"We're going to sue the State for not guaranteeing access to cannabis during the state of alarm"

The nearly half a million people who use cannabis therapeutically in Spain were forced to turn to the black market, or to purchase opiates and other pain relievers at pharmacies, to alleviate their pain. The reason: the closure of the more than 1,000 cannabis clubs that operate in our country and that were "ignored" by the state of alarm decreed on March 15, leaving these patients, and two million other users of cannabis and its by-products in the country, in the lurch.

Now, a law firm based in Mallorca and Barcelona, DMT Advocats, is preparing a lawsuit against the State for "failing to comply with its obligation to guarantee access to cannabis". Martí Cànaves, a lawyer specialized in human rights and in the defence of free access to medicinal plants, explained to La Mota:

"Access to cannabis is a right and the State is compelled to guarantee it. If it does not it, it is violating fundamental rights, and inflicting damage on its users, principally medical. In fact, we are studying the possibility of taking legal action against those people who are preventing them from accessing cannabis."

The lawsuit will be filed in various courts with the stated intention of establishing a legal precedent and opening the door to legal reform. Cànaves points out that a claim brought by a user of medical cannabis before the Supreme Court of Canada was the spark that set a fire ultimately leading to the legalisation of the plant in that country. Something similar could occur in Spain.

"The cannabis movement has always been on the defensive, and it is time to take the initiative. I think that this involves demanding, not begging, that politicians respect us, and demanding responsibility," explained the lawyer.

Cannabis: An Essential Service

At the beginning of May, Cànaves, in her capacity as the legal representative of the cannabis consumer club in La Garriga, Barcelona, filed a claim with the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat (regional government), through the City Council, for the provisioning of cannabis to be considered an "essential service" during the state of alarm. As of today (May 20), the claim had not received a response from the Catalonian government, but it did have the support of the mayor's office of La Garriga.

During Phase 0 of the state of alarm, the most restrictive, and that had continued to affect half of the nation until just days ago, including the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, "almost all cannabis clubs were closed", according to Cànaves, for two main reasons: "The first, out of responsibility, given the health situation; and the second out, of fear, as there were arrests and detentions carried out by law enforcement agencies during the period," said the lawyer.

The upholding of cannabis as an "essential service" was accompanied by a letter from psychologist David Pere Martínez, coordinator of the Drug Policy Unit at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, detailing the damage that consumers of cannabis have suffered during the state of alarm: the violation of their rights (as opposed to those of tobacco smokers and drinkers, whose access to these substances was guaranteed by the decree), the forcing of cannabis consumers to turn to the black market, with this, ultimately, damaging their mental health and quality of life:

"The lack of cannabis, especially for therapeutic users, impairs their quality of life. This impairment did not affect patients using antidepressants, anxiolytics or other types of drugs. To deny people access to cannabis, when they have chosen it to alleviate their ailments, is to deny them quality of life."

-----