Rasquera, Spain Officials Want To Grow Marijuana To Balance Budget
If cities across the world would just allow people to grow marijuana, and charge a low, fair tax rate for it, the economy would be drastically different. Most marijuana consumers I have ever met already know that. I dream of a day where city officials in America come to that realization and reform our laws. From media reports I’m reading out of Spain, at least one town’s officials are ahead of the curve.
According to EuroNews.Net, “A Spanish town is planning to rent out municipal land for the cultivation of marijuana to help clear 1.3 million euros of debt. Officials in Rasquera believe they will not be breaking the law as long as the crop is used for personal use. The mayor explained that with a monthly rental income of 54,000 euros over two years, the town would be able to pay the total amount it owes.”
According to the Huffington Post, “A nonprofit group, called the Barcelona Association of Cannabis Self-Medication (ABCDA), has offered to pay the town hall 36,000 euros to get the project off the ground, with an annual investment of 550,000 euros for costs that would include land rental and security.”
According to the Guardian, “The town hall of Rasquera in Catalonia on Wednesday voted to sign a €1.3m (£1.1m) agreement with a cannabis association in nearby Barcelona to plant marijuana for its 5,000 members. It will allow the association to plant on a seven-hectare stretch of town hall land — roughly the size of 10 football pitches. “This is a chance to bring in money and create jobs,” explained mayor Bernat Pellisa of the Catalan Republican Left party.
“Cannabis use is an established and increasingly accepted reality in our society,” explained Martin Barriuso, of the Basque cannabis federation. “Instead of turning our backs on this reality we think the reasonable thing to do is to find a way to regulate it, encouraging responsible use and making it difficult for adolescents to obtain.”
Well this is a breath of fresh air! I don’t know if the country of Spain will allow it, or for that matter if neighbor countries will allow it, but it’s DEFINITELY a good idea and a step in the right direction. I hope this becomes a trend across the world. I don’t like that one outfit has the monopoly on the contract, but hopefully a ‘cottage industry’ model develops. I will keep following the situation.
