the Block of EsquerdaPortugal’s left-wing democratic socialist party, presented a new bill to the Assembly last week proposing the legalization of cannabis for personal use.
The proposal calls for the state to regulate the establishment of commercial establishments, the sale of cannabis online, and the home cultivation of up to five plants per person.
The new proposals
This new bill is different from previous attempts at legalization. Indeed, the Left Bloc dropped an article that proposed banning edibles and drinks containing cannabis.
“The sale of cannabis enriched with aromas, flavors or additives” would remain prohibited, as would the sale of synthetic cannabis. The state would also have the ability to limit THC levels.
“The State must regulate the entire cultivation, production and distribution circuit, being able to determine a maximum limit of THC, as well as the consumer price, in order to combat trafficking and the illegal market “, can we read in the project.
The proposal also suggests that “the retail sale of cannabis plants, substances or preparations intended for personal consumption without medical prescription and provided that they are intended for purposes other than medical, is subject to the authorization of the Directorate general economic activities.
Pedro Filipe Soares, MP for the Left Bloc, stressed that legalization is a way to “combat the black market”, “manipulated substances” and “uninformed consumption”.
He also argues that Portugal must accompany countries that have already legalized cannabis for personal use, such as Malta, and those that are debating it, such as Germany, where the legalization of cannabis is one of the key points of the coalition agreement established between the SPD and the Greens.
In the introduction to the new project, the Left Bloc emphasizes that “the prohibitionist policy is not a solution, in fact, it is an integral part of the problem and promotes its aggravation, protecting the clandestineness of trafficking and endangering health public”.
Specialty retail stores and seeds in agricultural stores
In the explanatory memorandum to the document, it is emphasized that: “Legalizing cannabis for personal use – more commonly known as recreational use – is to fight against trafficking networks and it is to fight against organized crime networks which are often financed by the trafficking of substances such as cannabis. »
Cannabis sales establishments must have, “solely as an activity, the sale of cannabis plants, substances or preparations”, with the exception of “commercial establishments whose main activity is the sale of equipment, machinery and agricultural or similar plants, where the trade in cannabis seeds is permitted”.
The previous Left Bloc project was presented about a year ago but expired with the change of government.
