Barcelona shuts down 49 cannabis clubs

City authorities ordered the closure of 49 cannabis clubs in Barcelona on Wednesday, the latest move to tighten a legal loophole that has given the city a global reputation as a 'pothead's paradise'.

Barcelona City Hall ordered the closures after an inspection of 145 cannabis clubs found a number with "deficiencies in their functioning and problems of coexistence with neighbours", it said in a statement.

Dealing in cannabis is illegal in Spain but the law does not prohibit growing it for private consumption. It also allows the existence of smokers' associations or cannabis clubs.

Club members pay an annual subscription fee plus a variable fee to cover the cost of producing the cannabis they consume.

Some clubs are suspected of stepping over the line, however, venturing beyond their non-profit association activities into full-blown drug-dealing.

Local authorities, concerned by their growth, imposed a moratorium last year on associations opening premises for smoking the drug.

Following the closures on Wednesday, the Catalan federation of cannabis associations, CatFAC, appealed for dialogue between the authorities and the clubs.

Click here to read the full article.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.