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Although the legalization of marijuana\u00a0has grown into a global movement, advances are being made one step at a time. Each country must wrestle with cannabis reform in the context of its own unique culture and history with the drug and its prohibition. Signs of progress, however, are appearing with increasing frequency.<\/p>\n
Germany, Europe\u2019s most populous country, is decidedly on the path to legalization, perhaps as soon as this year. Thailand has taken a lead on the issue in Asia, and in 2021, Argentina legalized hemp and cannabis for medical and industrial\u00a0uses, continuing the progress spearheaded\u00a0in Latin America made by Uruguay when it legalized cannabis in 2013.<\/p>\n
In Spain, constitutional rulings have led to the de facto decriminalization of marijuana possession and cultivation for personal use, although commercial cannabis production and sales remain against the law. But the legal-grey area created by a lack of regulation has spawned a healthy community of cannabis clubs throughout Spain, particularly in Barcelona, the capital of the autonomous region of Catalunya. Operated on a strictly nonprofit basis, the clubs give their members a place to purchase and consume cannabis while they socialize with friends.<\/p>\n One of the city\u2019s most famous clubs, HQ Barcelona, can be found in the Eixample neighborhood near the city center. Best known as the site of the basilica La Sagrada Familia, the as-yet-unfinished masterpiece of art nouveau architect Antoni Gaud\u00ed, the area is also home to posh boutiques and hip restaurants. A few blocks south of the Passeig de Gr\u00e0cia and another Gaud\u00ed gem, the Modernista building known as the Casa Mil\u00e0, HQ Barcelona welcomes members to the club with music, activities and a selection of cannabis products including flower, hash and other concentrates.<\/p>\n David Madilyan, the president and founder of HQ Barcelona, is originally from Moscow, where he was born during the era of the Soviet Union. The son of Armenian parents, he has lived in Europe, Asia and North America. For the last 22 years, however, Madilyan\u2019s home has been Spain, where he lives with his wife and children.<\/p>\n \u201cBarcelona is\u00a0my\u00a0<\/em>place under the sun, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Madilyan has been a cannabis consumer since his college days in Moscow with dreams of creating a consumption lounge. \u201cI\u2019m a smoker,\u201d he says, with a smile in his voice. \u201cI\u2019m a heavy hitter.\u201d He has also been deeply ingrained in the underground industry, \u201cmoving a lot of weed\u201d in Europe and beyond. Moreover, he was involved in the nightlife party scene, but as he matured, he longed for a spot where he could hang out and chill while the sun was still up.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t we have a daytime club, instead of a nighttime club?\u201d he remembers asking his friends in Moscow during the late 1990s. That was when he decided that one day, he\u2019d open a club along the lines of the famed coffee shops of Amsterdam. Fast forward to 2012, when Madilyan had been living in Spain for a decade. After leaving the country for a year for a sabbatical in Bali, he returned to Barcelona for business. While back in his home city, a friend invited him to one of Barcelona\u2019s cannabis clubs for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was an experience he had a hard time believing, even as he watched it with his very own eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI was there just smoking, and it was crazy,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI was like\u00a0\u2018what the fuck is actually happening?!\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Almost immediately, Madilyan decided that the time had finally come for him to open his own cannabis club. After going back to Bali to tie up loose ends and end his residency there, he returned to Barcelona in 2013 and started making plans. \u201cIt was all a dream, and I was chasing my dream,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Madilyan went to work, hiring lawyers to tackle the paperwork and substantial red tape. At the same time, he began scouting locations and started the creative work of envisioning and designing the club and how it would work.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can open a lounge, we can open a space and we can open a brand\u2014all together,\u201d he remembers thinking as he considered the possibilities. \u201cIt was like the whole realization of my life in the weed industry as I always wanted it. I always wanted to create a space where people could meet each other, smoke and chill.\u201d<\/p>\n The result is HQ Barcelona, which opened in 2014. Keeping with the peculiarities of Barcelona\u2019s grey market for cannabis, the club isn\u2019t a retail cannabis dispensary as many have come to know in the US. But after joining, members have access to a wide variety of cannabis products to purchase for onsite consumption.<\/p>\n \u201cHQ is a private smokers club,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a social club.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike some clubs that can be cramped and smoky, HQ Barcelona boasts more than 4,300 square feet of space for members to stretch out and get comfortable or participate in activities. High ceilings (15 feet) are capped by skylights to let in natural light, and an effective ventilation system keeps the air free of smoke to protect members\u2019 eyes and lungs.<\/p>\n Membership in the club is by referral from current members to comply with requirements that cannabis clubs not be open to the public. But that doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s difficult to join in the fun. Madilyan says that members of the cannabis community who become friends of the club are likely to be invited to join.<\/p>\n While enjoying cannabis with friends is the main attraction at HQ Barcelona (the HQ stands for, naturally,\u00a0hempquarters<\/em>), the club also hosts activities and entertainment, including live music, DJs, exhibits and athletic competitions. For many members, the club is the focal point of their social life, forming \u201ca close-knit community of people who live in Barcelona or visit the city frequently,\u201d Madilyan says.<\/p>\n HQ Barcelona has been offering a festive and welcoming spot for cannabis lovers for nearly a decade now. In that time, the club hasn\u2019t had even one fight on the premises, Madilyan proudly shares. Looking at the bigger picture, however, Barcelona\u2019s cannabis club scene has experienced the ups and downs that often come with grey markets. In the early months of 2022, city officials and law enforcement doubled down on enforcement of the clubs with a series of raids and heightened inspections.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re under big pressure from police and the City Hall of Barcelona,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Madilyan looks forward to a time when Spain joins the growing league of nations that are truly legalizing cannabis, including regulated production and sales. But he acknowledges that as a nation that\u2019s more conservative than many, his adopted home is unlikely to take the lead on reform any time soon.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in Spain,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a\u00a0very\u00a0<\/em>Catholic country.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While the political will to legalize cannabis in Spain continues to build, Madilyan plans to continue serving his city\u2019s weed community through HQ Barcelona. Eventually, he believes that lawmakers will realize that the cannabis legalization movement is too big to contain to private clubs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really want them to understand that this shit is global,\u201d Madilyan says with conviction. The man\u2019s not wrong.<\/p>\n This story was originally published in the\u00a0print edition<\/a>\u00a0of Cannabis Now.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Flying High at HQ Barcelona<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Although the legalization of marijuana\u00a0has grown into a global movement, advances are being made one step at a time. Each country must wrestle with cannabis reform in the context of its own unique culture and history with the drug and its prohibition. Signs of progress, however, are appearing with increasingContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":57864,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5146,50,1365,9523,16600,85,16506,417,491],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57865,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863\/revisions\/57865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabisnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/HQBarcelona.jpg\")
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\nRead More: Flying High at HQ Barcelona<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"