Cannabis Social Clubs

Cannabis Social Clubs. Nope, not cannabis buyers clubs, not a medical marijuana dispensary and not a coffee shop. Cannabis social clubs (CSC) is a term used for not-for-profit associations of adults to cultivate and distribute cannabis amongst its member base.

The History of Cannabis Social Clubs

Medical marijuana dispensaries are a conservative concept of dispensing medical cannabis to “patients” and was coined and implemented in the United States. The Dutch took a more relaxed approach to legalizing cannabis and named cannabis outlets “coffeeshop” where customers could order cannabis from menus. Both models adhere to a strict set of laws, rules, and regulations but ultimately achieve the same outcome, dispensing cannabis to people.

CSC’s became popular during the prohibition years in the United States. They were safe places people could socially attend to live jazz performances and legal cannabis consumption, while alcohol remained illegal. Today they are much different and provide a valuable service for adults to have access to quality recreational and medical marijuana. Established CSC’s are found around the world and usually in countries where a cannabis framework of cannabis decriminalization has been implemented. Countries such as Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Netherlands and many others have seen these non-profits popping up in urban centers. United States is also on its way to establishing CSC’s as an alternative to its standard medical dispensary concept for bring-your-own marijuana club, akin to cigar bars.

Probably the first cannabis social club, The Hashish Eaters Club or Club des Hashischins, was documented in the late 19th century in Paris by a group of well-known artists and intellectuals who experimented with the newly acquired narcotic, cannabis. Members used to partake in a smoking of cannabis flowers as well as consuming a green cannabis paste made with many other spices such as cinnamon, aniseed and cardimon, amongst others.

“In the turbulent 1840s, several French aristocratic intellectuals rebelled against the bourgeois moral code and formed Club Des Hashischins, or the Hashish Eaters Club. Members included authors, painters, poets, writers, medical researchers and other brilliant minds who met once a month at Hôtel Pimodan on Île Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris, France. The participants, who often wore costumes, started by eating a North African hashish edible and proceeded to engage in music, feasting, socializing and enlightened discussion. The Hashish Eaters Club, which met from 1844 to 1849, ultimately helped inspire important artistic works, cannabis-related studies and the Decadent Movement writers in England.” – clubdeshashischins.com

The American Cannabis Market

Cannabis Social ClubsUnder current laws in the United States, it is legal to possess certain amounts of recreational or medical cannabis but not legal to smoke. It appeared Alaska was going to be the first to take a modern approach at legalizing “speak-easies”, the State of Maine took the title of being the first to legalize cannabis social clubs, however, for now, you cannot smoke in them. Advocates in main simply want the same rules applied to pot smokers as are applied to drinkers in bars and tobacco smokers in cigar bars. Alaska regulators, worried by how the Trump administration might handle marijuana, recently decided not to move forward with rules for use of marijuana at authorized stores, though the issue of pot clubs there isn’t dead.

“ Can you imagine for a moment what the alcohol scene would look like today if alcohol drinkers were precluded from drinking at bars, and only allowed to drink alcohol in a private home? That would largely eliminate the lively nightlife scene in every city in America, and it would surely result in the rise of speakeasies, clandestine illegal bars similar to those that arose in several states before the end of alcohol prohibition.” norml.org

With most American States already broadening and implementing relaxed cannabis laws, cannabis social clubs are the next development on the horizon for cannabis legalization. Citizens are tired of seeing pot smokers spill out on to streets sending out smoke signals to people that are not really interested in pot. Cannabis social clubs are the next step for us for us to find a way to enjoy our herb, instead of at home. As the name suggests, it also allows people to socialize and share.

The European Cannabis Market

Europe is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to cannabis social clubs and many have been established throughout the world. The overseeing body ENCOD (European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) is a network of European non-governmental organizations and citizens concerned with the impact of current international drug policies. ENCOD actively supports and promotes the implementation of CSC’s in countries.

“Since 2006 Encod promotes the concept of Cannabis Social Clubs. These are associations of citizens who organize the cultivation of a limited amount of cannabis to satisfy their personal needs, through a closed circuit of production and distribution on a non-profit basis. CSC’s now operate legally in Spain and Belgium, whereas initiatives to obtain a legal status are carried out in several other countries. More and more Europeans discover the CSC as the perfect tool to show what legalization could look like.” Encod.org

The first step in legalization was differentiating between industrial, medical and recreational marijuana use. Now we are seeing the limitations of these laws implemented, a licensed and regulated system of cannabis social clubs, with age controls, is far preferable to grey market “smoke-easies.” It is absurd to suggest that the tens of millions of people who smoke marijuana around the world, once it is legalized, will have to limit their marijuana smoking to private homes. There is absolutely no policy justification for this limitation, and smokers will always find a way around it, as they have done in the past.

Cannabis Conclusion

I think we will be seeing a bigger drive for cannabis social clubs in the future. It’s a sensible concept that has proven to be successful in the past in many countries. It allows for the cultivation, distribution, and consumption in an orderly regulated manner for different societies or communities. There is not one perfect cannabis solution for any country or community, it is a trial and error methodology and is developing over time. Many leading activists are seeing that the social club model is a good example of what legalization of cannabis would look like in the future.

References:

clubdeshashischins.com
http://www.cannabis-social-clubs.org/what_is_a_Cannabis-Social-Club
http://www.encod.org/info/What-is-ENCOD.html
http://blog.norml.org/2016/09/12/holland-style-marijuana-clubs-coming-to-america/

About The Author

RJ

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