place to its members, as well as technical specs for the local and members.
One of the requirements, wich has presented much notoriousness during last days due to police acts, is the smoke extraction. Seems the norm forces to extract the air by building's roof to avoid smelly problems with neighbours and street walkers arround the place. This point has been used in major of the 50 different cases forces to stop activities, because they were extracting the air directly by the building's facade.
Another hot spot, always taking as a refference council's informers, are the quantity of members of some of these cannabis clubs. Seems that there are sustantial differences in member's increasing numbers between some clubs and others (to become a member you must come with an already member that guarantees you). Police is relationing those increments with another bad habbit of some association that distribute flyers (also prohibited) to foreign city visitors, and also used different internet platforms to spread their activities (both acts were specifically prohibited).
In front of these situations, Barcelona city council, has decided to front these issues and try to plannify a normalization (longly waited) that some say arrives late.
Non-profit Cannabis Associations
Acording to FAC (Federación de Asociaciones Cannábicas), Social Cannabis CLubs are associations that grow and distribute cannabis for its members, all of them over 18, in a private place, without third persons, reducing warnings associated with black market and cannabis use, so they are participating in a better society.
As they are a non-profit associations, it is not possible to earn money doing this activity. Benefits that, in case of existing, should be transformed into benefits for their members.
Also during this 2014 summer many cases have appeared in the media, suspicious of practicing money laundering, using satellite companies that take direct benefit of their activity. At this point is where appears another police focus, that has forced to close some clubs, directives where taken under arrest and open diligencies against suposed money launders.
The low legal protection and police intentions
With these circunstances over the table, Cannabis Social Clubs (CSC) are put under a constant, adn difficult, pressure of police to demonstrate that some acts could presumably occuring in these locals.
Police authorities, by one side, sustain that these club's activities supposes an ilegal substances traffic inbetween members, derived from an ilegal activity. Mossos d'esquadra (catalonian state police) says there is not enough control over CSC activities, allowing then a presumably irregularities some clubs are doing.
Refferencing the low legal protection, curiously, are the associations who have been protesting a way that allows them to give a service to their members in a clear way, without law problems with the law. We have to mention that in a totally discriminatory way, association recive random visits from officers that have been practicing interventions af all types.
A specially difficult point is the legal situation of marijuana gardens. At this moment, commontly called smoker clubs, have not communicated where the gardens where at (the ones that communicate where the garden is have been busted by police, cutting all plants and put under arrest). This semi-hermetism becomes in restlessness in both sides: In one side clubs asume the risk of being busted by police, and on the other side police trend that production is derived to third persons foreign to association. In front of this situation doubly insatisfactioning, both claim to judges to clarify what are steps to follow to don't continuously fall in a public spending (and a saturation of courts with cases relationed with Cannabis Clubs).
Looking to other countries and solutions adopted
Spain has never been a country characterized by being quick in decisions but, situation claims to a fast acting. If we look metodology adopted by other countries like United States or Uruguay, we notice two types of examples with such big differences between them:
- American situation: One of the most worried countries by the increase of marijuana consumption of their population, has been adapting to what's called green wave on its different states, in wich many laws have been introduced to regulate use of cannabis. In some States they chosen to approve medical use, while in others they chosen to aprove what is called recreational use. This recreational use has derived in the creation of marijuana dispensaries (places where everyone could enter and acquire dried floers). According to states where marijuana has been decriminalized for recreational use, the increase of reuptake of taxes has become a huge incomming money for State's coffer.
- Uruguay, on its own battle against narco-traffic, has proposed another formula to legalize growth and consumption of cannabis. The State (presided by José Mújica) after spending thousands of millions on their war on drugs, has fixed a sale maximum price for this substance in market (close to 1€). This way, State will adjudge licences to growers who, under state supervision, will produce marijuana. The reason why Uruguay has fixed a maximum price is to reduce narco's interest on this substance (and also their benefits due to a less lucrative market).
Legal logic and State's benefits
Once said the different ways to proceed, elementary logical goes further than public opinion about a substance, what is really important for the State (in Spanish case it's not on its best economic moment) is the capacity of harvest takes. The actual situation of non-profit Social Cannabis Clubs contributes a little to State's taxes (basically direct taxes derived from what they buy, and also indirect taxes from people whoe rents them the places for the association).
A different reality may be marijuana dispensaries, where it has been demonstrated that, even being charged with taxes, increasing marijuana price) consumers keep buying frequently. Also we whould be talking about getting taxes over a capital non uptaken before (for being directly relationed with black market).
In a guessed decriminalization, by authorities, we should wait authorities to offer a covering to two different figures:
- Groups of marijuana low consumers, who group in a non-profit way, to source themselves of a substance (for less price than doing it one by one).
- Marijuana medical dispensaries, and recreational ones (it is overunderstood that medical tax would be lower than recreational one).
In both cases, seems reazonable to think that identify growing gardens would be a must, to create a better control on how the weed is produced and how is distributed (avoiding this way that an overstock is derived to black market nationally or internationally). In parallel is more than probable that marijuana productive capacity will depend on the number of users. Actually SCS, if exist an overstock, can compensate overstocks producing less quantity on future crops. In the same way, seems that there will be no way of producing an overstock for a guessed future needing until next harvest. According to informations, one of de new law's aspects talks about a period of 3 months before new members can take can take weed (minimum time needed to produce it since the member sings in a club). As an example, in United States, in those states where marijuana it's been legalized this point is recalculated every year instead of 3 months.
Barcelona, Septiember 11th of 2014