Recreational Marijuana In Spain: Barcelona Police Aren't Concerned With Patrolling Cannabis Clubs Or Public Smoking

Recreational marijuana use is not permitted in public in Barcelona, but that hasn’t stopped non-profit cannabis clubs and discrete smoker lounges from popping up all over the Catalan region.

There are over 800 smokers clubs in Spain now compared to the mere 40 in the country in 2010. Despite the influx of clubs, patrolling public smoking isn’t at the top of the Spanish police’s to-do list.

Medical marijuana is legal in the country and residents are allowed to smoke weed and grow up to three plants in the privacy of their own home. Marijuana advocates in Barcelona are pushing for legalized recreational use in the country. Right now, growing, processing, selling and transporting marijuana outside of the regulated medical cannabis facilities is illegal, which can put some clubs in a sticky situation if they can’t guarantee patrons won’t use the product outside of the club and in the street. Still, a Barcelona police officer recently told High Times that public pot smoking is "not an enforcement priority for us."

If marijuana advocates have their way, police won’t have to regulate public smoking at all. A recreational marijuana initiative, called "La Rosa Verda" or "The Green Rose," is up for a vote in 2017. There are 124 regional legislators that have already backed the proposal, while only 11 are against it, according to USA Today. La Rosa Verda would allow non-profit clubs to grow, process, transport and distribute weed in controlled amounts.

In the United States, San Francisco is the home of California's very first luxury smokers club for medical marijuana users, and recreational marijuana use may soon be allowed at the club should the state pass a law legalizing recreational use on this year's ballot. There are no current states that have officially licensed clubs specifically for recreational marijuana use.