Spain: Constitutional Court strikes down laws on Cannabis Clubs

A decision that went largely unnoticed, probably because it is unlikely to change anything for current Spanish Cannabis Social Clubs: the Spanish Constitutional Court confirmed that autonomous communities cannot regulate the operation of cannabis users' associations, known as Cannabis Social Clubs, on the grounds that they run counter to the country's criminal law.

The court had several appeals pending lodged by the central government against the laws of Navarre, Catalonia and the Basque Country. In fact, it ruled on the Navarre law, with a criterion extending unconstitutionality to the other cases. The decision was adopted unanimously.

The magistrates annulled the foral law, approved two years ago, which regulated cannabis user groups in Navarre. The ruling states that the foral law on cannabis users« associations violates the exclusive competence of the State in terms of criminal legislation, as it regulates »the consumption, making available and distribution of cannabis", which falls fully within the articles of the Penal Code that punish such behavior.

In its appeal, the Government argued that the foral law encroached on the State's powers over pharmaceutical legislation, public safety and criminal law.

For its part, the Parliament of Navarra argued that its law was constitutional, as it was protected by the Autonomous Community's jurisdiction over associations. The Constitutional Court focused its arguments on the State's competence in matters of criminal legislation. In particular, article 368 of the Penal Code, which punishes with prison sentences of three to six years «those who carry out acts of cultivation, transformation or trafficking, or promote the illegal consumption of toxic substances, narcotics or psychotropic substances, or possess them for these purposes».

The final decision vindicated the government. The activities of Cannabis Social Clubs are therefore deemed criminal by Spain, and the autonomous communities can do nothing to protect them.

Our analysis is mainly that the Spanish government is using cannabis as a tool to put pressure on Spanish communities to extinguish their desire for independence. It's highly unlikely that this will really affect Cannabis Club activity. They will, however, have to find another legal means of protecting their activity once and for all. The United States also experienced a period of uncertainty around cannabis dispensaries during the Bush presidency, which ended with the Obama years. and the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment.