The word has really spread. Barcelona has become home to between 300-400 private cannabis social clubs in fewer than 5 years. It’s not obvious to those that aren’t in the know, generally the tourists visiting the city for its history, architecture and warm welcoming culture aren’t affected or offended by the current situation. The cannabis social clubs are quite discreet. Most entrances simply have a small logo next to the camera buzzer.
Some are a little braver but never in your face. “If you know… you know,” says The Resin Club founder, Jaime, of the brightly coloured trichome macro shot that fills the club’s front window. At no point was there a predictable cannabis leaf drawing attention to a club entrance. And that’s because these aren’t the coffeeshops that cannabis tourists can just turn up to like they have been used to in the Netherlands since the mid 1970’s.
This is actually something that the CSC’s have made an effort to stay away from and yet it is what is still jeopardising the whole model and international social experiment. No advertising, must be a cannabis user already plus a friend of a member to join, over 18 years old and run not for profit. The CSC’s are private member clubs that sprang out of the desire to have good quality cannabis at a fair and affordable price – the need for a club house quickly evolved out of this.
There is a real community and family spirit within these associations and that was truly felt whilst visiting a number of them. There is still quite a large gray area where the clubs are tolerated due to them operating on private property, something that’s protected under the Spanish constitution, but there is still no regulation to make sure they are acting within the intended ethos of a cannabis association. From the outside K-Lite Association looked like it could be a gym.
By Greg de Hoedt
Read the full story at ukcsc.co.uk
