Barcelona’s Cannabis Scene Gets a Trimming
Over the last several years Barcelona— and the greater area
of Catalonia in southern Spain— have exploded onto the cannabis tourism scene.
This was in no doubt, closely related to the fast paced
ver the last several years Barcelona— and the greater area
of Catalonia in southern Spain— have exploded onto the cannabis tourism scene.
This was in no doubt, closely related to the fast paced opening of cannabis
social clubs all over the city. Spain offers fantastic commodities from incredible weather,
to beautiful beaches, to history, and culture; throw some green into the mix
and you have a cannabis tourist’s dream come true.
But in the end, this massive uptick didn’t go unnoticed by
the authorities, who last summer, severely cut down their cannabis social club
scene by 49 clubs, that’s a whopping 35%. And now, in a recent second round of
cuts, another 23 got their eviction notices. The city sites a number of reasons
for the closures, from bad ventilation, to the using of flyers or other methods
to advertise the club to the public, for not having the right permits, and even
for excessive loitering outside of facilities. Without a doubt, the biggest
problem was that they were selling cannabis to a lot more people than to their
officially signed up members.
The law that was issued last summer was meant to clamp down
on the illegal distribution to the general public, and no doubt, from a legal
stand point, the situation in Barcelona was almost chaotic, from under age
kids, to vacationers from all over the world, everyone was enjoying the
unenforced cannabis extravaganza. But now, the city and the greater region of
Catalonia, set laws preventing any new clubs from opening and that the member
status must stay below 165,000. No longer will clubs be able to sign up
thousands of new members as a way of selling to random customers coming through
the front doors. On top of those restrictions, the clubs will also no longer be
able to serve any liquor.
There is no telling how Barcelona’s cannabis scene is going
to react to this new alteration from the state. Hopefully, a compromise will be
found to keep the progress of cannabis acceptance moving in a safe and pleasant
direction.
