What Is A Cannabis Club?

A cannabis club might refer to two different things: a shop selling marijuana or a private club for marijuana users.

Cannabis clubs (in the storefront sense) have been popping up in Canada’s major cities over that past few years; notably in Vancouver, Victoria, and Toronto. These stores may be common, but they are presently illegal in Canada. While these stores claim to sell medical marijuana, Canadians can only obtain legal medical marijuana through the mail from a registered provider. (Qualified Canadians can also grow their own medical marijuana.) Marijuana cannot legally be sold in a store or advertised in public.

Some cannabis clubs ask to see proof from a healthcare professional that their customers qualify for medical marijuana. It is important to note that even if the customer is registered with the government as a patient qualifying for medical marijuana, it is still illegal to purchase marijuana from a cannabis club.

Other clubs will sell cannabis products to anyone who claims to have a medical need, without asking for any proof. Needless to say, this is currently against the law.

The legal cannabis distributors in Canada currently provide only dried marijuana and oil. Cannabis clubs offer a much wider variety of products, including pills, edibles (such as cookies), and topical creams. Extreme caution should be taken with these products, as there are no regulations to limit dosage. A single cookie, for example, may contain far more THC than a person should consume in one sitting.

Though these stores are illegal, many entrepreneurs are willing to risk fines and raids in order to establish their business ahead of the legalization of marijuana. This is expected to happen in 2018, under Justin Trudeau’s government. There are over one hundred dispensaries in Vancouver, and forty in Toronto. The police have deemed these illegal operations to be low priority, though there have been some raids.

The current Liberal government has not specified whether storefront dispensaries will be legal under their new system.

A cannabis club might also refer to a social club where people gather in a private establishment to use marijuana. These clubs are popular in countries or states where recreational marijuana use is legal, but is not allowed in public.

This type of cannabis club has become quite popular in Barcelona. In Spain, it is legal to cultivate and consume cannabis, but it is illegal to sell it, transport it, or smoke it publicly. Cannabis clubs are a legal loophole allowing locals and foreigners to acquire and consume cannabis outside the home. Because these clubs are members-only (and require a yearly membership fee), they are considered private institutions. Moreover, members cannot “buy” cannabis there. The fees they pay for marijuana products technically go towards the maintenance of the club, not the illegal purchase of drugs. These clubs cannot advertise, but new members are usually welcome if they discover the club through research or networking.

These clubs are also cropping up in places like Colorado, where marijuana is legal to smoke, though not in public.