A maximum of three plants on the window sill, a maximum of 25 grams for personal use and associations for the collective cultivation of weed – this could be the first step of the cannabis legalization in Germany that the traffic light is aiming for. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) want to present revised plans for this this Wednesday (11.30 a.m.) in Berlin. “The legalization of cannabis: it’s coming,” Lauterbach wrote in advance on Twitter. But it will probably not be as far-reaching as originally planned by the traffic light coalition.
Politicians in the coalition were nevertheless pleased that something is now moving. “A belated Easter egg is in the hemp nest!” tweeted Green health politician Kirsten Kappert-Gonther. “Finally!” wrote the drug policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group, Kristine Lütke. She was “very excited”.
In their coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed to introduce the “controlled sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops”. There are such cannabis shops in some states of the USA. In October, Lauterbach, as the responsible minister – who himself was originally against cannabis legalization – submitted proposals for this (key points). Since then, supporters have been waiting for a draft law.
The matter is legally difficult: from the outset there were concerns that the traffic light project could fail or be slowed down by international and EU law. For example, the states of the Schengen area have committed themselves in the “Schengen Implementation Agreement” to “prohibiting the illegal export of narcotics of all kinds, including cannabis products, as well as the sale, procurement and delivery of these funds by administrative and criminal means”.
Lauterbach said in mid-March that he had received very good feedback on the project from the EU Commission. But the SPD party executive recently came to the conclusion: “For reasons of European law, comprehensive legalization is obviously not feasible in the short term.”
The new key points, which are to be presented this Wednesday, are not as far-reaching as the original ones, according to everything that has been leaked in advance, but not yet confirmed:
The cannabis industry has long been hoping for a boom through possible legalization in Germany: from manufacturers of cannabis oil vaporizers to companies specializing in seeds and greenhouse lighting to manufacturers of cannabis-based medicines, many are hoping good deals. The expectations for this Wednesday were rather restrained in advance: You first have to evaluate the details of the traffic light plans and see whether investment decisions would be possible and the black market could be noticeably pushed back, said Jürgen Neumeyer from the cannabis industry association of the dpa.
