Cannabis and hemp in Spain have a long and rich history. The plant has grown feral on the Iberian peninsula since prehistory [1] and has been intensely cultivated, in particular for its fibres, throughout Spanish and Portuguese history.
Cannabis and hemp in Spain have a long and rich history. The plant has grown feral on the Iberian peninsula since prehistory [1] and has been intensely cultivated, in particular for its fibres, throughout Spanish and Portuguese history.
The Cannabis plant genus has been documented on the Iberian peninsula as early as the late Neolithic. The plant was growing feral, as in most parts of the Mediterranean coasts. It became intensely cultivated in Spain, in particular for its fiber production.
During Antiquity, cannabis was cultivated and discussed on the basis of texts from Ancient medical authors like Galen, Dioscorides, or Mesue.
In the period known as Al-Andalus, cannabis was intensely cultivated and used for both its "industrial hemp" and "marijuana" sides. [2]
The seeds and seeded tops of cannabis plants were often called "sedenegi" (also šedenegi, šahdānaŷ, and other forms), a word from Persian origins meaning "King of Grains". [3] The plant was also referred to under other names, such as aixís, al-hachicha, alhaxis, alhaxina, al-quinnab, al-qinnab al-barrī, qinnab al-barrīyya, al-qinnab al-hindī, al-qinnab al-bustānī, al-qinnam, alquînnam, al-qunaynaba, axix, banq, banhy, linho alcanave, qinnab rūmī, quinnam, waraq al-sahdanay, zarréat quîuam, etc. [3]
The cultivation and use of cannabis continued in Catholic Spain, after the Reconquista. In 1664, Pere Pau Pereda published a pamphlet in defense of cannabis cultivation, testifying to the important presence in the Catalonia and Valencian regions, stating that:
there are many very healthy cities and towns in Hispania, despite having a great abundance of both cannabis crops and their softening. It is evident that in the towns known as Xàtiva, Tarragona, Alcanyís, Requena, Utiel, Vilanova, l'Hospitalet de l'Infant and Alcarràs, the vast majority of people enjoy a healthy life and old age. [4]
The use of cannabis products is decriminalized for personal cultivation and use, and other purposes other than sale or trade. [5] [6] It's illegal for trade or commercial purposes. Using the legal grey areas in Spanish legislation, cannabis clubs are a popular way for enthusiasts to obtain and use cannabis as a technically-legal private collective. In private places, consumption and possession of reasonable amounts (up to 100 grams (3.5 oz)) is legal. [7]
Sale and importation of any quantity of cannabis is a criminal offence, punishable by jail time. The purchase, possession and consumption of cannabis in a public place constitutes a misdemeanour punishable by a fine and confiscation of the product. Consumption and cultivation by adults in a private space is legal, the latter due to a legal vacuum and provided that it is shown to be for one's own consumption. [8] Cannabis plants that are located somewhere visible from the street/public place (i.e. from balconies) are considered a serious administrative offense, which leads to a fine from 601 to 30,000€. [9] [10] [11] [12]
Cannabis laws in Spain can vary by autonomous community. For example, in June 2017, Catalonia legalised the cultivation, consumption and distribution of cannabis for members of designated cannabis clubs. The clubs must be self-sufficient non-profit organisations and only distribute cannabis to those aged 18 years old and over. Cannabis clubs in Catalonia are also limited to producing 150kg of dried cannabis a year and must follow rules intended to stop drug tourism. [13] In July 2021, it was revealed that the cannabis clubs in Barcelona were facing being shut down due to the supreme court cutting out a legal loophole that had allowed them to exist. [14] As of April 2022, clubs were still operating in Barcelona when it was releveled that some have been used by drug trafficking networks. [15]
The political party Podemos supports legalising and regulating cannabis in Spain. [16] [17] [18] In 2021, the political party Más País introduced a motion to legalise the recreational use of cannabis in Spain. It was supported by Unidas Podemos, an electoral alliance of which Podemos is part of. However, the governing Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, often referred to under its abbreviated name, PSOE, voted against the motion. [19]
Hundreds of cannabis consumption clubs and user associations have been established throughout Spain, as early as 1991. The number of active private "cannabis clubs" existing in Spain is subject to variations an dinterpretation, but an overwhelming majority of them are located in Barcelona (Catalonia) alone. [20] [21]
All actions related to cannabis apart from sale or trade are not considered criminal offenses, [22] and normally are misdemeanors punishable by a fine. [23] [24] These "asociaciones cannábicas" (cannabis associations, cannabis users associations) are established as non-profit associations that grow cannabis on behalf of their members, and distribute the harvest to their members in exchange for the costs of production (which allow to avoid the legal classification as "sale", hence remaining within the legal boundaries of the non-criminalized activities of personal cultivation and possession). The legal status of these clubs remains however uncertain and subject to variations depending on the case, the judge, and the region.
The evolution of the legal status of cannabis social clubs in Spain has a complex history, with important key dates:
In October 2005, the autonomous government in the region of Catalonia launched a program of therapeutic use of Sativex for 600 patients of a wide set of illnesses, from multiple sclerosis to cancer, in order to avoid nausea or to relax tense muscles. The project involves six hospitals, forty researchers and sixty drugstores. The product is presented as an atomizer to be taken orally, and it will be delivered at drugstores inside some hospitals. The full text of the research initiative can be seen, in Catalan, from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. [31]
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Spain is spoken of as the "new Amsterdam," a destination for marijuana tourists. [32]
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These policies in most countries are regulated by three United Nations treaties: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Since its descheduling in 2020, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Single Convention treaty, meaning that signatories can allow medical use but that it is considered to be an addictive drug with a serious risk of abuse.
Citizens, officially Citizens–Party of the Citizenry, is a liberal political party in Spain.
Catalonia is divided into 947 municipalities.
Cannabis Party, or Partido Cannabico refers in Spain to different initiatives of political party and political campaigning centered around cannabis, hemp and drug policy proposals.
A Cannabis Social Club (CSC), sometimes called Cannabis Club, Cannabis Association, or Teapad, is a type of cannabis retail outlet, an industry model for regulated cannabis organised as non-profit cooperatives in which cannabis is cultivated, shared, and enjoyed collectively, usually for the purpose of relaxing or for social communion.
Cannabis is legal in Uruguay, and is one of the most widely used drugs in the nation.
En Comú Podem is an electoral coalition in Catalonia, originally formed in October 2015 by Podemos, Barcelona en Comú, Initiative for Catalonia Greens, United and Alternative Left, and Equo, and led by the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, to contest the 2015 Spanish general election.
The April 2019 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 28 April 2019, to elect the 13th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate.
Unidas Podemos, formerly called Unidos Podemos and also known in English as United We Can, was a democratic socialist electoral alliance formed by Podemos, United Left, and other left-wing to far-left parties in May to contest the 2016 Spanish general election. The alliance's official pre-agreement was announced on 9 May 2016 after weeks of negotiations. It was re-styled to the feminine form of its name ahead of the April 2019 Spanish general election.
Cannabis in Germany is legal for certain limited medical contexts, and will be legal for recreational usage for adults beginning on 1 April 2024. As of 2022, approximately 4 million adults in Germany used cannabis.
Cannabis in Argentina is regulated by the Penal Code of Argentina, which prohibits its possession, cultivation, and supply, except for authorized medical purposes. Official statistics estimate that cannabis is used by 7.8% of Argentina's population.
Cannabis in Peru is not legal for recreational use, possession for own consumption is also decriminalized by the Criminal Code and medical cannabis was legalized in 2017.
The list includes and details significant events that occurred in the global history of national-level implementations of, or changes made to, laws surrounding the use, sale, or production of the psychoactive drug cannabis.
Catalunya en Comú, previously Un País en Comú and collectively dubbed as Comuns, is a Catalan-based political party established in December 2016 as an umbrella for Barcelona en Comú, Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV), United and Alternative Left (EUiA) and Equo, which until then had been collaborating through electoral alliances under the Catalunya Sí que es Pot and En Comú Podem labels in the September 2015 regional and December 2015 and June 2016 general elections.
On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla street in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others, one of whom died 10 days later on 27 August. Abouyaaqoub fled the attack on foot, then killed another person in order to steal the victim's car to make his escape.
Catalunya en Comú–Podem, alternatively spelled out as Catalunya–En Comú Podem, was a left-wing and self-governance electoral and parliamentary alliance in Catalonia formed by Catalunya en Comú and Podem ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election. It was the successor of the 2015 Catalunya Sí que es Pot alliance, and its leading candidate was Xavier Domènech.
Cannabis in Bolivia is illegal, but cultivated illicitly, mostly for domestic consumption. Bolivian law treats cannabis equally to cocaine, with possession of one gram punishable by 10–25 years in prison.
The possession and use of cannabis is illegal in El Salvador for both recreational and medical purposes. The country is a signatory of the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and has criminalized the production and distribution of the drug.
Más País, or More Country, is a political party in Spain. It was an electoral platform formed by Íñigo Errejón around Más Madrid in order to contest the November 2019 general election.
Marihuana prensada or cannabis prensado, also known as ladrillo or, colloquially, paragua or paraguayo is a compressed cannabis cut into blocks that facilitate transport.
No és la primera vegada que Batlle es mostra contrari a la presència d'aquests locals a la ciutat. El mes de març va assegurar que "el consum de marihuana és un element bàsic de la conflictivitat".[It is not the first time that Batlle has shown opposition to the presence of these facilities in the city. In March he had assured that "marijuana consumption is a basic element of conflictuality".]
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