The cannabis movement is a social tendency similar to feminism, environmentalism, the ‘squatter’ movement, anti-globalization or the gay and lesbian movement, and in the medium term it will achieve the normalization just as hapened with all the other currents. This is one of the conclusions of the doctoral thesis ‘Cannabis movement in Spain: a new type of social movement’, carried out by Isidro Marín Gutiérrez, researcher of the Department of Social Anthropology of the University of Granada, Spain, and supervised by Professor Juan Gamella Mora. This is the first study in-depth carried out in Europe about a social current, the cannabis movement, which has more and more followers.
According to this work, Spain is the country of the European Union where the cannabis movement has acquired a stronger prominence: Spain has the higher number of pro-cannabis associations (more than 50); there are more than 300 grow-shops (premises which sell every kind of products related to cannabis cultivation), ahead of countries such as Holland, where the consumption of this plant is legal; there are more than 4 thematic magazines related to marijuana (Cáñamo, Yerba, Spannabis Magazine and Soft Secrets), and Spain is the main cannabis consumer of the EU, according to the annual report 2007 of the Euopean Observatory of Drugs and Toxicomany.
Pro-cannabis follwers profile
In order to carry out this pioneer study, Isidro Marín interviewed more than 170 members of pro-cannabis associations, 260 cultivators of this plant, 80 clients of ‘grow-shops’ and 24 owners of these premises. He concluded that the profile of thesupporters of the cannabis movement in Spain is a man (83% as against only 17% women), older than 30 years old, with higher education and an income level of about one thousand euros a month. Most of them are unmarried, consume cannabis daily, are on the left and define themselves as atheist or unbelievers.
The researcher of the University of Granada says that the repression to which the several Spanish governments have subjected this movement from the known as ‘Corcuera Act’ in 1992 has only increased it considerably. By way of example, he reminds the last elections for the European Parliament of 2004, when the Cannabis Party was the eighth most voted political force in Spain, ahead of the Andalusian Party, for instance.
Marín Gutiérrez thinks that this movement is in search of “normalization, not legalization” of marijuana consumption, such as the other movements above mentioned. “The only requirement is that all the social agents take part in this change of people’s mentality”.
Reference:
Isidro Marín Gutiérrez. Department of Social Anthropology of the University of Granada. Phone number: 958 240694. Mobile Isidro Marín: 606273985. E-mail: isidromarin75@hotmail.com