Recreational weed tourism in Europe

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De turismo de hierba por Europa
In Europe, the Netherlands has been famous for its seemingly relaxed attitude towards cannabis, but unfortunately it has recently taken a stricter approach to countering cannabis tourism. People hoping to travel to consume weed won't have it so easy, not even in Holland or neighboring Germany, which decriminalized recreational use last year.
The Netherlands is often considered a lax country when it comes to marijuana, but in reality its cultivation, sale and possession are illegal. Officially, its sale is allowed only in the famous 'coffee shops' in the country and only possession of no more than 5 grams of cannabis is not penalized.
In fact, cannabis is only fully legal in three European countries: Germany, Malta and Luxembourg. However, in other EU countries it is only available for medical use or decriminalized for personal use. This means, in practice, that in most countries tourists cannot buy it easily.
However, the situation is very different in Malta. This small island country currently has the most tolerant legislation in the entire EU regarding the cultivation, consumption and possession of cannabis.
Adults can carry up to 7g of cannabis, as well as grow up to four plants at home since legislation passed in 2021. Although smoking marijuana in public remains prohibited, Malta's streets are lined with shops selling joints and edibles , along with all the paraphernalia of the cannabis sector.
However, as we can see in the map that illustrates this article, the majority of EU countries (13 in total) continue to impose fines or other punishments for the consumption or possession of small amounts of cannabis, by continuing to consider it totally illegal.
As is the case of France, one of the European countries with the largest number of cannabis consumers and one of the countries with the toughest anti-drug legislation. According to the French government, almost half of adults have already tried cannabis and it is estimated that there are 900,000 daily users in France.
Weed tourism in Europe
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In addition to legal or illegal status, the degree of repression of Member States' legislation on cannabis can also be assessed based on the quantities tolerated for possession, and the minimum quantities that can lead to prison: 100 grams in Latvia, compared to 50 in Sweden, for example.
Then would come a group of European countries where, despite the consumption of cannabis being illegal, it is tolerated to a certain extent, as is the case of: Austria, Estonia, Italy and the Netherlands. To finally find ourselves with a final group of more liberal countries, among which is Spain, where its consumption is decriminalized for personal use: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

In 2021, the cannabis market in Europe was estimated at €12.1 billion, that is, 39% of the total drug market in the Union European. Cocaine was in second place, with 37% of the market and 11.6 billion euros.

As we already indicated, in our country the personal consumption of cannabis has been decriminalized, but the regulations vary from one municipality to another. However, cannabis social clubs, like ours, are very popular, with more than 1,000 operating throughout the country, mainly in cities, some of them very touristy, such as ours: Barcelona.
However, more liberal countries are likely to be watching the results of the new German law. Especially Belgium, where the possession of up to 3 grams of cannabis or the cultivation of a plant is considered "low procedural priority" for those over 18 years of age since 2003.
In this regard, already at the end of 2023, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne declared that the country should"consider legalizing cannabis", suggesting that Belgium could be the next EU country to undertake, sooner rather than later, the recreational legalization of our beloved plant.