Spain: Unidas Podemos presents its plan to legalize cannabis

While the Spanish Senate recently voted against regulating Cannabis Clubs, Parliament is not to be outdone. As Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli, independent researcher and President of FAAAT, points out, three proposals for legalization are currently in the pipeline.

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This Wednesday in the Spanish Congress, Unidas Podemos presented and registered its bill on the regulation and integral control of cannabis consumption among adults, which establishes the conditions for self-cultivation, distribution and sale of this substance «in order to reverse the current prohibitionist approach in Spain».

The law proposed by the Purple Party proposes that cannabis consumption should only take place in the private sphere and in spaces authorized by law. It also establishes a limit of 20 cubic meters of outdoor cultivation per quarter for self-cultivation, or a maximum of 10 grams of consumption per day, and sets conditions for consumption in non-profit cooperative Cannabis Clubs.

The market would be controlled and regulated by a licensing system with «strong control» by the state and autonomous communities. The Morados claim that this regulation would help to break out of 'an underground economy that is developing clandestinely, and would generate thousands of jobs».

As the parliamentary group points out, this licensing system would establish that «indoor crops can only be grown if 90 % of the total electrical energy used for their production comes from renewable energy sources produced by the company holding the license». With this restriction, Podemos claims that »territorial structuring and the correct distribution of profits» from production would be guaranteed.

The current ban does not restrict access

In the initiative's explanatory statement, Unidas Podemos claims that «reversing the prohibitionist approach based on the highly punitive control of the cannabis plant, its flowers and active ingredients is a debt owed to society». And that's, according to the purple party, because current prohibition «in no way restricts» the public's access to cannabis, since polls show that 60% of the population believe it's easy to get hold of.

According to Unidas Podemos, the current situation has led to the «waste of public resources», the «proliferation» of criminal groups, the theft of energy for illegal cannabis cultivation, «systemic corruption» linked to drug trafficking, the creation of 'underground economies» due to illegal status, the »overloading« of the judicial and penitentiary system and the »loss of economic opportunities«.

According to Unidas Podemos, legalizing cannabis would promote development in rural areas, increase control over it, improve information on the health risks associated with its use, encourage research into its medicinal potential and bring Spanish legislation into line with the existing international framework.

Authorized quantities

The Podemos bill proposes four ways to authorize the possession of cannabis. It would be legal to possess 100 grams of dried flowering tops of cannabis, but also 30 grams of cannabis extracts, products made with cannabis with a total THC content of 10 grams and the sum of possible proportional combinations of the above products.

For the home, 3,650 grams of dried cannabis flowering tops, 1,000 grams of cannabis extracts, processed products with a total THC content of 365 grams and also possible combinations of the other three. In the case of households where several consumers live together, the guideline is doubled, regardless of the number of individuals in the household.