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Friday 3 May 2019

Cannabis and Spain

Spain is a typical example of European ambiguity when it comes to cannabis legalization. So is cannabis legal in Spain or not? It is said that home growing of cannabis for personal consumption is legal in Spain though the transportation and selling of cannabis is prohibited. Spain is said to have a number of cannabis clubs where Spanish citizens can become members. The clubs provide members access to spaces where they can meet and smoke cannabis in private settings. These clubs are said to be out of bounds for non-Spanish nationals. The laws forbid a non-Spanish person from consuming cannabis. Yet if you walk around cities like Barcelona, there are outlets from where one can purchase cannabis. There is also a Marijuana and Hemp Museum in Barcelona which speaks of cannabis history and the association of cannabis with Spanish culture and tradition. Spain also hosts Europe's supposedly largest annual cannabis event, Spannabis, where business people, artists, celebrities and people from various walks of life and from all over the world come to talk shop over cannabis.

Spain, you could say like most of Europe, follows the approach of saying one thing and doing something else when it comes to cannabis. Though official laws, possibly obligations to international treaties and most likely the desire to protect those opposed to cannabis, state that cannabis is prohibited, the ground realities in Spanish society appear completely different. At the ground level, cannabis could be said to be as legal as it gets for recreational purposes. In this sense, Spain has similarities to France, Denmark and the Netherlands where people have largely ignored the prohibition and gone about freely choosing to consume the plant if they so desire. This you may say is a good thing. However, the ambiguity that such a situation presents is not only detrimental to Spanish society but most importantly to the world at large. By not clearly stating that cannabis is legal by law, Spain is possibly able to, on the surface level, say that it is in compliance with international treaties.

Cannabis is rarely locally grown in Spain it appears, even though the country boasts of a climate that suits cannabis. Cannabis resin makes its way into Spain from Morocco and then finds its way to other European countries. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020 - 'Most cannabis resin of Moroccan origin destined for Europe is first shipped to Spain, from where it is smuggled to other markets in the region. For many years, including in the period 2014–2018, Spain has been identified by other European countries as the principal country of departure and transit for cannabis resin, followed by the Netherlands.'  Legalizing cannabis, allowing local farmers to grow it and even entering into legal trade with Morocco seems to be the right way to go. But then, the likelihood that the revenues from this trade landing in the hands of a number of middlemen, most of whom may have larger criminal interests that the cannabis sales is funding, would be reduced.

Interestingly, MJBizDaily reports that Spain was one of the countries that legally exported cannabidiol or CBD to Canada. There are reports of facilities for cannabis cultivation in Spain that mainly cater to the needs of multinational cannabis companies while the local population remains officially prohibited to access the plant.

  By staying ambiguous about cannabis, a lot of people who would benefit from legal cannabis, besides small farmers, are currently unable to access the plant or still believe the official message that cannabis is harmful and illegal. In the process, these people, the youth, the elderly, the very sick, the poorest, the minorities, the indigenous people, women, the foreign immigrants, the tourists, etc may be falling victims to more harmful alternative drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids, harmful prescription drugs and novel psychotropic substances, alcohol and tobacco in the absence of cannabis. They are also very likely to face unjust law enforcement action and imprisonment

The UNODC World Drug Report 2020 states that cocaine is now a drug of concern for Spain. Methamphetamine makes its way into Spain from the manufacturing hubs of South East Asia and Mexico.

It is most important for an influential European country like Spain to openly legalize adult recreational cannabis use and to support its global legalization through the UN. Every citizen of every nation of the world deserves the same rights of home growing cannabis for personal consumption that many European countries discretely enjoy. European countries have remained ambiguous in their stance to cannabis in recent times after pushing for and implementing world wide prohibition for many decades. As a result of this, people of many nations of the world, especially the poorer ones, are being subjected to harsh laws, imprisonment and being denied access to the highly medicinal, safe, recreational plant. This is particularly cruel since cannabis was the medicine and recreational drug that the poorest of the poor depended on for thousands of years while the rich considered it below their standards. In a reversal that is steeped in irony, the societies that wanted to promote alcohol, tobacco and opium-based drugs are now themselves going back to cannabis. The poorest, who need the cannabis plant the most, are still however forced to now resort to these infinitely more harmful drugs, once projected as the drugs of the elite, with no access to the traditional cannabis herb. The plant itself has been systematically destroyed for more than a century now and we will never know how many precious varieties have gone extinct. Spanish farmers themselves, especially the poorer farmers, who live in a climate that outdoor cannabis growing can thrive in, are possibly deprived of a sustainable agricultural option.

Legalizing cannabis at a national level will boost the Spanish economy, business, agriculture, industry, health, tourism, wellness, food, beverages and potential global trade in the cannabis plant. Spain is in close proximity to countries taking significant strides in cannabis legalization in recent times such as Germany, France, Italy , Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands. In fact all these countries together constitute the bulk of the projected 100+ billion Euro market of Europe. 

In December 2020,  the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most restricted Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It does however still remain in Schedule I, which is the least restrictive. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation and an overhaul of national drug laws. 
 
It must be noted that in most places where cannabis legalization has happened it took the efforts of the people who mobilized themselves through grassroots level movements to bring about this change. Left to lawmakers legalization would have been impossible, as the main interests of lawmakers concern the protection of the big industries opposed to cannabis such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, alcohol and tobacco. For something that truly benefits the people, the people themselves have had to make the change

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.   


'Although in Europe opioids continue to be the predominant main drug for which people seek drug treatment, cocaine has become more common in Spain and methamphetamine remains the main drug of concern in Czechia. Within the amphetamines group, different patterns have developed in different subregions. For example, amphetamine continues to be the primary ATS of concern in Europe and in the Middle East, while methamphetamine has emerged as the primary ATS of concern in East and South-East Asia and in North America.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf


'While methamphetamine trafficking flows from East and South-East Asia to countries outside the subregion remain modest, some smuggling to destinations around the world was reported, mainly smuggling from Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar in 2018 or, when the period is extended to the past five years, mainly from China and Thailand. Destinations outside the subregion included countries in South Asia, the Near and Middle East (Saudi Arabia as well as Israel), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), North America (the United States as well as Canada), Western Europe (notably Switzerland as well as Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Iceland), Eastern Europe (notably the Russian Federation) and Africa (notably South Africa) over the period 2014–2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Morocco, with 47,500 ha reported to be under cannabis cultivation in 2018, continues to be the most frequently mentioned source country for cannabis resin worldwide in the annual report questionnaire, being mentioned in more than a fifth of all cases as the main country of origin of cannabis resin seized worldwide over the period 2014–2018; Morocco was followed by Afghanistan, where, a UNODC survey found, in 2010 an area of 9,000–29,000 ha was under cannabis cultivation. Cannabis resin produced in Morocco is mainly destined for other markets in North Africa and markets in Western and Central Europe. Some cannabis resin of Moroccan origin is also trafficked to Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe. Most cannabis resin of Moroccan origin destined for Europe is first shipped to Spain, from where it is smuggled to other markets in the region. For many years, including in the period 2014–2018, Spain has been identified by other European countries as the principal country of departure and transit for cannabis resin, followed by the Netherlands.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


'Afghanistan appears to be the second most important source country of cannabis resin worldwide, with 19 per cent of all mentions worldwide in the annual report questionnaire over the period 2014– 2018, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon. The cannabis resin produced in these countries is principally destined for other countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, although cannabis resin originating in Afghanistan has also been identified in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western and Central Europe. The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the cannabis resin found on its territory originated mainly in Afghanistan (followed by Pakistan), with some 65 per cent destined for countries of the Arabian peninsula, 15 per cent for the Caucasus and some 20 per cent for domestic consumption. Cannabis resin originating in Lebanon is mainly found in the Near and Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Western and Central Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf


Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamine. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...

Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM


'Countries that legally shipped CBD to Canada last year included China, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to Health Canada.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cbd-imports-canada-fail-fill-supply-gap/


How cool is your job?
Openly support ganja legalization Spain. The farmers, the growers, the retailers, the consumers, people worldwide are going through hell because of its illegal status and because of lack of access to the plant. European nations, by clandestinely using the herb and publicly opposing it, are fueling black markets and worldwide exploitation of the herb and its people. People, without access to the plant, are forced to use dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, tobacco and alcohol as alternatives or being imprisoned because governments worldwide continue to oppose ganja's legalization for recreational use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnMwHT6f-6s


'“Merida’s investment is a validation of Freedom Leaf’s aggressive efforts to build a high-quality family of cannabidiol-based products, but it is also an acknowledgement of the potential for the Valencia, Spain cultivation facility to become a significant supplier of both hemp and cannabis to European markets in the immediate future,” said Mitch Baruchowitz, Managing Partner of Merida Capital Partners.'
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/freedom-leaf-receives-investment-merida-130000201.html


'Today, Hightimes Holding Corp., the parent company of High Times, announced its plan to acquire the assets and business of Feria Del Canamo, S.L., doing business as Spannabis—the European Union’s largest Cannabis industry event. Billed as part trade show and part research conference, Spannabis has plans to return to Barcelona for its 16th edition of the celebration this March. The festival, which also includes its own award ceremony crowning the best cannabis and cannabis-related products in the region, attracts tens of thousands of consumers annually from across the globe.'
https://hightimes.com/news/high-times-to-acquire-spannabis-europes-largest-cannabis-event/


'Spaniards can legally grow and consume cannabis for personal use but selling or transporting it is a prosecuted offence. Tourists are strictly forbidden'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oXP3qFJb-Q


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