El Capitan doesn't believe that it’s not a question of if Cannabis will be a globally legalized and regulated industry but when. Hemp is a plant with extremely diverse use cases with benefits for physical and mental health as well as raw material for many modern society products like Paper, Clothing, Beer, Sunscreen, Milk, Shoes, Soap, Furniture, Rope and many more. Countries who are opening up to legalization are seeing positive feedback from healthcare, the people and the economy.

With new supporting studies coming out every day and the slow mass adoption of CBD products into pharmacies and supermarkets across the world, we are just a couple of years behind the start of a legalisation wave.  

In the following article series we will take a deeper look into some of the countries at the spear front of legalisation and what impact it had on the society.  As this is the first part of the series we obviously will start with the home country of el Capitan: Spain. 

Cannabis in Spain is still illegal for commercial purposes (selling or trading), but it is decriminalised for personal cultivation use. By Using a legal grey areas in Spanish legislation, cannabis clubs (or coffee shops) are a very popular way for enthusiasts to obtain and enjoy cannabis as a legal private collective.

Today Barcelona is Europe's leading Cannabis friendly city which has over 400 clubs where members can enjoy access to high quality CBD, THC and Hash products. The clubs range from small to big, to simple to luxurious, so there is something for everyone.  

In other cities across Spain the adoption is still going slower, as technically it moves in a grey area of the law in many areas it is mainly up to how strong the local police and the public prosecution offices are enforcing the rules.  In more liberal ruled cities like Barcelona the amount of clubs is significantly higher than in others. Also the bigger the city, the more like it is to find adoption for Cannabis Clubs.

Clubs in exchange for some freedom are very strict in allowing entrance only to registered members as well as making sure that there is a positive and respectful behaviour by its members to the neighborhood they resign in. We also have to consider that a large number of clubs have been forced to close for not abiding the rules. In other cases bureaucracy hurdles were just too complicated or changing constantly making it impossible for some of the projects to evolve. Despite this there is a clear increase in clubs, head shops and consumers, the trend is clear.  

Sadly however, many members of the community still are facing criminal charges and prosecution by the police who sometimes are acting very volatile to the moods of the current person in charge of the district. Overall the population is not only getting more and more used to Cannabis being part of the society as it is alcohol but new customers are increasing the market size each year. Before Covid19- this also led to a strong increase in tourists flying in from all across Europe to become part of the Cannabis culture that this city is building up.  

Interesting fact, the Cannabis clubs are paying taxes on Accessoires (for example products from el Capitan as you can find them in many clubs around the city) or Beverages consumed, but they are not paying any taxes on buds neither CBD or THC that are sold within the clubs. There is still a big opportunity to profit from the monetary benefits of further regulating and legalising as the Spanish taxpayer could profit from millions in income from locals and tourists alike. 

We believe that the spanish Government will not want to miss out on the significant economical upsides to a market that is widely positively seen by the population. 

What do you think: What is the future outlook for the Cannabis market in Spain? 

Let us know your thoughts. 

And as always! Feel like the Captain