Tag: spain

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Basque Region Cannabis Clubs Throw Down Gauntlet To Reopen

Written by Marguerite Arnold on March 10, 2021. Posted in Business.

After being devastated by Pandemic shutdowns, clubs in the Basque region of Spain petition their government to let them reopen for business.

Basque region cannabis clubs have now petitioned their government to let them begin to plan for re-opening. The Federation of Cannabis User Associations of the Basque country or Eusfac, will meet with the state government this week to petition them to adopt “less restrictive measures in relation to the activity of the cannabis clubs.”

The situation in Spain over the operations of the clubs has been one of the most fraught in Europe, especially now with both a lawsuit pending about constitutional rights access at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and COVID-19. The Pandemic has severely strained if not shut down operations all over Spain. Clubs have not allowed to open at all and those that do, certainly do not function in the same way. Obtaining product has also been difficult.

The upshot? More people, starting with patients, but including recreational users, have been forced into the black market. While there is still no federal or even state-level regulation of the entire club vertical (akin to dispensaries in the United States), a semi-regulated industry has established itself in the country over the last decade. Most of the clubs were established in Barcelona, but there are similar entities all over the country at this point.

And many are starting to take a stand on formalizing their right to exist – at a formal level – in Spain.

Essential Operations?

In some ways, the situation in Spain is roughly analogous to the situation that led voters in two U.S. states in 2012, to vote for state control of their own cannabis industries. This has been especially true as Barcelona has become the de facto cannabis club centre of the country. However other regions have taken note, especially as the organizers of the entire movement have been prosecuted. Albert Tió currently sits in jail for his role in the same.

During the Pandemic, however, it became very clear that the situation if not the status of the clubs was no-where close to their state equivalents in the U.S. Most were instantly shut down. Many were eventually allowed to re-open, but according to one report, most have reported losing up to 60% of their membership. Curfews have also made an impact. And Covid restrictions, like mask-wearing and social distancing, have effectively killed the social aspect of the clubs.

Regardless, many of the clubs have managed to stay open somehow, despite a rise in crime targeted both at the clubs and those who frequent them. Some report that members are spending more money in the clubs than before. There is a gritty resolve here, gained by facing down authorities and the multiple obstacles required to operate such establishments. A mere Pandemic will not make that go away.

Be sure to book your tickets now for the return of the International Cannabis Business Conference to Berlin in July 2021!

Spanish Government Continues To Fund Medical Cannabis Research Even As It Has Jailed Club Activist

Written by Marguerite Arnold on February 16, 2021. Posted in Science.

Despite the red tape and the imprisonment of Albert Tio the Spanish government is funding some medical cannabis research

Some good news from Spain on the cannabis front at last! As reported by Público, a Spanish-language public affairs and news zine, the Botanical Institute of Barcelona which is a joint project of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the City Council of the Catalan capital is entering its fourth year of government funding for cannabis research.

The project is funded on a federal level by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, which has been given a license by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS). The ultimate objective of the study is to understand the plant’s traditional uses in human history.

The project, led by Teresa Garnatje, consists of 12 researchers and the faculty of Food Sciences of the University of Barcelona. Researchers have already traveled to several countries to obtain, in collaboration with local botanists, samples of indigenous, or what is called “Landrace” cannabis strains. They are also actively asking that those in countries where cannabis is not legal or other restrictions on travel and research exist, that they at least obtain samples of DNA. So far, the team has been focused on Asia and Eastern Europe where cannabis is more easily found still in the wild and uncultivated.

Three years into the project, the researchers have so far gathered between 5-600 samples. The idea is to understand the genetic components of the plant, the variability of species found in the wild, and a way to improve production – whether by growing in “natural” environments or even hybridized.

Given how unstable commercial strains of the plant have proved to be, especially in a GMP, pharmacized production environment, this research may help improve production quality and stability in every medical cultivation market.

However, the question also remains at this point, with a human rights claim pending in Strasbourg, how the Spanish government can jail an activist whose only crime was being ahead of the formal research and putting his life on the line for better access for those who need the drug the most.

This kind of hypocrisy is nothing new of course – in Spain or anywhere else reform powers forward. But is the reason why full and final reform is needed, now. In Spain. In Europe. Not to mention many other regions and jurisdictions.

Be sure to book your tickets for the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Berlin this summer!

Ole! The Spanish Supreme Court Takes Aim At Barcelona’s Cannabis Clubs

Written by Marguerite Arnold on January 27, 2021. Posted in Business.

The Spanish Constitutional Court has issued two rulings against the Barcelona club scene – but with a pending case in the EU’s highest court, does this really matter?

As 2021 dawns with sputtering hope of a revival of society, if not economies globally, it appears that authorities in Europe are taking on the issue of cannabis reform in a decidedly “old-fashioned” way. To date, only Holland has fully tackled the issue, and its first attempt at a national cultivation scheme has already fallen by the wayside.

In Spain, the issue is front and centre right now, with a country that has seen its celebrated club culture essentially decimated by the various rules and regulations of lockdown. Beyond that, however, the “instigating” founders of the scene in the first place, are facing national jail time. Albert Tió indeed, turned himself in last December. His case against the Spanish national government is now pending in the European Court of Human Rights at Strasburg.

Reform, in other words, is a high profile issue.

To address that, the Supreme Court has made two decisions lately that directly affect the industry. In two decisions, that came right on top of each other the Court declared the City Council of Barcelona “lacks the competence” to regulate the clubs via municipal plans, and the 218 clubs it has registered for the purpose so far.

So far, the municipal authorities in Barcelona have not backed down. After all, they realize that Spanish authorities at the federal level are making a lot of noise over what could, legitimately, be nothing, given the pending EU court’s decision. Not to mention, as city leaders have already publicly pointed out, they are unwilling to revisit the matter until there is a federal solution, and in the meantime, there needs to be some kind of regulation.

Standoff city. Yet again.

A New Dawn For Spain in 2021?

There are about 1,500 registered clubs in Spain, with over 80% either in Barcelona or its outlying suburbs. The clubs employ about 7,500 people across the country. Each club has, on average, 3-400 members. Many clubs have either been shut down entirely or forced to operate in an even stranger, greyer, more precarious space since the beginning of the Pandemic.

With the new Supreme Court rulings, in other words, will at least a temporary additional level of complication, not to mention legal work, force that infrastructure to collapse?

It is clearly the goal of authorities right now. That, however, at least in the short term, is a goal they are unlikely to achieve. Cannabis has landed in Europe, and it is unlikely that it will be successfully rolled back, in Spain, or anywhere else for that matter as Luxembourg joins the conversation later this year.

Be sure to book your tickets for the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns this summer to Berlin to get the latest on ever-changing European cannabis legislation and business environments.

Could A Pending Court Case Change The Cannabis Club Question In Spain If Not Europe?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on October 4, 2020. Posted in Politics.

The Spanish cannabis market is one that has evolved over the last several years, primarily via the very greyness of the status of cannabis per Spanish law. Namely, much like it has been for decades in Holland, Spanish citizens may consume cannabis in private “clubs.” Operating them, or indeed growing for them, however, has been perilous for many involved directly in the debate.

Now the legal challenge of one of the leaders of the entire discussion is having his day in a European Court. Namely, Albert Tió, one of the leaders of the Spanish club movement, has a human rights case now headed to Strasbourg.

Tió, a 53-year-old activist and father of minor children, was the secretary of one of the largest cannabis associations in Barcelona with nearly 4,000 members. In February 2014, the indoor grow facility that supplied the association was shut down by police, and both Tió and two other directors were convicted of crimes against the “public health and illicit association” by the Provincial Court in Barcelona.

This sentence was later ratified by the Spanish Supreme Court which also refused to process the appeal against the conviction. Tió, as a result, left Spain to avoid prosecution and is now seeking retribution at the European Court of Human Rights.

The Impact of The Case On Spanish (And Other European) Cannabis Clubs

The case could well have a large impact on not only Spanish but other European cannabis social club models, particularly in countries like Germany where the right of cannabis has now been enshrined as a medical one, and the right of association, even post Covid, is a hot topic.

Tió’s argument is that his conviction as one of the leading voices for cannabis reform, leading to the origin of the formal “club” law approved by the Catalan government in 2017 is a violation of the rights of autonomy and personal dignity contained in the European Convention on Human rights.

If he wins, as many suspects he might, it will have huge implications on the formal establishment of not only clubs but the associated cultivations associated with them. This in turn, especially in Spain, moves the needle towards a formally regulated industry.

Across Europe, the win could also upset the apple cart in places like Germany, which have seen three years so far of “medical” reform but no movement whatsoever on either non-medical hemp reform (if not backward steps) and many obstacles in the way of greater medical access for most patients.

While three countries in Europe (Denmark, Holland and Luxembourg) plus Switzerland are moving forward with recreational trials if not plans, Spain as well as countries like Germany have not moved forward to enshrine a formal medical or recreational industry. This also appears now to be on the brink of changing, one way or the other.

For the latest updates on the ever-changing European cannabis marketplace, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021.

Spanish Patients Can No Longer Access The Cannabis Clubs

Written by Marguerite Arnold on April 8, 2020. Posted in Cultural.

In the United States, the issue of whether the cannabis industry is “critical” or not is being fought on a state by state basis. In Europe, the situation is almost the same, except the mandates here are “national” and “federal.”

In Spain, one of the worst-hit Covid countries, cannabis patients are in a terrible situation. The Cannabis Clubs are all in a tenuous position thanks to the lockdowns and a failure by authorities to address the situation to help keep them open, even in a limited capacity (at least officially). Most of the associations are closed due to the Pandemic. Those who risk opening for an hour or two a day are doing so in secret. And the supply on the street has rapidly escalated in price.

As a result, most of the 200,000 patients in Spain currently served by the clubs are now left without medication, either because of lack of access to the clubs, or money, or both.

The clubs themselves are also in an almost impossible solution, even if they wish to help. Obtaining supplies from the outskirts of towns where the cannabis is cultivated for the clubs is almost impossible due to the lockdown measures. Those who brave the measures and are caught risk huge fines. Some clubs are opening for an hour or two a day, despite the lockdown, clandestinely, just to stay alive, if they can.

Indeed, as reported by Spanish ‘zine ElPlural.com, the Pandemic and efforts to control it, are having an outsized and terrible impact on Spain’s cannabis patients. Carola Perez, president of the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis, put it this way. “Right now, we are facing many calls from desperate people.”

Unlike the United States, Canada, and even Germany, where the drug has slowly begun to gain acceptance, and patients can still obtain supplies from dispensaries and pharmacies, the lack of regulatory progress or even current guidance in Spain has thrown a curveball that is, as some are describing it, a human rights violation of massive proportions because nobody thought about giving the clubs any sort of protection to operate. Or patients the right to obtain their meds from these outlets.

Where is the status of cannabis regulation In Spain?

The calls and promises to regulate the drug and normalize its use, even medically, have stalled since 2017. Cannabis has been banned in Spain “officially” since 1967 when the dictator Francisco Franco outlawed it, but in recent years, the clubs have begun to fill in the grey areas. There are currently only ten companies in Spain who have the right to cultivate the plant, given said authority from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS). This medication must be obtained from a doctor (still difficult) and is highly expensive.

Everyone else depends on the clubs and exists in a tenuous reality, created by a lack of forward progress on cannabis reform domestically, if not internationally. The pandemic, of course, has already made the gaps in the system, and the lack of real reform all the more visible.

For up to the date information on regulatory change across Europe, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in late summer 2020.