As of: February 23, 2024 7:56 p.m
The Bundestag passed the traffic light coalition’s cannabis law in Berlin on Friday. It legalizes possession of limited quantities for adults. In the roll-call vote, 407 MPs voted yes and 226 rejected the law. Of 637 votes cast, there were four abstentions.
The law is expected to come before the Federal Council on March 22nd. It does not require approval, but the state chamber could in principle call the mediation committee with the Bundestag and slow down the process. Bayern had already announced in advance that they wanted to do this.
Health Minister Lauterbach promotes the draft law
In the final debate in the Bundestag, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) promoted the controversial bill. According to him, the aim of partial legalization is to limit risks and reduce the black market. In an interview with NDR Info, the SPD politician said that the current cannabis policy had failed across the board. There are constantly increasing consumption figures, a flourishing black market, accompanying crime and unsafe product additives as well as toxic concentrations. His goal is also to educate children and young people about the dangers of cannabis consumption. “With legalization, we are taking cannabis out of the taboo zone,” said Lauterbach. From April 1st, cultivation and possession of certain quantities for personal consumption by adults will be permitted.
Higher penalties for selling to minors
In the transition phase, he expects greater control effort. In the long term, the burden on the police and judiciary would be relieved because the many small crimes would no longer occur. Regarding the protection of children and young people, Lauterbach pointed out that the penalties for trafficking should be tightened: “Anyone who sells cannabis to children and young people will now be sentenced to a sentence of no less than two years.”
AUDIO: Behrens: “The law on cannabis release cannot be implemented” (5 min)
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister sharply criticized the draft
Lauterbach faced headwinds from within his own ranks for the draft law. His party colleague Daniela Behrens, Interior Minister in Lower Saxony, said in an interview with NDR Info that the draft was complicated, unpractical and did not take into account essential needs in the area of child and youth protection. Production will be relocated to private areas. The control options for the police and judiciary are very difficult. Behrens received support from her party colleague, Lower Saxony’s Health Minister Andreas Philippi (SPD). He said: “Smoking weed closer to daycare centers is not a contribution to prevention. Child and youth protection is largely too vague and imprecise.” Lower Saxony’s Consumer Protection Minister Miriam Staudte (Greens), however, praised the law as an important step towards decriminalization.
Criticism also from Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg
Schleswig-Holstein’s Health and Justice Minister Kerstin von der Decken (CDU) is also critical of the legalization law. She considers the release of cannabis to be dangerous, especially with regard to young people. She also fears that the judiciary will be increasingly burdened by new criminal offenses that would have to be prosecuted and end up in court. Hamburg’s Justice Senator Anna Gallina criticized the rapid entry into force of cannabis legalization on April 1st. The restricted release of the drug for adults is “an important and long-standing political concern,” said the Green politician in Hamburg. “It is a great shame that the draft law has now been passed in the Bundestag without the states being given sufficient time to prepare for implementation.” She therefore expects further disputes in the Federal Council.
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Are expert assessments ignored?
Behrens also noted that experts from medicine, justice and science had expressed themselves extremely critically and rather negatively in the hearings in the Bundestag: “But you don’t want to hear that. You want to get through it with your head Wall.”
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Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister Behrens added that the legalization of drugs is always about protecting those who cannot handle them: “We have that when it comes to alcohol, we have that when it comes to tobacco: clear rules, licensed Procedure. And unfortunately we can’t do that now.”
Addiction expert: “Don’t sell cannabis like gummy bears”
Jens Reimer, a specialist in psychiatry at the Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research at the Eppendorf University Hospital in Hamburg, praised the law in an interview with NDR Info as a step in the right direction – even if it is a compromise solution that still leaves many questions entail. It is important to him that people who use cannabis are not criminalized. Similar to alcohol, you have to think about how you can consume it in a low-risk way.
Reimer spoke out in favor of a corresponding awareness campaign – based on the “Alcohol? Know your limit” campaign. The addiction expert warned against commercialization: “We must under no circumstances sell cannabis like gummy bears.” Consumption should not be made attractive to young people – for example through advertising.
Hamburg Medical Association rejects legalization
The Medical Association in Hamburg rejects the legalization of cannabis. “From a medical perspective, it is completely clear that cannabis consumption has negative consequences for memory and learning performance, particularly among adolescents and young adults,” said Chamber President Pedram Emami on Friday. “It is therefore inexplicable to me why the legislature does not provide for stricter regulations here.” The planned law is not sufficient when it comes to protecting minors. In addition, it is fatal to rely primarily on a digital education platform and to weaken local prevention work. In addition, regional consumption bans around schools and youth facilities are difficult to implement in practice – especially in a city like Hamburg .
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