Genesis of cannabis activism in the Basque Country
“At the beginning we were 30 or 40 activist members and in a few months we managed to get the support of personalities from the world of culture and even politics”. – DAVID MERINO
And to begin its journey, Kalamudia has chosen to go against the ambiguity and the legal vacuum of the laws on psychoactive substances, joining since its birth the campaign “Contra la Prohibición, Me Planto” (Against Prohibition, I Plant Myself). – Cáñamo Magazine nº 1 Julio – August1997.
The “ME PLANTO” campaign sought to open a breach in the laws to start changing things little by little. Decriminalizing self-production was an action with a very interesting civil disobedience component. The plantation allowed the incorporation of well-known people and was a spectacular enough action to attract the attention of the media and encourage debate in society.
La cultura cannábica en España 1991-2007 Doctoral Tesis by Isidro Marín
Kalamudia in the first planting in spring 1997 with 180 growers publicly announced the planting of a 1500 m2 marijuana field in Vizcaya, the Kalamudia association was faced with a complaint for an alleged crime against public health, but the Court of Instruction number 7 of Bilbao filed the case and subsequently rejected the prosecutor’s request to destroy the plantation. In September 1997 the crop was harvested. The judge ruled that there was no crime and the anti-drug prosecutor did not appeal.
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DAVID MERINO: “The Kalamudia association is part of the Bizitzeko platform that was for the legalization of all drugs, then, when it is seen that cannabis is a drug with a different situation and more social support, Kalamudia itself is formed. There we were working in many all kinds of activities such as drinks or talks. It was then when we started with the collective cultivation and self-incrimination, which is the basis of the current clubs.” – stated in : Soft Secrets Magazine nº 6 de 2012
“In the 90’s in the Basque Country it was not common to find people who consumed cannabis flowers, as access to seeds was not widespread, growshops did not exist yet, nor was there a broad culture. Some growers began to travel to Holland, attracted by the coffeeshops, and many of them returned to Euskadi with seeds from Dutch banks. From those seeds of former growers they grew and propagated varieties and clones that were later used by thousands of Basque consumers, who opted to consume a quality product by growing and curing the flowers that they would later consume, with the great advantage of not having to access illicit networks. This new situation generated, among other things, a culture of quality cannabis consumption, in which the first communities of growers and the first cannabis tasting meetings in private spaces appeared. This process was the breeding ground that prompted experienced growers to open the first growshops, being an unavoidable reference of this type of stores Kalamundua in Bizkaia. These became true temples of underground cannabis wisdom”.
IKER VAL – Las sendas de la regulación del cannabis en España (The paths of cannabis regulation in Spain) Ed. Bellaterra).
