FAQ
Status: 04/12/2023 5:53 p.m
Minister of Health Lauterbach and Minister of Agriculture Özdemir have presented plans to legalize cannabis. They provide for two “pillars” and are less far-reaching than originally planned. What should be allowed? What not?
the initial situation
In its coalition agreement, the traffic light had actually agreed to introduce the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops. However, the matter is legally difficult: from the outset there were concerns that the 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”.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach presented the key points for a law with far-reaching legalization proposals in the autumn. Now the SPD politician’s plans have been thoroughly revised – also with a view to concerns from the EU.
How many grams should be allowed?
A maximum of 25 grams of “pleasure cannabis” for personal consumption should not be punished, such a quantity may also be carried in public. In earlier plans, 30 grams were still planned.
The permitted amount of self-cultivation has remained unchanged. Three female flowering plants per adult should be allowed – protected from access by children and young people.
Can be consumed anywhere?
Consumption in public near schools or day-care centers is prohibited. It is not allowed to smoke weed in pedestrian zones until 8 p.m.
Minors caught using cannabis must participate in intervention and prevention programs. Previous convictions for possession or self-cultivation of up to 25 grams or a maximum of three plants can be deleted from the federal central register upon request.
Where can you buy cannabis?
This is where the two “pillars” come into play: First, there are supposed to be “non-profit” associations that jointly grow cannabis for recreational purposes and are allowed to sell it to members for their own consumption.
The originally planned “licensed specialist shops”, i.e. cannabis shops where the drug can be bought legally from the age of 18, should not exist for the time being. A sale in shops is planned in a second step, but only with scientific support in regional model projects. The government agreed on this after talks with the EU Commission, it said.
What rules should apply to the “cannabis clubs”?
These envisaged non-profit associations should have a maximum of 500 members. The minimum age is 18 years. The clubs must appoint youth protection, addiction and prevention officers and are not allowed to advertise themselves. Membership in more than one club is prohibited.
There are also quantity limits here: a maximum of 25 grams of cannabis per day and a maximum of 50 grams per month may be sold per club member. Under 21-year-olds get a maximum of 30 grams per month, and an upper limit on the active ingredient content should also be set for them. The costs should be covered by the membership fees, if necessary, an additional amount per gram delivered.
Consumption is not permitted in the club rooms, and serving alcohol is also prohibited. In addition, there is a minimum distance for the clubs to schools and daycare centers.
What should the model projects look like?
The possible second step, the model projects, should look like this: “Commercial supply chains” are to be tried out in districts and cities in several federal states, from production to distribution to the sale of cannabis in specialist shops. The projects are scientifically monitored, limited to five years and limited to the residents of these communities. The effects on health and youth protection as well as the black market are to be examined.
This second pillar of the planned legalization is “probably still subject to notification,” according to the federal government. This means that the EU may have a say. Lauterbach emphasized that the scientific investigation was “open-ended”. “I cannot rule out that it will stay with the first pillar.”
It also needs to be clarified whether cannabis imports should also be made possible for secure supply chains. A nationwide, free cannabis sale would therefore only be possible after this five-year test phase and renewed approval by the EU Commission. Lauterbach and Özdemir emphasized that the EU is campaigning with like-minded countries to change the European rules by then.
Why legalize at all?
The federal government justifies the legalization plans with the plan to push back the black market in order to pull the rug out of crime and to be able to control the quality of cannabis products. Lauterbach spoke of a controlled supply of cannabis to adults “within clear limits (…) flanked by preventive measures for young people”. The “black market goods” are often contaminated and create additional health risks, according to Lauterbach.
For Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann “the previous restrictive handling” in Germany with cannabis “failed”. According to the FDP politician, the ban criminalizes countless people, pushes them into criminal structures and ties up immense resources with the law enforcement authorities.
Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir spoke of a strengthening of youth and health protection “through controlled cultivation and distribution within the framework of cannabis clubs”. According to the Green politician, the possibilities of a commercial supply chain are to be explored with a regional model project.
What is criticized about the plans?
The project has always been controversial. Critics are skeptical about the hoped-for containment of the black market, warn of a “grey” market caused by the resale of adults to young people and fear drug tourism from abroad. Doctors also warn of a growing number of brain injuries in adolescents.
CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja “resolutely rejected” the proposals. They had no real answer to the question “how our children should be properly protected from this drug in the future,” criticized the CDU politician to the editorial network Germany.
The Bavarian state government even wants to prevent legalization in the Free State as much as possible. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) called the project now presented on Twitter a “wrong way”. According to Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU), health risks are being downplayed. Holetschek described the argument that legalization would lead to more youth protection as a “bad joke”. One will analyze exactly how to prevent cannabis legalization in Bavaria.
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, fears that legalization will reduce risk awareness, downplay the drug and lead to more consumption, especially among young people. He called “advertising terms” such as “cannabis club” “downright grotesque”.
When is legalization coming?
The cornerstones were drawn up by the Federal Ministry of Health as the lead agency, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Foreign Office. The limits of EU and international law were taken into account. On this basis, the federal government will now “short-term” present a draft law, it said.
After the vote in the government and a cabinet decision, the law would still have to go through the Bundestag and Bundesrat. According to Özdemir, the traffic light wants to try to shape the law in such a way that the Bundesrat does not have to agree. The federal states could then only object and delay the law. It is still unclear when the rules could come into force.