Six members of La MACA Barcelona were sentenced to a total of 31 years of prison for an offence against Public Health and illicit association. The sustainable, transparent and healthy option that the Cannabis Social Clubs (CSC) represent is being suppressed by the Spanish State.

An appeal will be made to the Supreme Court to demonstrate the injustice of sentencing an association that was involved in the process of regulation of CSC in Catalonia and on the national level. This sentence is a political sentence. La MACA stands for freedom of assembly and is a democratic association acting inside of the personal consumption construct.

We are seeds, plant the change!

Free La MACA Barcelona!

Political irresponsibility locks up innocent people in jail

The absolute hypocrisy of the Spanish State in drug policy is flagrant and counterproductive. Once again they have turned their backs to the associative model of cannabis use that has been demanding regulation for the benefit of public health and the human rights of. Public administrations and political representatives demonstrate great human irresponsibility by imprisoning us for our convictions. A serious attack on human rights experience in La MACA in the first person. 

La MACA was one of the first Cannabis Social Clubs established in Catalonia and was a pioneer in offering therapeutic support services led by Dr Joan Parés. La MACA is an association committed to social improvement It is made up of responsible members active in a political struggle to defend the rights of cannabis users. La MACA is part of CatFAC, ConFAC, REMA and ENCOD, and therefore is part of the Barcelona Associations Council, the Barcelona Youth Council, the Neighborhood Council, the Drug Dependency Working Group of the Barcelona City Council and the Vienna NGO Committee, among other entities. It is an association that is dedicated to improving the conditions of the people who live in their neighbourhood, who care about the environment, who actively participate in the surrounding community. In short, the association has worked tirelessly for citizen coexistence.

La MACA is made up of people like you, men, women, fathers, mothers, workers, students, unemployed, retired … activists who want to make their voices heard to give prominence to cannabis users. For a society that unites to create changes and give alternatives to the iron fist that continues to drown us with hypocrisies and control systems based on ideological postulates and not on scientific evidence. 

Today, we must denounce more than ever a serious attack on our rights. The 6 activists of La MACA have been sentenced to a total of 31 years of jail and very high fines for working for the benefit of all. For actively fighting against drug trafficking, mafias and providing health and safety of the chosen lifestyle. 

We are not criminals.

The sentence violates all our rights to a fair trial and is clearly unproportional and anachronistic. It does not take into account our work as an association, nor the witnesses presented, nor the defence. Justice is not fair if it is not legitimate and legitimacy is lost, if it does not contemplate the particularities of the specific case and the social context.

The hit has been very hard. But it won’t stop us. We will appeal to the Supreme Court. And we demand that policy-makers carry out the necessary regulation in Spain and give a political response to a social reality that allows dejudicialising and should be a challenge for the whole society. 

Many autonomous communities and city councils have already wanted to take a step forward to solve this situation that has such high costs, both for the administration and for us, ruining our lives. But this is the responsibility of the State, therefore, we demand that it fulfils it. Stop the illicit market and recognize our rights. Public health is also our health. 

We thank all those entities, people and companies that have supported us. In particular, we want to thank the members, who with their courage, loyalty and commitment, have carried out this project, without them none of this would have been possible. Today we need you more than ever. They want to stop us and maintain a criminal and prohibitionist system that has already been recognized as obsolete at the international level. 

“They can cut all the flowers – of cannabis – but they can’t stop the spring”, we are convinced of that. But right now we need you more than ever to continue the struggle.

The future is regulation, but we cannot achieve it without partners who help us. 

Everybody with La MACA. 

Everybody with the Freedom.