Revisiting the birthplace of the Cannabis Social Club model and the role played by Cannabis Social Club federations
Authors:
Laurent Jansseune, Mafalda Pardal, Tom Decorte, and Òscar Parés-Franquero.
Journal:
Journal of Drug Issues
Year:
2018
About the study
This exploratory study seeks to shed light onto how current Cannabis Social Clubs in Barcelona are operating and on whether and how their affiliation with a federation has shaped their practices. In particular, it aims to uncover the differences and similarities between federated and non-federated clubs and investigates whether federated ones adhere in practice to their respective codes of conduct.
The results suggest that federated Cannabis Social Clubs’ practices tend to engage more in harm reduction activities and to be in line with the self-regulatory codes or guidelines developed by the clubs or by their Cannabis Social Club federations.
Further enquiry into some aspects of the model might provide important answers for future debates on cannabis regulation and the choice between for-profit and not-for-profit models.
Abstract
Background: Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) are a nonprofit model for the supply of cannabis originating in Spain. This article aims to provide an overview of current CSC practices in Barcelona, exploring the role played by CSC Federations in shaping them.
Methods: This analysis draws on 32 semistructured interviews with CSC managers (n = 15) and with other stakeholders in Barcelona (n = 17). We build also on field observations at other CSCs based in Barcelona.
Results: We found a heterogeneity of CSC practices, some of which were not in line with the self-regulatory codes developed by the CSC Federations. In applying an earlier CSC typology, we identified also country-specific CSC features.
Conclusion: While the CSC Federations have contributed to unifying the cannabis movement and made efforts to homogenize CSCs’ practices, in the absence of (government) cannabis regulation, their efforts have to some extent been undermined.
Photo by GRAS GRÜN on Unsplash.
Categories:
Studies & papers
, Cannabis
Tags:
Cannabis Social Clubs (CSC)
, supply
, cannabis associations
, federation
, qualitative research
, Barcelona
, cannabis
, study