Health
Cabinet decides key points for cannabis legalization
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) speaks about the planned controlled sale of cannabis to adults in Germany. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Cannabis is already legal in Canada and some US states. The traffic light government is also planning this for Germany. The Federal Cabinet is now taking the next step.
The federal cabinet has decided on key points for cannabis legalization in Germany. According to the plans of the traffic light coalition, cannabis and the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) should no longer be legally classified as narcotics in the future. The acquisition and possession of up to 30 grams of “pleasure cannabis” should go unpunished, private cultivation allowed to a limited extent and sale to adults in “licensed specialist shops” and possibly also pharmacies should be made possible.
Whether that will actually happen is still an open question. International and European legal rules for dealing with cannabis could stand in the way of legalization in Germany. The legal framework offers “limited options for implementing the coalition plan,” according to a key issues paper approved by the cabinet. The so-called Schengen implementation agreement is mentioned in this context. A concrete draft law should therefore only be presented when it becomes apparent that there are no legal objections from the EU to the planned release of cannabis.
The SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed in their coalition agreement to introduce “the controlled sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops”.
Schengen Implementing Convention (Art. 71 on Cannabis)