Catalonia regulates the consumption, cultivation and transport of cannabis
This Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 3:00 PM, the Parliament of Catalonia will approve a bill to regulate cannabis from a comprehensive perspective: the regulations will establish the criteria for consumption, cultivation, transport and activity in private cannabis clubs.
Follow the live vote (3:00 PM) on the proposed law from the Parliamentary Channel (https://www.parlament.cat/web/canal-parlament/directes/index.html?p_cp0=1)
This initiative will have the support of Junts pel Sí (JxS), PSC, Catalunya Sí que es Pot (CSP) and the CUP, while Ciudadanos does not have a clear position and the PP will vote against it.
In 2014, a resolution was approved to regulate cannabis clubs within six months, but the lack of consensus and inactivity led La Rosa Verda (a pro-cannabis group) to undertake in 2015 a collection of more than 56,000 validated signatures to present an ILP (Popular Legislative Initiative) and a panel was also created in the Parliament through which more than 30 experts passed, including: psychologists, pharmacologists, former officials of the National Drug Plan, former magistrates, sociologists, doctors, Milton Romani, former president of the Drug Board of Uruguay.
This proposal constitutes a very important and pioneering standard in Europe as it establishes the guidelines for a crop not to be seized by the police.
The coordinator of the ILP, Oriol Casals, says he is very satisfied with the final text and declares that few initiatives in the Parliament have such cross-party support.
Associations will not be allowed to produce more than 150 kg of dried marijuana per year
Associations will be the only entities authorized to cultivate marijuana and will not be permitted to produce more than 150 kg of dried marijuana per year. Each cultivation will require an expert report from an agricultural engineer to verify that the projected yield aligns with the consumption needs of the association's members. Regarding transportation, an authorization must be obtained, including the association's details, the carrier's identity, the date, quantity, type of product, and destination. Public transportation will not be permitted for this purpose.
Prevent cannabis tourism and establish the maximum amount of marijuana that each member can purchase.
To avoid the problem of cannabis tourism, a waiting period of 15 days is planned from the time the application for membership in the cannabis club or association is submitted until the cannabis can be acquired.
Regarding the amount that members can purchase, it is up to 60 grams per month for those over 21 years of age and up to 20 grams for those between 18 and 21 years of age, while these limits are waived for consumption for therapeutic or medicinal purposes. The sale of alcohol or cannabis-infused food products will not be permitted in the associations, and those dispensing cannabis must be trained on the properties of cannabis and its derivatives, as well as the risks, harms, and side effects that may result from its consumption.,
The proposal even opens the door to tax collection and calls on the Government to study the feasibility of its own tax on cannabis or to modify an existing law to include the activity of these associations.
Potential conflict of interest and possible challenge of the law by the Government before the Constitutional Court
When the ILP began to be processed in the Parliament, Rajoy's Executive wrote to the Catalan chamber warning that the regulation of this matter was the competence of the State, but the JxS deputy, Alba Vergés, declared that: 'The Statute says that we have competences in matters of consumer affairs and I think we are within our limits'.
We must not forget that the regulation approved by the Basque Parliament in 2016 is currently suspended by the Constitutional Court due to a jurisdictional dispute. The central government filed an appeal, arguing that it infringed upon its powers regarding pharmaceutical products, criminal law, and public safety.
The sooner it is regulated, the sooner the lack of control will end
To date, Catalonia has been home to everyone from cannabis activists upholding ethical principles to drug traffickers and foreign mafias taking advantage of this consumption model.
This approval of the bill follows a global trend in addressing cannabis use by prioritizing risk prevention and harm reduction over prohibition.
Fountain: HuffPost
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