Thread by @MantheyJakob

Last week, @APSAD_DAR has published our analyses of data collected in #cannabissocialclubs in Spain.

Let's look at the results and discuss possible implications for the current discussion on #cannabis legalization:

(The paper is free to read!)

https://twitter.com/APSAD_DAR/status/1658267626345500672

We obtained data from 4 clubs operating in Barcelona region in the years 2017 to 2020. The data contains information on grams and price (more precisely: procurement fees) from 220,465 collections.

One collection = 1 member collecting resin or flower (0.01g - 39g) one 1 day

On average, members paid about
👉6.10€ for 1g of flower
👉7.20€ for 1g of resin

While the prices for flower were very stable, they varied more for resin. This may indicate that there is greater variation in product sources or quality of resin than for flower.

Likely, flower are domestically produced with relatively stable supply chains. For resin, products can either be imported (with more legal risks involved) or be produced locally. This can have implications for purchasing behaviour (discusses later in this thread).

Regardless of the variation, it appears that cannabis in CSCs is more costly than on the illicit market.

We did not have access to price estimates from Barcelona but the nationwide estimates from police surveys are:

👉~5.10€ for 1g of flower
👉~5.70€ for 1g of resin

Higher retail prices in Barcelona CSCs compared to the nationwide illicit market might be related to

👉higher cost of living in BCN
👉higher staff costs
👉better product quality

Further, we were interested in the possible quantity discounts, i.e., whether cannabis is sold at cheaper prices when bought in larger quantities.

From a harm reduction perspective, we would *not* expect to observe quantity discounts as it could incentivize heavy consumption.

Quantity discounts could not be observed for flower (>80% of collections), but for resin.

Doubling the quantity of resin was linked to a ~20% price reduction (per gram).

Why do we see quantity discounts for resin but not for flower?

We cannot be sure but it may be related to product sourcing and not a deliberate decision of the club owners.

As described above, resin may be produced locally or imported, resulting in considerable price differences:

Likely, imported resin is cheaper than locally produced resin but may not be of lower quality. Possibly, there is no safe supply chain for resin but for flowers.

Thus, the members can always buy flowers at a fixed price and quality while the price and quality of resin differs.
Consequently, CSC members may purchase larger amounts (to stockpile) when it is available and cheaper - resulting in apparent "quantity discounts".

To conclude:

👉cannabis from CSCs may be more costly than on the illicit market
👉cannabis in CSCs is mostly not offered with quantity discounts

Obviously, we need more (quantitative) research on CSCs but they seem to prescribe to harm reduction principles as much as they can.

Importantly, CSCs do not operate on a completely legal basis in Catalonia, which makes it difficult to generalize the findings.

Lastly, our work raises the question to what degree CSCs constitute an option for legal access to people with lower income?

From a harm reduction perspective, I think it need to be ensured that anyone can become a CSC member, regardless of their socioeconomic position.