a brief history of cannabis policies in spain - Journal of Drug Issues

GAMELLA, JIMÉNEZ RODRIGO
of drug control where contradictions remain pointing to conflicts among powers of
the state, regional and national governments, and different sectors of civil society
that support disparate views of illegal drug use and its consequences. Today, cannabis
policies embody many of these conflicts during a critical time when the use of this
drug is reaching record levels, and the world supply for cannabis has established
some of its central entrepots in Spain (see European Monitoring Centre for Drugs
and Drug Addiction [EMCDDA], 2003).
Now, as is also true in other Western countries, measures concerning hashish
and marijuana are the most “active policy battlefront” in the drug policy debate
(MacCoun & Reuter, 2001, p. 6). Although for more than a century there was a
traditional consumption of marijuana related to the Spanish colonies in Northern
Africa, the recent expansion of cannabis is an offshoot of the “drug revolution” of
the late 1960s. Since the mid 1970s, cannabis derivatives have become the illicit
drugs most often traded and consumed in Spain. After a decrease in the late 1980s,
the consumption of cannabis in the last decade has grown continuously among
teenagers and young adults (Observatorio Español sobre Drogas [OED], 2002b,
2003). By 2001, over 1.7 million people were using cannabis regularly, a portion
of them daily (OED, 2003). In the new adolescent cohorts, those who have tried
cannabis are becoming a majority (OED, 2002a). Therefore, three generations of
Spaniards have smoked cannabis, and this drug is the center of a huge illegal market
and a meaningful modern tradition (Gamella & Jiménez Rodrigo, 2003).
Moreover, cannabis is currently the cause of a social divide and a symbolic and
political confrontation (Elzo et al., 1999; Megías, Comas, Elzo, Navarro, & Romaní,
2000). Supporters of the present prohibitionist regime (and of an even more punitive
one) see marijuana and its resin as dangerous drugs, harmful to physical and mental
health, and the necessary gateway for the use of “harder” drugs such as cocaine,
amphetamines, or heroin. Prohibitionists oppose any leniency in respect to cannabis
dealers or those indulging in home cultivation, seed sales, and even consumption.
Among its defenders, marijuana is seen as safer, purer, and more natural than
alcohol or tobacco: a nonaddictive, benign, and even therapeutic “green” drug.
The notion that its use somehow leads to the abuse of more dangerous drugs is
derided or judged as exaggerated by the majority of experienced cannabis users
(Gamella & Jiménez Rodrigo, 2003; Mendiola & Becoña, 2003). In particular,
cannabis has a positive image among teenagers who grew up during the expansion
of “drug education” and prevention programs of the late 1980s and 1990s (see
OED, 2003).
Besides, as we will see, the tightening of regulations since 1992 has given a
rebellious meaning to cannabis use during this period of maximum use and social
acceptance (see OED, 2000, 2003). This apparent inconsistency has worked well
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