Months after controversy broke out over the possible opening of a cannabis club on Maragall Street, in the Coll i Pujol neighborhood, the ERC municipal group announces that it will urge the government to regulate the implementation and operation of these establishments through of a municipal ordinance.
For its part, the Popular Party government assures that the approval of an ordinance in this sense is not possible since the City Council does not have powers to regulate a criminal matter. A 2017 ruling by the Constitutional Court makes it clear that promoting general rules for the constitution, organization and operation of clubs for cannabis users would invade the state's jurisdiction in matters of criminal legislation (consumption and marketing of cannabis, illegal substances). Remember that the City Council only has the power to grant licenses to cannabis cultural clubs that carry out information activities, dissemination of studies or any other form of opinion on the matter.
The Republicans insist that other Catalan municipalities have had this type of ordinance for years. Àlex Montornès, spokesperson for the ERC municipal group, considers that "neighbors may be concerned about the implementation of cannabis clubs in their neighborhood, but at the same time these associations have the right to carry out their activity." Montornès assumes that "a law that regulates the consumption of cannabis at the state level is necessary", but that in the meantime the City Councils must have tools to be able to work.
