Social Club Cannabis

Before we dedicated the rest of our evening to socialising, I asked Lorenzo the questions most pressing among non-Spaniards. 

Can visitors to Spain become a member if they don’t know a member who can put in a good word for them?

“That’s a sensitive issue. We recently discussed this with our lawyer. He suggested that visitors 

to the island contact us a week in advance by e-mail. We can then have an intake meeting over Skype 

and check their particulars; then it’s no problem. As we are primarily here for the local cannabis community 

and patients, we will only admit ‘guest members’ of this type up to 20% of the membership. Since the club was 

established in August 2012, our client base has grown from 3 to over 400 members. However, so far, we haven’t 

had any true tourists as members, although a lot of Fuerteventura residents are from other EU Member States, 

and some of them have paid Col.Can.Can. a visit.”

I notice from Viktor’s menu that the club actually offers three types of outdoor grass plus the butane extract. 

During my visit, Col.Can.Can. didn’t offer any weed blossoms produced under indoor grow lights. Lorenzo explains 

that in the Canary Islands outdoor harvests are possible up to six times a year if you leave the seeds or cuttings 

to germinate in a vegetation room with 18 hours of light for a few weeks. So close to the equator, the days on the 

Canary Islands are between 11 and, at most, 15 hours long. That means that varieties with a short flowering season 

can be harvested six times a year, and even Sativas with a long flowering season can be harvested up to four times a 

year. After all, here, near the African coast, the sun is much stronger than a 600W lamp. That means, he says, 

that it’s sometimes even hard to distinguish outdoor from indoor harvests. The look and smell of the WXS in my sealed bag 

indeed seemed to testify to that. The club does sometimes offer indoor varieties, but it’s simple – production is more expensive.

 The cultivation is taken care of by a handful of members whom the club has appointed as gardeners. The local authorities have been

 notified of the cultivation, although the location of the fields has been kept secret for fear of theft. Notifying the local authorities

 provides some form of guarantee for the grower, because in the case of a raid, it can be proven that the cultivation is not for private use 

or for sale on the black market. The volume of crops depends on the current demand among members, which is why members indicate when they join 

approximately how much grass they will smoke. Many clubs have consumption ceilings; members of the Barcelona club, for example, are permitted a maximum 

of 25g a week. This is intended on the one hand to identify and address problematic consumer trends, and on the other hand to prevent members from trying 

to cover more than their own demand. Lorenzo pointed out that Col.Can.Can does not have a ceiling. Because, he said, here in small-town Gran Tarajal 

everyone knows everyone, so anyone trying to play fast and loose with the club rules and anyone letting his entire earnings go up in smoke will not go 

unnoticed. Plus the fact that a ceiling would immediately result in the exclusion and social ostracism of the entire cannabis community of this small 

town, and nobody wants that.

After having shared this incredibly interesting introduction to the club’s history, Lorenzo put the dabbing pipe on the table and prepared a needle

 with a drop of his wax.

Inexperienced dabber that I am, I leave the heating to my companion, and concentrate on inhaling. The taste and effect are truly staggering. 

The smell reminds me of a Mexican Sativa. Dabbing such exclusive treats really brings out the taste of the aromatic terpenes of the parental plant, 

as long as the titanium needle isn’t made too hot. According to Lorenzo, the needle should be heated up until it glows and then be left for a few seconds.

 Practised dabbers soon acquire a feel for when the extract should be put in the bowl using a nail or needle.

I could have spent hours with Lorenzo philosophising about Col.Can.Can and CSCs in general, but first thing the next morning we are expected at probably 

the most famous club of the Canary Islands, ACMEFUER (Association Cannabis Medical Fuerteventura), in Porto de Rosario. I thank Lorenzo for his hospitality

 and take my leave of him, Viktor and the others, so that I can at least catch half a night’s sleep before my next appointment.

At the second CSC of my trip, I meet bowel cancer patient Matthias, who on every day of my three-day visit receives a gram of club-produced oil from 

cannabis activist and Club President José Maria Alonso as treatment for the tumour .

*Since 2013, some “coffee shops” in the Netherlands, primarily in the provinces Limburg, Zeeland and North Brabant are only open to residents of the 

Netherlands.