Saving Rasquera

February 29, 2012 8:08 AM

Mired in debt, the small town of Rasquera, in Spain, is considering an unorthodox source of funding: growing marijuana.

Private cannabis consumption in Spain is legal, but its production, distribution and sale, however, aren't. Because the authorities are nevertheless lenient towards those who grow their own pot, there is an increasing number of "cannabis clubs". One such cannabis club is asking the town council of Resquera to rent them some public farmland.

At the same time, also in Spain, the Basque regional government (currently held by a coalition of the Spanish socialist and conservative parties) is pondering a law legalising, regulating and presumably taxing the sale and distribution of cannabis.

posted by Skeptic (8 comments total)

Woooooooo! Weeeeeeeeed! Hoooraaaaaaaayyyyy!

I really don't know what else to say on this issue.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:18 AM on February 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Meanwhile neighbor Portugal adopted a much less paramilitary attitude toward drug use, focusing on addiction treatments and fines, not imprisonment, and saw a drop in addiction rates and drug related crime.
posted by The Whelk at 8:28 AM on February 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Talk about your Spanish Moss, dude...
posted by jonmc at 8:34 AM on February 29, 2012

Pity that they will have to pave over that public farmland to build the hydroponic hothouses, but I'm thinking maybe it's time to move back to Spain.....
posted by three blind mice at 8:44 AM on February 29, 2012

Peace and Love from Palma de Mallorca man.
(Not that I ever inhaled of course)
posted by adamvasco at 12:06 PM on February 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

While if Spain were to dedicate more land to growing tobacco, which has higher mortality rates, this would not merit mention beyond the borders...
posted by IAmBroom at 12:16 PM on February 29, 2012

The Whelk: In Spain, private holding and use of drugs has been decriminalised since forever. Or since shortly after Franco, anyway.
posted by kandinski at 3:32 PM on February 29, 2012

I love Spain. I hope they make this work. And simply legalize cannabis outright.

I believe the legal theory behind cannabis clubs goes : You can grow like three plants for yourself. You can rent the space the plants needs. You can hire experts to tend your plants for you. And you may bundle these two services under one organization.

I'd heard clubs actually tag each plant to it's owner, meaning you could potentially wind up with a cruddy one, but doing so keeps it completely legal. I'd imagine their current debate isn't so much if the clubs are legal, but if the clubs can grow all the plants as a common pool or something.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:50 PM on February 29, 2012