CBD is getting out of hand in Spain: people smoke joints on café terraces
CBD is legal in Spain, but smoking buds on a terrace can cost you a fine. We look at the legal absurdity and the tax data from US regulation.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
CBD joints: the legal absurdity you can smell on the terraces
Spain has created a grey market where CBD flower can be bought legally, but smoking a joint on a terrace can result in a fine of up to 600 euros. The police, baffled, analyse buds with no THC while citizens wonder whether the smell of "weed" is a crime or not. The result: a waste of resources and a confusion that only benefits sellers.
A legal limbo called CBD
Spanish law bans hierba consumption in public spaces, but does not distinguish between THC and CBD. Since CBD buds look and smell exactly like psychoactive hierba, officers are forced to issue fines and send samples to the lab to determine their content. An expensive, slow process that exposes how outdated the rules are. Meanwhile, in the United States, the regulated market has generated more than 9.7 billion dollars in taxes since 2021. A figure some use to argue for full legalisation.
Nuisance and rights: the consumer is not smoking alone
Not everyone approves. Some complain that smoking CBD in public spaces, even if it does not get you high, stinks just like hierba. "It ruined my breakfast," one affected resident complains. Spain's citizen safety law (the Ley de Seguridad Ciudadana) allows fines for consuming in the street, regardless of the substance. But applying it to CBD is controversial: is it consistent to fine people for something sold in the shop next door?
The CBD business keeps growing
CBD shops are multiplying in cities. Buds, hash, oils and vapes with synthetic cannabinoids such as HHC or THZ are on sale, which do produce psychoactive effects at high prices. One user recounts paying 10 euros per gram for these products, while pure CBD costs 1 euro. The market is getting more sophisticated, but the law remains stuck in the 1990s.
The question that remains: will Spain dare to regulate CBD the way it has regulated tobacco or alcohol, or will we stay stuck in this comedy of confusion? The US figures show the pie is juicy. But in the meantime, the only certainty is that the smell of joints on the terraces is not going away.
Related debates in the forum
Spain has created a grey market where CBD flower can be bought legally, but smoking a joint on a terrace can result in a fine of up to 600 euros. The police, baffled, analyse buds with no THC while citizens wonder whether the smell of "weed" is a crime or not. The result: a waste of resources and a confusion that only benefits sellers.
A legal limbo called CBD
Spanish law bans hierba consumption in public spaces, but does not distinguish between THC and CBD. Since CBD buds look and smell exactly like psychoactive hierba, officers are forced to issue fines and send samples to the lab to determine their content. An expensive, slow process that exposes how outdated the rules are. Meanwhile, in the United States, the regulated market has generated more than 9.7 billion dollars in taxes since 2021. A figure some use to argue for full legalisation.
Nuisance and rights: the consumer is not smoking alone
Not everyone approves. Some complain that smoking CBD in public spaces, even if it does not get you high, stinks just like hierba. "It ruined my breakfast," one affected resident complains. Spain's citizen safety law (the Ley de Seguridad Ciudadana) allows fines for consuming in the street, regardless of the substance. But applying it to CBD is controversial: is it consistent to fine people for something sold in the shop next door?
The CBD business keeps growing
CBD shops are multiplying in cities. Buds, hash, oils and vapes with synthetic cannabinoids such as HHC or THZ are on sale, which do produce psychoactive effects at high prices. One user recounts paying 10 euros per gram for these products, while pure CBD costs 1 euro. The market is getting more sophisticated, but the law remains stuck in the 1990s.
The question that remains: will Spain dare to regulate CBD the way it has regulated tobacco or alcohol, or will we stay stuck in this comedy of confusion? The US figures show the pie is juicy. But in the meantime, the only certainty is that the smell of joints on the terraces is not going away.
Related debates in the forum
- RINCÓN TAURINO II · 7873 replies
- Chonis possessed like The Walking Dead zombies at the Bad Bunny concert · 38 replies
- The monstrous end of Christian culture. · 181 replies
- They are seeking a prison sentence of more than 40 years for me · 991 replies
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (45 replies).
More summaries
-
Two Spains: brothers on opposite sides from 1936 to today's polarization
The Franco, Machado and Durruti brothers fought on opposing sides: how the two-Spains divide explains why polarization is still alive in Spain today
-
Spain's 'happy past' without outsiders: the nostalgia of 'they took everything from us'
A message evokes a 'happy Spain' of the past, free of foreigners. We examine the context of this nostalgia and its impact on today's debate.
-
Provision Proposed in Education Law to Amend Ley de Nietos Regarding Nationality Acquisition
Education Law amendment seeks to modify the Ley de Nietos, affecting thousands of people regarding nationality acquisition. The change is currently under review.
-
Iker, 23, lives bill-free in the woods: solar panels, a well and a YouTube channel
Iker, 23, lives bill-free in the woods with solar panels, a well and animals. The real business is the headline: the initial investment and the YouTube channel keep the…
-
As infrastructure crumbles, €106,320 goes to DAB radio
RTVE's tender for carrying the RNE signal in DAB+ amounts to €106,320. The debate over the cost of maintaining roads and railways remains open.
-
Spaniards in El Salvador: the fiscal pull of the Bukele effect
Spain is Europe's leading source of tourists to El Salvador and airlines are multiplying routes. Behind the tourism, a wave of entrepreneurs is arriving, drawn by near-nonexistent taxes.