Spain becomes Europe's number one producer of cannabis
24 September 2024
The fact that Spain is struggling in its long-running war against the narco-traffickers may not come as a surprise to those on the ground. The country seized three times more cocaine (145 tonnes) and a third more hashish (61 tonnes) in 2023 compared to 2022.
What is more surprising, however, is Spain's rise as Europe's largest cannabis producer. A report from the High Court of Justice in Andalucia quietly and sheepishly admitted this new reality, and the leaf has become so ubiquitous in the country that it is even being sold in petrol stations disguised as sweets.
Spanish cannabis seems to be especially potent – the percentage of THC reported can range anywhere from 20% to as much as 50%. To put it in perspective, cannabis globally averages around 17% of THC.
“It’s entirely possible that this new kind of cannabis – very strong, used in these very intensive patterns – could do permanent brain damage to teenagers because that’s when the brain is developing a lot,” Keith Humphreys, a Stanford psychiatry professor and a former drug-policy adviser to the Obama administration, told The Atlantic.
In regions of Spain where it is challenging for locals to earn a good living outside of the olive oil, tourism and housing sectors, enterprising individuals unconnected to organised crime have instead turned to the drug. A single plant grown at home can earn a minimum-wage worker €1,000.
But cannabis cultivation is not just a fun side gig for regular people to earn an extra euro. This cannabis boom has been driven by organised criminal groups that exploit undocumented workers and launder dirty money into the economy.
Albanian gangs have set up large-scale indoor plantations in rural regions of Catalonia, such as Lleida and Tarragona, according to the report. They are joined by Serbian, Dutch, Lithuanian and Ukrainian gangs operating in Almeria and Granada, all heavily armed and violently competing for profit and market share.
Along with Moroccan gangs, they have been singled out for exploiting undocumented migrant workers in conditions described as "akin to slavery." These international gangs are all known to have ready-made distribution networks around Europe to spread Spanish-grown cannabis far and wide.
 | Walter Finch Many consider cannabis to be the most harmless of the illegal narcotics. But it is not necessarily the harmfulness of the drug that determines the overall harm it does to society. With vicious and heavily-armed narco gangs dominating the business, on top of the burgeoning narco traffickers Spain has to grapple with, cannabis becomes yet another threat, gobbling up sparse resources. With cannabis production flourishing in Spain, it provides another avenue for organised crime to also flourish in Europe. The criminals increase their grip on the more precarious parts of society, immiserating the lives of people who both arrive or have never left. |
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