Cannabis Party, or Partido Cannabico refers in Spain to different initiatives of

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country'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 democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

ing centered around

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

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

and drug policy 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; en, Cannabis Party for Legalisation and Normalisation) was formed at the end of 2003 in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, 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: * "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 known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

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 ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. Parliament: 5,446 votes. Senate: 13,240 votes. * València. 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 province o ...

. 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 cyber-attack 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 connect ...

on their web host on 16 May 2004. Nonetheless, the party continued its activities, holding meetings with groups such as Republican Left party ( ERPV) or the Confederation of the Greens, as well as with

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of ...

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: RCN-NOK

In 2010, a new political party was create din the

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

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 (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

. 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 municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. Parliament: 1,145 votes * València: 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 an industry model for regulated cannabis organised as non-profit cooperatives in which cannabis is cultivated, shared, and enjoyed collectively, usu ...

which hosted the head offices of the party, in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

. 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, l ...

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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

" 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 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 coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

and

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. 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 most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

: 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 , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_mo ...

: 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: RCN-NOK

Election results

Discontinuation

2021–present: Luz Verde (Green Light)

Elections results

See also

External links

References