And these bear-shaped jelly beans also make you happy? “Of course –responds the clerk of an I love cannabis stick shop in the Gòtic neighborhood–, they make you high for several hours”. Bear-shaped jelly beans, cannabis lollipops, laugh cookies… “And the brownie…? we have a birthday and…”. High is a colloquial meaning of the drunkenness that drugs give.
“The brownie also makes you high, much more –adds the clerk, in a sort of Spanglish–. You have to take little… Look, these products are CBD, which relaxes, and the others are HHC, which is derived from THC, the active ingredient in super high marijuana!” “And won’t you have a table of recommended doses according to the weight of each one?” “Hey?”. The truth is that the labeling of these trinkets with alleged psychotropic effects seems as confusing as the explanations of the employees of these colorful establishments.
Gòtic merchants ask the City Council, the Generalitat and the State to redouble control of these stores and remove items that do not comply with the regulations. The first order for the mayor Jaume Collboni. Barna Centre, the main commercial entity on this side of the city, says that the sale of these products may contravene European regulations, as it only allows the sale of products with cannabidiol for topical or cosmetic use, as well as for collecting or vaping. , but never as part of a food.
In Barna Center they also think that many of these shops adorned with large marijuana leaves are taking advantage of very misleading advertising. And that in a public place on the Rambla they promise you that a gummy bear in the shape of a bear will get you high is an irresponsible trivialization of drug use. “And this is a maría cigar?” “Of course”. “A legal joint?” “Of course, the HHC is legal.” “And that’s marijuana…?” “That’s where the HHC comes from…”. “Already…”.
These scenes are repeated in other establishments of this type. The lollipops cost between three and five euros, a small envelope of jelly beans about 20, a single cigar 25, the brownie 35… The candy distributor, however, details on its website that it sells them for ten. The profit margin of the retail sale of these products in the tourist axes is very high. There were a few inspections in 2021, with a few preferring to focus on gift items, but many others… These cash registers are not filled with sales of pipes, leaf crushers and decorated rolling papers. The bustle here of young people in search of summer adventures is continuous.
Barna Center also regrets that these shops are the new souvenir shops in the city, a buoyant business that for some time now has not stopped growing, especially as the pandemic was left behind. They are the latest example of the commercial monoculture that so threatens the center of Barcelona. One can also already find these sweets in some downtown supermarkets, along with the usual chewing gum, toasted corn and chocolates, and also in some souvenir shops full of magnets.
The historic stationery store on Via Laietana Hija de J. Batlle Horta recently announced its imminent closure. And most of the offers to take over are from businesses of this type. A few weeks ago, the also historic La Estrella pharmacy on Ferran street gave way to another marijuana establishment. These stores are already found in all the main shopping streets in the center, and not just in the secondary ones, as not so long ago.
“The lack of control of these products can have an impact on public health,” says Teresa Llordes, from the Barna Centre. In addition, the proliferation of these businesses also determines the image of the neighborhood and the city, the type of people who visit us and what they come to do, the role we end up playing in Barcelona. If the administrations do not establish clear rules, these businesses will continue to spring up everywhere. The result will be an impoverishment of our commercial fabric”.
At the moment the city has about 250 stores of this type. The use plan in force in the Ciutat Vella district imposes harsh restrictions on the opening of many new businesses. But these stores find hardly any obstacles. The administration does not provide for any specific license. Most of them go into operation as florists or gift shops. Barna Center also requests the preparation of a specific permit, a regulation that also establishes clear operating guidelines, in the manner of Amsterdam and Prague, to give a couple of examples. There the administrations also determine the appearance of these businesses. There, at least from the street, it doesn’t look like one is going to enter a lysergic amusement park.