The Cannabis Party in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(Partido Cannabico) refers to different initiatives of

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

and

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracy, democracies, political campaigns often refer to election, electoral campaigns, by which representatives a ...

ing centered around

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

and drug policy

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

proposals. According to researchers, Spain is the European country with the most rich and vivid social movements in favour of cannabis policy reform. This also translated into a variety of political parties and proposals along the years.

2003–2006: Cannabis Party for Legalisation and Normalisation

Partido Cannabis por la Legalización y la Normalización (PCLYN; ) was formed at the end of 2003 in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain, although its first Congress was held in January 2004. At the beginning, it was promoted by different social movements and collectives, among which were three important

non-profits A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

: * "Asociación de la Cultura Cannábica" (''Cannabis Culture Association'', also sometimes called ''La Barraca de María''), * "Asociación de Internautas Cannabis Café" (''Association of Internet users 'Cannabis Cafe, or AICC), * "Federación de Asociaciones Cannábicas" (''Federation of Cannabis Associations'' or ''FAC''), the

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

of cannabis social clubs (nowadays called ConFAC).

Election results

The first elections where PCLYN presented candidates were the Municipal Elections of 25 May 2003 in the city of Valencia. The party obtained 4,176 votes. At the General Elections of 14 March 2004, PCLYN presented candidates in three provinces, with the following results: *

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

. Parliament: 5,446 votes. Senate: 13,240 votes. *

València Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Parliament: 9,563 votes. Senate: 35,278 votes. *

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

. Parliament: 1,836 votes. Senate: 7,938 votes. The last elections the party aspired to were the European Elections of 13 June 2004, with a list headed by Hector Boix. The party obtained a total of 53,767 votes (0.35%).

Discontinuation

In its early days, the party suffered a split, with those belonging to the AICC resigning from the party in February 2004. Other members became dissatisfied with the leadership of the party and its internal electoral processes following the party's first general meeting in May 2003. The splits caused logistical problems for the party which also suffered external attacks such as a

denial-of-service attack In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host co ...

on their web host on 16 May 2004. Nonetheless, the party continued its activities, holding meetings with groups such as Republican Left party (

ERPV Republican Left of the Valencian Country (, ERPV) is a Valencian left nationalist and republican party. The original ERPV was founded in 1933, then disbanded in 1935. In 2000 the vacant ERPV name was taken by the party resulting from the merge of ...

) or the

Confederation of the Greens The Confederation of the Greens (), frequently referred to as simply The Greens (, LV), is a green political party in Spain. Since 2011, 13 out of 16 of their member parties belong to Equo; for this reason, on 13 May 2012, the European Green Pa ...

, as well as with

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

members. In October 2006, original members of the party announced its reformation and reorganised. However, due to a lack of logistical and economical means, the party could not present further candidates to any other elections.

2010–2021: Representacion Cannabica de Navarra – Nafarroako Ordezkaritza Kanabikoa (Cannabis Representation of Navarre)

In 2010, a new political party was create din the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

autonomous region of Spain: Representacion Cannabica de Navarra – Nafarroako Ordezkaritza Kanabikoa (RCN-NOK), which translated as ''Cannabis Representation of Navarre''.

''"achieve decriminalization and eliminate the prohibition of the use, cultivation and trade of cannabis and its derivatives both for private recreational and therapeutic use of cannabis through the application of the green project"''

Election results

The first elections where RCN-NOK presented candidates were the Municipal Elections of 2007 in Navarra, where they obtained 4,685 votes. At the 2008 General Elections, the party presented candidates in four constituencies: *

: 1,823 votos. *

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

. Parliament: 2,275 votos. Senate: 8,172 votos. (Julio Arribas: 3,572 votes. - Alejandro Curiel: 2,381 votes - Ester Gochi: 2,219 votes) *

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. Parliament: 1,145 votes *

: 2,477 votes.

Discontinuation

In 2020, the police raided the

cannabis social club A Cannabis Social Club (CSC), sometimes called Cannabis Club, Cannabis Association, or Teapad, is a type of cannabis retail outlet, an industry model for regulated cannabis organised as non-profit cooperatives in which cannabis is cultivated, sh ...

which hosted the head offices of the party, in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

. In 2021, RCN-NOK opted to join the new nationwide cannabis party, Luz Verde.

2021–present: Luz Verde (Green Light)

During summer 2021, a group of historical Spanish

cannabis activists Following is a list of cannabis rights leaders, and activists in the cannabis legalization movement, including business leaders and celebrities who advocate for ending cannabis prohibition: Cannabis rights leaders ''Cannabis rights leaders, li ...

from different social movements and regions, launched the ''Luz Verte–Partido Cannábico'' (Green Light Cannabis Party) political party project. The party was reportedly created to address the "growing pressure on cannabis users amidst the

covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

" which the party saw exemplified by the imprisonment of two well-known cannabis activists (Albert Tió and Victor Segués), the wave of controls and repression over CBD shops and the destruction of some industrial hemp crops, lack of transparency in the granting of licenses by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and medical devices, and more importantly, the cancellation by the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

of the regional cannabis laws which had been approved in 2014 in Navarra and in 2017 in Catalonia, as well as the municipal regulations of the cities of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. The original president of the party was 83 years old Spanish activist Fernanda de la Figuera, known as "abuela marihuana" (''the marijuana granny''), until her death in 2022. She had previously been candidate for RCN-NOK in Málaga in 2004. Shortly after its creation, the party was at risk of dissolution for a number of procedural and formal issues. The dissolution was avoided, and the party could run for its first elections during the May 2023 local elections.

Elections results

Municipal Elections of 28 May 2023: *

: 932 votes (0.14%). *

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

: 1,442 (0.08%). *

Murillo el Fruto Murillo el Fruto is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North A ...

: 122 votes (32.01%, in a constituency of about 600 voters). The party obtained two seats at the village's municipal council. The party declared to local press they had obtained "the first two elected cannabis city council members of Europe" although the campaign geared around the creation of

-related economical and agricultural activity in the village, rather than psychoactive cannabis-related issues. Luz Verde is also involved in social movement in defense of cannabis social clubs in Barcelona and other forms of activism.

External links

rcnnavarra.org
Official website of the RCN-NOK party ()
luzverde.info
Official website of the Luz Verde party

References

{{Cannabis in Spain, state=expanded 2003 in cannabis 2003 establishments in Spain Cannabis in Spain Cannabis political parties Political parties established in 2003 Political parties in Spain

2003–2006: Cannabis Party for Legalisation and Normalisation

Election results

Discontinuation

2010–2021: Representacion Cannabica de Navarra – Nafarroako Ordezkaritza Kanabikoa (Cannabis Representation of Navarre)

Election results

Discontinuation

2021–present: Luz Verde (Green Light)

Elections results

See also

External links

References