…….except if you’re a drug dealer or a policeman (and we have it on good authority that most policemen don’t want to see kids in jail.)
If you’re a regular reader of Marijuana Games blogs, you’ll know that we have our finger on the pulse with regards to legalizing recreational cannabis. From our perspective of supporters of cannabis clubs in Madrid, cannabis clubs in Barcelona and other cannabis clubs of Spain, we’re a little envious of Germany where they’re getting closer to legalizing recreational cannabis, and, of course, we’re out and out jealous of those 19 progressive US states which have done the same.
Just this week, we were sussing up on the Australian Green Party and their private member’s bill set for a vote later on this year. It seems that advice from constitutional experts suggest that a federal law regulating marijuana could override current state laws (only Australian Capital Territory has legalized recreational cannabis), enabling it to legalize and control cannabis use. In layman’s terms, the constitutional pundits have suggested that cannabis strains as plant varieties could be registered via section 51 of the constitution which allows the commonwealth to regulate copyrights, patents, designs and trademarks. The Greens say that giving power to create a legal national cannabis market would quash those state laws which criminalize marijuana.
We say it over and over again, in this day and age where around 40% of Australians who enjoy recreational cannabis and are considered criminals by the state needs to be overturned. Plus, as ever, we have the figures to back up the economic logic to do so. Clever financial models backed by the Greens suggest that AU$ 3 billion/year would be raised in taxes.
It’s not clear whether the Green’s bill will get voted through, but we’re hoping that Australia will soon join the ranks of Uruguay, Malta, those 19 US states……..
So what about the old argument used by many a stodgy, regressive politician (and we have those in shedloads all over the place, am I right?) that cannabis is a gateway drug?
We’re here to take you through a study published in January 2023 in the journal Psychological Medicine, based on research at IBG (CU Boulder’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics) which followed participants since adolescence – who are now aged 24-49 – collecting data on use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and several illicit drugs, as well as measures of phycho-social health.
The study was based on 240 pairs of twins in which one lies in a state that has legalized and the other in a state that has not. Researchers were seeking to analyze what changes, if any, cannabis legalization causes. Having twins in a study automatically controls all those variables, such as age, social background, genetic inheritance, etc. Anyhow, concluding and taking into account some phycho-social measures to get a pretty complete picture of the impacts on a person, like use of alcohol, psychotic behavior, relationship problems, unemployment and use of illicit drugs such as cocaine or heroin, the researchers couldn’t come up with any major differences between the two sets of twins. In fact, they found no changes in illicit drug use after legalization, but they did find that twins in states where cannabis is legal did show fewer symptoms of alcohol use disorder and were less likely to engage in risky behavior that those twins in state where cannabis is still illegal.
Food for thought.
We believe that prohibition makes everything worse. We even read recently that recreational cannabis improves your love-life. We’ll leave that for another day!
Until the day we’re not treated like criminals, Marijuana Games continues to champion legalization of recreational cannabis in Spain and elsewhere. Just as a reminder, here is the basic answer to Is cannabis legal in Spain.
Summing up, cannabis with THC content is an illegal substance in Spain. If you are found in possession of a small amount of the substance in a public place you may be fined and your product will certainly be confiscated. Evidently, if you’re found with large amounts, you’ll be arrested and charged for trafficking. The legality of private cannabis social clubs are pending a supreme court decision, but this court has been locked in its own internal wranglings to have made any headway on its decision. So, if you join as a private member at a private cannabis social club in Spain, you are protected by stringent privacy laws put in place with the establishment of the Constitution of 1978 after the downfall of the dictatorship. This means that you donate a membership fee, and consume cannabis within the privacy of the club. The clubs request that all members be aware of the legalities and respect the rules.
Because we truly and passionately believe that all adults should have safe access to cannabis, we have carefully selected some clubs where our friends will be secure and the product is not tampered with chemical nasties like some stuff you can find on the streets.
If you’d like sponsorship to join a club in Madrid, Barcelona, Mojácar or Marbella, please use the form below to contact us.
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