Europe

Law to legalise cannabis in Germany clears final hurdle

New provisions making it legal for over-18s to possess up to 25g of cannabis for personal use and cultivate three cannabis plants will come into effect on April 1st

People in Berlin's Hemp Museum celebrate following the German Federal Council 'Bundesrat' decision on cannabis decriminalisation on Friday. Photograph: Shutterstock

Derek Scally in Berlin
Fri Mar 22 2024 - 16:42

Forget the Easter eggs: joints will be in high demand this year in Germany as a law to legalise cannabis cleared its final hurdle on Friday and will come into effect on April 1st.

The new provisions make it legal for over-18s in Germany to possess up to 25g of cannabis for personal use and cultivate three live cannabis plants.

In addition “cannabis clubs” with up to 500 members will allow people grow – and sell to others – up to 50g a month on a non-commercial basis.

Friday’s vote in the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament representing Germany’s 16 federal states, went down to the wire with vocal opposition from states governed by the centre-right Christian Democratic Union.

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Various CDU state premiers warned the new rules would lead to car crashes and cancer deaths, with Saxony’s leader Michael Kretschmer accusing the federal government in Berlin of “opening Pandora’s box”.

But federal health minister Karl Lauterbach, who pushed through the law change, insisted it would bring a positive push against the black market. “Has Pandora’s box not been open for some time?” asked the Social Democratic (SPD) minister. “With this law we are not introducing cannabis, consumption has been growing for years.”

As a medical doctor, Dr Lauterbach said he once opposed legalisation but had changed his mind. The proposals were about “thinking anew” about the current reality, he said, and reducing health risks from the sale of unregulated cannabis.

In the end only four states opposed the law, allowing it avoid months of delay in an arbitration committee.

[ German MPs vote to legalise cannabis for personal use ]

After the Friday vote, CDU regional leaders warned they would oppose the legalisation of further, harder drugs. CDU federal leader Friedrich Merz has vowed to reverse the cannabis rules if elected chancellor. On Thursday the 68-year-old conceded he had “smoked a joint once during my schooldays, and it was terrible”.

The vote marks a major – and rare – political victory for the centre-left SPD and Greens, who made legalisation a condition of the 2021 coalition agreement.

On the social media platform X, Carmen Wegge, an SPD MP who steered the law through the Bundestag, said: “In 10 days cannabis is legal, ending the criminalisation of millions of people in this country.”

Federal finance minister Christian Lindner appeared particularly happy by the vote, posting on X: “Bubatz soon legal,” followed by a broccoli emoji.

Veteran cannabis campaigners in Germany say they are not celebrating just yet. The new law allows them set up growing clubs from July 1st – in theory at least – but many say they have yet to be given details of what is likely to be a highly bureaucratic endeavour.

“We still don’t even know to whom we are supposed to send our applications,” said Kevin Stasik, co-founder of the Brandenburg Cannabis Club. “Not even the people in the ministries know who is responsible nor the conditions to be met.”

Derek Scally

Derek Scally

Derek Scally is an Irish Times journalist based in Berlin

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