Very few cannabis consumers can grow and consume their own cannabis without any sort of legal restriction in their own country. Amsterdam has always been under close watch by cannabis growers due to the fact that recreational cannabis consumption has been legal there since 1976. This changed when, in 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the production, distribution and consumption of cannabis; as the world wakes up an many states and countries begin to legalize, we’ve recently been blessed with the timely legalization of cannabis in Canada.
From today onwards, Canada will be the first country in the G7 that allows recreational use of cannabis. The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has followed through on one of his electoral promises in 2015, claiming that he can put the brakes on the black market and stop obstructing the justice system with non-violent offenders. From the 17th of October onwards, Canadian citizens can grow, possess, and consume cannabis, although they’ll have to wait until 2019 to access products such as cannabis-infused food, cosmetic products or cannabis e-cigs.
The Canadian Government states that cannabis will mainly be grown by government-approved private companies, allowing citizens in many provinces to grow up to four plants per household, as long as they’re less than a meter tall. Citizens can carry a maximum of 30g of cannabis, and 75% of the tax money from sales will go to each individual province/territory, and the remaining 25% will go to Ottawa.
Canada has one of the largest consumer rates per capita, with over 4.6 million consumers. 1 out of every 8 people have reported to have consumed cannabis within the last year. Uruguay is the only other country in the world that has legalized recreational use of cannabis, as well as 9 states in the US such as Colorado and Washington, where recreational consumption is also legal. Meanwhile, the only European country to allow recreational consumption is Holland, and even then you need to be in a specific allotted area to smoke such as a coffee shop and possession of cannabis is still illegal although rarely acted upon.
The U.K.
The U.K. has recently seen an outcry for the legalization of medicinal marihuana, after many cases of parents demanding legalization for their ill children. Interior Minister, Sajid Javid, has announced that from the first of November onwards, doctors in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be able to prescribe their patients with medicinal cannabis products.
This new legislation doesn’t limit what illnesses can be treated with cannabis, although the prescription must come from a specialist and never a general practitioner.
Cannabis in Spain
Meanwhile, in Spain it is tolerated to consume and grow cannabis privately without the intention to sell, and cannabis clubs were legalized in Catalonia mid-2017. Currently no big changes are expected, and in September, Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, stated that he had other things to worry about right now when asked if he would follow in Trudeau’s footsteps.
Spanish political parties such as PSOE, Podemos and Ciudadanos are still looking to keep working on the legalization of cannabis in Spain for medicinal purposes. On the 6th of June in the Cortes Valencianas they reached an agreement and made a non-legislative proposal together in order to push the government to regulate cannabis growing for personal use and to modify existing laws in order to regulate and legalize various processes involving cannabis.
