Catalonia legalizes cannabis cultivation and consumption

The Catalan Parliament, an autonomous body in Spain, has just passed legislation regulating the cultivation, consumption, and transport of cannabis for adults aged 18 and older. This landmark decision is a first in Europe. It comes after three years of negotiations. The final decision received a majority vote in favor within the Catalan government (118 in favor, 8 against, 1 abstention).

In 2015, a group advocating for the legalization of cannabis in Catalonia, La Rosa Verda has launched an online petition calling for the regulation of cannabis. The popular legislative initiative (ILP) has thus gathered nearly 56,000 signatures, exceeding the 50,000 required to submit the proposal to Parliament.

Alba Vergés, chair of the Catalan Parliament’s Health Committee, said: «We didn’t want to do things halfway,» referring in particular to the decriminalization of cannabis in the Netherlands, where buying cannabis is tolerated in coffee shops, but where commercial cultivation remains prohibited.

Limiting Cannabis Tourism

With this legalization, many European consumers will seek to visit Catalonia, particularly in Barcelona's Cannabis Clubs in order to obtain weed. The Catalan Parliament has decided to impose conditions to ensure that legalization benefits the region’s residents, namely:

• Anyone who joins a cannabis club must wait 15 days before purchasing or growing cannabis.
• Anyone 21 years of age or older will be able to purchase up to 60 grams of cannabis per month.
• Anyone between the ages of 18 and 21 will be allowed to purchase up to 20 grams of cannabis per month only.

These conditions apply exclusively to cannabis for recreational use. Cannabis clubs will be limited to producing 150 kg of dried flowers per year, which they must produce themselves.

This new decision could be challenged in the Constitutional Court by the Spanish federal government. However, the Catalan Parliament has reiterated in a public statement that the legalization of cannabis and its implementation are part of their legal rights as an autonomous region.

The legalization of cannabis for adults in Catalonia has far-reaching implications. Beyond reforming current laws, it offers hope for legalization to cannabis users in the rest of Spain and, eventually, in neighboring countries.

Mehdi Bautier