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Basque Country to Legalize, Regulate Marijuana

The parliament of Spain's Basque Country Autonomous Community will approve a new drug law early next year that will regulate marijuana cultivation, distribution, and consumption, EFE reported Tuesday.

the Basque parliament in Vitoria-Gasteiz (wikimedia.org)
The Basque Country Autonomous Community is charged with setting and enforcing domestic law within its borders in northeastern Spain. If the bill passes, it would mark a direct challenge to the United Nations' 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which forbids legalization.

"It's better to regulate than to ban," said Jesus Maria Fernandez, second in command at the region's health authority. Regulating "the growing, sale, and consumption of cannabis" is a better approach to pot smoking, he said, calling it "a practice that is already consolidated."

Regional health authority head Rafael Bengoa echoed his subordinate's words. "We do not want to be prohibitionists," he said. Bengoa added that "technical and legal studies have been undertaken" and that the regional government wants to "open a debate" with groups representing marijuana users to help "shape their rights."

The pending bill also includes measures for prevention and treatment not only of drug addiction, but also addictions to gambling and new technologies.

Vitoria-Gasteiz
Spain
Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
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4 plants per person legal to grow in Switzerland

Several European countries have decriminalized growing and possessing small amounts of cannabis. Switzerland has already got very relaxed drug laws with their cops looking the other way with drug use and from 1st January 2012 the official personal grow amounts of 4 plants per person will be legal e.g. 5 people living in a house can grow 20 plants. Spain has had very relaxed drug enforcement laws for along time, with smoking clubs allowing people to possess and grow cannabis. Will the US try to start a trade sanctions war against Spain to force them to criminalize their citizens in a similar way that they did when Canada said it was going to legalize cannabis. Denmark is going to only decriminalize cannabis due to this monetary threat of US & UN sanctions that are normally reserved for countries that kill (genocide) their own citizens e.g. Libya, Syria.   

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