Incorporation and Drafting of the Bylaws of a Cannabis Association

Our client was promoting the incorporation of an association of cannabis users, for therapeutic and harm-reduction purposes, which needed a solid statutory framework to operate within the narrow limits Spanish case law imposes on this type of entity to avoid criminal liability for an offence against public health.

Our work consisted of drafting the association's founding bylaws in full, adapted both to Organic Law 1/2002 governing the right of association and to the criteria established by the Supreme Court and the Provincial Courts for shared cannabis consumption to fall outside the scope of criminal law: a requirement that members be identifiable, determined individuals who are habitual or therapeutic users; consumption in a closed space with no effect on third parties; quantities proportionate to the group's own shared consumption; and the absence of any profit motive in the entity's activity. The governing bodies, the regime for admitting and removing members, the internal disciplinary regime, and the provisions on assets and dissolution required by associative regulations were also incorporated.

The result was the incorporation of an association with a rigorous statutory framework, specifically designed to operate within the limits that case law regards as falling outside the scope of criminal liability, substantially reducing the risk that its members' activity could be prosecuted as an offence against public health.