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Light cannabis illegal, again!

Light cannabis illegal, again!

Light cannabis illegal, again!

It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so dramatic: it only took few bullshit said by the Minister to make cannabis illegal again in Italy! The Minister of the Interior Salvini claims that smoking or eating cannabis-based cookies is unhealthy. It only took a couple of weeks plus the electoral success of Lega, led precisely by Salvini to get the “reverence” of the Cassation.

Maybe it was only a way not to hurt the sensitivity of the Minister on the matter. Yes, because only few months ago, at the beginning of February, the same Cassation ruled that light cannabis was legal, nullifying any seizures harming the stores and establishing and confirming the legality of the product.

The reverse action seems only “obsequious”, or a sort of “we are on your side” message to the Minister. This seems to be the situation, which gives us reasons to think about the episode but also about Justice in general. The paradox is that few months ago the seizure led to confirming its legality but now another seizure is completely overturning the situation.

It seems like in Italy things are not working right, that the system is down and that the only ones to pay for this are its citizens.

It’s funny how the speed and the combination of Salvini’s bullshit about cannabis make us think… Andreotti once said “Thinking the worst is a sin, but more often than not you guess it right”. Here the bad thought is that turning down light cannabis and making it illegal leads us to an extraordinary “coincidence”: Salvini wants to ban and declares war to all “drugs” and at the same time the Cassation… Maybe Andreotti was right?!

The current and future economic damage

This story has also heavy consequences on the economy; in fact we are talking about 800 shops that are basically illegal now. These shops that sell light cannabis have now become illegal and outlaw out of the blue. Tell me now if this is not absurd. It is a story worth a Disney movie.

However, the damage is not only done against ships, but also against producers and all the business turnover. It is a big damage: Salvini has said a lot and done a lot of damage to the point that Cassation has decided to go for the legitimacy of his statements. It’s ridiculous, I know, but Italy seems like a country destined to permanent damage. No wonder young people flee from their homeland!

Besides all this current economic disaster, this situation also damages the future growth potential. Yes, because the sector is in sustained rise and definitely these games are not helping those who would like to start a business and open their own store. The damage is not only focused on the present but it is even bigger if we look at the future and at the growth potential of the sector. And then they say that we’re undergoing a crisis and that there are no jobs… We are witnessing an all-singing, all-dancing attitude that is not working at all! If this three-dimensional status is confirmed, the cannabis production sector will get punched in the stomach.

Let’s remember that cannabis is not only joints!

Having declared legal cannabis illegal, they have condemned one of most flourishing sectors in Italy at the moment. It is important at this point to remember that with light cannabis you can make a lot of different products, even food and beverages, from cookies to oil (full of healthy properties by the way) to furniture and décor to a lot more.

This is to say that with the cannabis plant you can make hundreds of different things, besides weed for joints. It’s good to remember that it is free of THC therefore free of the active substance, so harmless. Moreover, even the pharmaceutical and medical sectors are starting to prescribe therapeutic cannabis to their patients. What now? We can also assume that soon the number of “ill” people in Italy will increase. If light cannabis remains illegal, many people will use this as an excuse. Let’s talk about Italy then.

Now, someone should explain to us, possibly in easy words, the reason why a harmless product should be illegal. We already wrote it in other posts: how come Cassation does not declare alcohol or cigarettes illegal? Maybe because Salvini smokes and drinks? The outcome of the Cassation seems like an extraordinarily exaggerated decision. In 2016 the law was regulating the sale and allowing the regular trade and cultivation of canapa as an agricultural plant.

What’s wrong now then? Easy, the Thc level, the substance that creates psychotropic effects, present in a percentage between the 0.2% and the 0.6% is superior to the one allowed. In other words, according to the Cassation, light cannabis becomes illegal because the tolerance percentage is not referred to the products but rather to the active substance of the plant, therefore its sale is not allowed according to the law 242 of 2016.

Extremist positions and a prohibitionism mentality

The Minister’s statements have been strict and firm: no drugs without any exceptions. “You can have fun without drugs”, he said. On the same wavelength also Meloni, another politician with double morals, deemed light cannabis illegal but gave the green light to alcohol and cigarettes. I can already imagine them burning canapa in the squares with whiskey bottles just like sheriffs used to do in the time of Al Capone.

It seems like being in a comedy show that does not make you laugh, but rather makes the lives of many people hard as they see their businesses destroyed even without joints.

What else to add? We are shocked by the constant change of things and decisions taken by the few for millions of people almost as if they were under psychotic effect. Yes, because otherwise we could not explain certain absurd, contradictory and persecutory situations. We are witnessing a social deterioration and this is definitely not due to cannabis because in fact there are no deaths due to cannabis. Instead, can Salvini and Meloni say the same thing about cigarettes and alcohol? Of course not, yet every year they kill thousands of people but no one serves as sheriff against whoever sells or produces alcohol and cigarettes.

We just got back to the obscurantism: light cannabis is illegal. Take note!

Spanish law on cannabis, legal but with caution

Spanish law on cannabis, legal but with caution

Spanish law on cannabis, legal but with caution

This is one of those questions that more and more consumers ask themselves: what does Spanish law say about cannabis? Let’s try to give some information to better understand how this matter is being dealt with in Spain. Let’s start by saying that marijuana is legal but we need to clarify that it is only so in Cannabis Social Clubs. You can forget about buying or consuming it open-air just like normal cigarettes. The law, or better, the law on cannabis in Spain offers the possibility to consume and produce it, but only under specific conditions. As we already mentioned, you can only consume cannabis in clubs where you need to be a member and pay a subscription fee.

In other words, you can create a cooperative specialized in growing the plants that then sell their crops to the different clubs spread throughout Spain. It is a system that works extremely well: on one side the production and on the other the consumer retail. In between there is law enforcement and public authorities that control everything to avoid issues that could lead to the collapse of the system.

Not only this type if legal liberalisation offers an easier control to the authorities but it also contributes to reduce the crimes connected to it. Becoming a member of one of the clubs is the only way to access cannabis legally without fearing to be caught because of smoking. This is a very positive achievement, however, it is important to keep in mind that it Spain is not Toyland given that consumption is not allowed outside clubs. Keep this in mind to avoid running risks.

It is forbiddent to smoke marijuana on the street

Smoking on the street is a mistake to be avoided but that many people make, even just for fun. Big mistake! Police meticulously controls that no one is smoking in public places or on the street. These controls can also create some problems that could be avoided because of the waste of time and the “ride” to the police station. The consequences don’t stop there given that who gets caught will have to pay a fine of €300, get a report that will be filed. Let’s sum up: you cannot smoke on the street because if you get caught you will have to pay two zeroes sums!

Moreover, cannabis law in Spain also prohibits the possession of marijuana, without any minimum quantity. It is forbidden, end of the story. There is no easy way to manage to do this, unless you go in one of the many Cannabis Social Clubs to smoke freely and without problems. Here you can smoke, relax and enjoy the pleasure of smoking without controls or restrictions as they are the only happy islands allowed by law where free consumption is allowed.

This is the only way you can avoid being sanctioned or having unpleasant experiences with the police that can keep you even for hours. So please do not follow the “easy suggestions” online without any foundation: we are here, in Barcelona and we directly deal with this reality everyday. Yes, Spanish law offers the possibility of consuming it, but remember that you can only do so in authorised coffee shops, otherwise you can be liable for your actions. To whoever believes it is only necessary to show that you bought the marijuana in the coffee shops and believes to be following the law, remember that you are wrong and that this is not how law works.

The differences with Amsterdam

The Netherlands was the first country in Europe to hold the monopoly of light drugs, particularly Amsterdam, but nowadays compared to Spain they seem to have lost their ranking. The law on cannabis in Spain has started a real cultural revolution, not only in the country but all over Europe. Right now Barcelona is the city that more than any other understood this new wave of cultural liberalism, far from fake and hypocrite prohibitionism dogmas. In Spain rules are precise: you can consume but not on the street, and if you are caught even with a minimal quantity, your marijuana is seizes and you get fined. Nothing bad of course, but it’s good to keep in mind to avoid these type of situations with the local authorities.

The next step will probably be this: legalising also the possession and personal use just like it happened with cigarettes. If you go around with a pack you are fine, but if you go around with a whole box, unless you’re a retailer, you will have consequences in the case of marijuana. We are at a crossroad and for sure the coffee shop option seems like the best path to take, at least to stigmatise a cumbersome culture. The law on cannabis in Spain is relatively new and it is normal that with time it will be improved. It is always like this because it is impossible to predict all the variables of each social change regulated by new laws.

Cannabis in cannabis coffee shops

For whoever goes to Spain and wants to try the experience in one of the many cannabis coffee shops, we can say that it will be exactly the way you expect it to be. A real cultural experience that puts emphasis on the free individual choice, though with the above mentioned limits, but still allowing freedom. Now it’s time for you to choose you nice cannabis coffee shop and to enjoy a great moment of relaxation in peace. We must say that the law on cannabis in Spain is well structured because it puts in relation local producers with local authorised retailers selling in authorised shops.

Consuming marijuana means incentivising Spanish farmers that are growing year by year, with clear benefits for the economy. In other words, the law on cannabis in Spain is not casual given that beyond the legal market of canapa there is also a system that produces other income for the State. With respect to tourism, it is a strong incentive because tens of thousands of youngsters and adults come to Barcelona and then spend their money in the city in restaurants, bars, hotels and all those infrastructures related to tourism and entertainment.

It is definitely not a law done overnight and definitely there is room for improvement but it produces many positive effects that also give the country and Barcelona an aura of social and cultural openness like few other places in the world. This is something not to underestimate, especially if this change can give the country an image of modern and socially evolved place as this will mean that the benefits will last for decades.

Cannabis business, Belushi and other stars become producers

Cannabis business, Belushi and other stars become producers

Cannabis business, Belushi and other stars become producers

Breaking news: the actor Jim Belushi, John’s younger brother, is among the American producers of cannabis showing that this business is taking over Hollywood. He is only the last of a long list of stars who have invested in the production of cannabis, although he personally takes care of his plants, a sign that he appreciates cannabis and its properties.

Many other famous people in the US are investing in this product whose growth perspectives are incredible, among them we can find Seth Rogen, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Tyson, Snoop Dogg and Marley’s heirs. In Italy instead, we have a popular J-Ax and other stars who sniffed the wind, showed their faces and invested money on it.

The last person to publicly share his cannabis business is Belushi, son of Albanian parents who migrated to Uncle Sam years ago. Jim is not someone who goes for small things: not only did he put his name on the product but he also produces it.

He grows marijuana in his Belushi’s Farm in Oregon that apparently is a good place to plant it. Belushi is someone who goes in his farm and checks the crops, their health, and their quality of course. One of the reasons that pushed him to produce marijuana is its medical use as he declared it in his recent interviews.

He refers to the cannabis that he personally harvests and takes care of as being therapeutic and one of the treatments he mentions is the one for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) that affects veterans.

If Johns smoked weed like a chimney he would still be alive!

It’s the sad truth: if his brother John Belushi who died at the young age of 33 from overdose were a heavy cannabis smoker, he would still be alive!

Unfortunately, or fortunately, joints have never killed anyone and it’s a crime having mistreated this plant for so long.

Things are changing today and they are following the direction that they should have taken at least half a century ago. However, we know why it has never been the case and it is due to the usual lobbies that had to profit from common people. Now cannabis is legal in many countries and in few years it will become in many more and with less restrictions than before.

This means that the cannabis business will grow even more and that more people will invest creating an increasing the supply able to meet the demand. It’s possible that in few years or months cannabis will be sold without many constraints just like cigarettes. Everything changes and will change: sometimes people really need to scent money to attract capital, just like blood for sharks. The smell of money is just as strong as the one of joints, so, the more the supply grows, the more the smell of money will attract the “sharks”! So what’s the advantage?

Simply put, it will favour the acceleration towards a more homogeneous, free and legal market for marijuana. The cannabis business could be the deal of the next decades: I can already imagine affordable blue-chips of joints listed on Wall Street! It’s the market baby, where you can make money, no matter how, as long as you make it! Anyway, better joints than weapons, therefore “make love not war”.

Some guesses for the future

Considering that the cannabis business is seducing Hollywood stars, we can predict that the American jet-set will follow the flock like the herds in Western movies. We can be sure that more big names will follow Belushi and the others into the marijuana business, because of money, because they snort it, or just because prospects are good.

Any good investor wants one thing only: a solid and high income. Now, assuming that the cannabis business keeps growing, the companies already listed could multiply their value therefore making many people rich. There have been already great signals last autumn, where one of the listed companies experienced a surge of 900%!

Many have already babbled that this is a bubble, as it often happens in these cases, however they did not take into account an important fact: we are not talking about technology but about weed, isn’t it clear? Technology is often outdated by the time it gets commercialized while marijuana has neither trends nor cycles of this type.

No technologies or plants will ever surpass the cannabis business: it is only her and her variants that will stay. Can you understand the difference between a joint and a Smartphone already obsolete after two weeks? This is to say that cannabis has all it takes to be winning product in the stock market.

The advantages for ordinary mortals in between puffs

For the consumer there would be multiple benefits. Firstly, the more money flows within the cannabis business, the easier it would be to find affordable marijuana. Secondly, it would always be available without the pain of bans and bollocks, and most probably regulated internationally. This would redeem it from its sins, a delayed but necessary process for both the consumers and the market. You can be sure about it.

So let the market be, if it gives us back what it took away from us. Of course market stands for power and money of those who influence us and decide for us, it’s always been like this, nothing new. Praise goes to Jim Belushi and his colleagues for helping the cannabis business bringing money to many people, after all someone has to do it.

The nice thing about this new market is its democratic side, in the sense that anyone can grow his own “garden” and smoke his own homemade joints. Maybe soon it will be possible as long as the monopoly does not interfere. In that case we will be content with buying a little bit of weed at the tobacco shop: in the end what matters is the possibility of consuming cannabis freely!

Cannabis emergency, but alcohol is the real issue!

Cannabis emergency, but alcohol is the real issue!

Cannabis emergency, but alcohol is the real issue!

The “cannabis emergency” strand is still going. If only there was someone tackling alcohol abuse as the real major problem among youngsters, instead. This is not happening maybe because beer, wine and liquors are sold like water in the supermarkets and the State applies a tax on them therefore their consumption is good for the economy.

Indeed alcohol is a major issue and according to the data of the National Observatory the National Institute of Health (Osservatorio Nazionale Alcol-Cneps) this is a real emergency that kills thousands of people every year. Instead, no deaths can lead back to cannabis, yet according to the Minister Salvini the problem is still the cannabis shops in Italy, not the alcohol vendors.

The Minister’s statements were quickly backed up by concrete actions, with many legal cannabis shops closing down thanks to the “zealous” action taken by the Quaestors who are “obsequiously” following the Minister’s words. Needless to say that there is no such thing as a cannabis emergency because no one has ever got sick because of a joint, while alcohol quietly ends thousands of lives.

We live in an upside down world where the causes of real physical damage to the people and the society are systematically kept silent. This problem is a hundred times bigger than the cannabis emergency and it involves teenagers, adults and elderly people. However, the issue for the Minister still remains the joint, weakened and with an extremely low percentage of THC.

Some data on alcohol and its effects!

Italy is the most “alcoholic” country in the world but apparently this is not a problem according to the anti-cannabis movement leaders. Alcohol is consumed among the most vulnerable age groups: three out of ten 11 to 14 years old youngsters admitted that they drink sometimes. This is only the launching pad to adulthood, in fact between the age of 15 to 18 the percentage of drinking people increases.

The most worrying data is that it is becoming more common nowadays for people to start drinking at an early age, with dangerous repercussions in the future. Male teenagers aged 11 to 14 are more seduced by alcohol than female ones and more often than not they are “initiated” at home, a not so reassuring finding.

The point is that, opposite to cannabis, a bottle of wine, beer or hard liquor can always be found at home but no one ever questions the problem. Cannabis instead cannot really be found in cupboards like cigarettes, that are easily accessible to youngsters at home and that represent an additional issue.

Alcohol addiction is very similar to the one of heavy drugs, with devastating effects for the mind and the body. For young people going through body development in particular this means undermining their health and threatening their immune system. This translates in signing for a future as chronically sick individuals and often for early death due to the consequences of their actions. This being said we can conclude that there is no cannabis emergency but rather a social emergency related to the mild customs of the country.

Shall we talk about healthcare costs?

Have you ever heard of someone being hospitalized for a cannabis-related illness? Of course not. How many are the people who have been hospitalised because of alcohol instead? They are tens or hundreds of thousands of patients every year that the National healthcare system needs take care of at the expense of everyone. If we were to quantify the cost of alcohol consumption in Italy and in the world we would need too many zeros, enough to give us headache.

Don’t you think that alcohol producers should be directly responsible? Declaring an elusive cannabis emergency without taking into account alcohol-related deaths sounds quite hypocrite and it offends the intelligence of any mentally sane person because opposite to alcohol, cannabis does not burn your brain!

Shall someone let the Minister Salvini know? Shall we also tell the M5S (Movimento 5 Stelle party) paladins who are more worried about the environment and legislating on washable sanitary pads? They are the ones who talk about cuts and waste but cannot see the black hole of public healthcare and how much an alcoholic and sick society is costing.

The conclusion is that the problem does not exist for these people who on paper should take care of the public wellness and people’s health. You know how it is, alcohol is a taboo: even if everyone knows that it harms like uranium no one gives a damn as they already have a constituency. Therefore, even if it’s not healthy just drink on it, drink and forget about it and forget that drinking is not good.

It’s easy to declare a cannabis emergency

Smokers are only a minority therefore they represent an unnecessary popular support. Can you imagine different political parties saying that alcohol is illegal because it kills the people? Obviously not: as we have already mentioned, drinkers vote and in Italy the 60% of the population drinks, so draw your own conclusions.

Saying that cannabis is dangerous and that it kills people is bullshit, and if people say so they are knowingly lying. You will never find a politician going against voters while shaking a bottle of rhum saying “enough, this is dangerous!”. Here every disquisition can be taken as “beneficial side effect”: the drinker votes and it’s good, it gets sick and it’s good otherwise what the hell are the doctors for?

People have no value, if they did and the State really cared about the health of the citizens who maintain it financially, there wouldn’t be any more medicines to be sold. Apparently the cannabis emergency is so lethal that thanks to its natural properties it cures many people, not like alcohol. According to Minister Salvini the issue is the cannabis smokers, not the multinational companies who sell alcohol out in the open and everywhere. So take note: joints are harmful while alcohol is good, especially for the interests of the few. Cheers… so to speak!

Cannabis illegal in Italy, Salvini’s last crusade!

Cannabis illegal in Italy, Salvini’s last crusade!

Cannabis illegal in Italy, Salvini’s last crusade!

The latest “salvinian cannonball” on making cannabis illegal in Italy has obviously been source of controversy. Sometimes battles are fought for ideals, rights and for peace but not for bullshit. Right when we were on the right track for legalization and acceptance of this incredible expression of nature, voila, here comes the axe.

How can we be so culturally backward in such an incredibly evident way? Come on, no kidding, Salvini is the Minister of the Interior in a nation like Italy, how can he waste so much time and talks this way? Making cannabis illegal in Italy is a lost battle given that the world is changing its approach on this precise matter.

Salvini has repeatedly shared the idea of being against lobbies and multinational companies cannibalising small and medium businesses, therefore he should be aware that exactly the same lobbies banned cannabis almost a century ago. The large industry and the finance sector gave themselves the monopoly on everything, contributing to the elimination of the plant as it was threatening their huge interests.

We already talked about this topic in this post, of how the powerful people of the early past century banned cannabis, then why are we going back? Making cannabis illegal in Italy and in the rest of the world has been a crime against the people who grew it and got their income from it. It seems impossible that even today we are still talking about this plant as if it was an alien coming from another planet. Salvini please put your mind at ease: cannabis was here before you and it has been an incredible plant for humankind, not only to smoke but also to use in different ways.

Making cannabis illegal in Italy contributes to crime!

This is the reality: thanks to the opening of cannabis shops across the country, organized crime has lost something like 100 million euro. It’s not peanuts, and let’s not forget that we are only at the beginning, because actually the large distribution is yet to start, if Salvini allows. However, someone should explain that making cannabis illegal in Italy does not lead to any positive results, but rather the opposite.

The recent study signed by Vincenzo Carrieri of the university Università Magna Graecia Catanzaro confirms this tendency. With the spreading of cannabis shops the legal sale of cannabis has resulted in a decline in the seizure of illegal dealing by 14%.

This means that when smokers are given the chance to choose between legal and illegal cannabis they do not risk, and they buy in cannabis shops. This is only one of the many positive effects that are obviously real and not fantasy. The comforting consequence is that illegal cannabis does not pay taxes while the legal one does.

Apparently Salvini would rather have illegal drug dealers selling cannabis (given that he won’t be able to eradicate the issue anyway) than allowing stores with tills to sell it. Needless to say, that some logical thinking would definitely go for the legalising option and for the authorised distribution of cannabis. Maybe someone should show Minister Salvini some data just to see what he would say!

Let people, not the single person, choose

In view of human self-determination, which is a fundamental right, citizens are the ones who should make decisions. Apparently, people already chose and in multiple occasions even in the Parliament, they have always voted in favour. Italians, including non-smokers, have never liked illegal cannabis.

Awareness and reasoning want that freedom of choice applies on this topic as well, giving people the freedom to use cannabis legally. The general public has chosen, and it has done so on the basis of principles of legality and by asking themselves questions on the benefits of cannabis that have already been proven. Of course, it’s not going to end here but we are sure that the outcome is obvious: cannabis will be legalised, and we will still see it in the shops.

Maybe Salvini has his reasons to be against cannabis, but his problem is easily solvable by just not smoking it! However, as a Minister, breaking the balls of millions of people who have no fear of cannabis and who reap its benefits instead, is a little bit excessive. There are cases of consumption for therapeutic purposes; shall we forbid it to those people in need too?

If he claims that it is ok for cannabis to be used for medical purposes, but he is still fighting to make it illegal, let’s expect a herd of sick people queuing for analgesic cannabis in the future! We are in the middle of a grotesque joke, and let’s be honest, there are more urgent issues in Italy! Apparently not only is the government quiet on some topics but it also avoids talking about them and it clutches at straws using marijuana as an excuse. Oh please!

Cannabis is the people’s freedom claim

The biggest problem of this plant is its own nature, as everyone can grow it and produce a lot of things from it: clothes, food, medicines and fuel, basically everything. According to Salvini illegal cannabis in Italy creates disorder and a society in disarray, which are the motives of his battle. Actually, it produces exactly the opposite: as we have seen, legal cannabis fights the affairs of criminality, produces wealth and fiscal returns. Also, if creates jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities and diffused local wealth, you know why? Because the plant is natural and not patentable therefore everyone has the right to do whatever he wants with it.

Can you understand where the problem lies? The position of the Minister Salvini should emerge from this simple equation. Illegal cannabis in Italy is certainly not a battle for public order or legality, because if we think about its cannabis shops have contributed to the fight against illegal drug-dealing more than institutions and police have done so far. This should now be clear, and we would need someone to explain it to the Minister, maybe by having him taking two puffs of a joint that never hurt anybody!