Spanish village approves marijuana crops to raise revenue

A tiny Spanish hamlet near Barcelona voted Thursday to lease nearby land for cultivating marijuana in order to make up for shrinking revenues, reported the Associated Press.

The town council of the Catalonian village of Rasquera, population 900, voted 4-3 Wednesday to rent land to an association that provides therapeutic cannabis to its 5000 members.

"This is an opportunity that will bring money to the village and will bring jobs," Mayor Bernat Pellissa told TVE television after the village council approved the plan.

The village's economic councillor Josep Maria Insausti told AFP that a public company would be created allowing landowners to rent their fields to the Barcelona-based cannabis smokers' association ABCDA.

According to the Guardian, the decision will allow the association to plant on a seven-hectare stretch of town hall land – roughly the size of 10 football pitches.

Rasquera is suffering from the public finance crisis which has stricken Spain and left similar villages indebted

The mayor estimates that the new plan will create 40 jobs and help it pay down its 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million) of debt, reported the Guardian.

According to La Vanguardia, reported that Rasquera is in a similar position to many small Spanish towns and villages, which are dying due to a lack of opportunity and the subsequent emigration of young people.

According to Fox News, the The National Drug Plan, a government agency, said Thursday the project has zero chance of getting off the ground.