Health
Cannabis law: Union demands veto from traffic light coalition members
This Friday, the Bundestag is expected to decide on the controlled release of cannabis with numerous rules. photo
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
The vote on the controversial cannabis law is imminent. The Union appeals to the traffic light coalition members to vote against it. The judges’ association is also vocal against the plans.
Shortly before the Bundestag vote on the controversial partial legalization of Cannabis in Germany, the Union has asked the representatives of the traffic light coalition to vote against the project. The health policy spokesman for the Bundestag faction, Tino Sorge (CDU), told the “Rheinische Post”: “I appeal to my colleagues at the traffic light: Vote against this law on Friday. Stop this irresponsible project.” The judges’ association is also protesting against the plans and warning that the judiciary will be overburdened.
This Friday, the Bundestag is expected to decide on the controlled release with numerous rules. Ownership and personal cultivation of certain quantities should therefore be permitted for adults from April 1st. Clubs for non-commercial cultivation should be possible on July 1st. Objections were also raised from the co-governing SPD. Several SPD MPs have already announced that they will vote against the bill.
Sorge said that the coalition members had to listen to the warnings of their own specialist politicians. The current situation is problematic. “But a completely unsuitable and highly dangerous law cannot be the answer.” However, the Union would be ready for a new attempt that takes up the criticism of the established experts.
Judges’ Association warns against overburdening the judiciary
Meanwhile, the German Association of Judges warned of a massive overload of the judiciary due to the amnesty regulation provided for in the law. “The judiciary is expecting more than 100,000 files nationwide that will have to be checked again in the event of the planned retroactive remission of sentences for cannabis offenses,” said the Federal Managing Director of the Association of Judges, Sven Rebehn, to the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
There are more than 10,000 cases at the Cologne District Court alone. “The five judges responsible there assume an average processing time of at least one hour per case, so that with 2,000 cases per capita and 40 hours per week, the review would mathematically take 50 weeks or a year,” said Rebehn.
For the public prosecutor’s offices, the Cannabis Act specifically means “that they have to manually evaluate all criminal files related to the Narcotics Act again to see whether the facts in question would be unpunished under the new legal situation,” said Rebehn. The courts therefore also face an enormous additional burden. After the law comes into force, there will also be an amnesty for convictions for cases that will be permitted in the future.
Cannabis social clubs are expecting a boom in new businesses
The umbrella organization of German Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCD) expects a real boom in new clubs following cannabis legalization. “I assume that within a year we will have 3,000 or even 4,000 clubs in Germany,” said the association’s chairman, Steffen Geyer, to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). There are currently around 300 to 350 groups that are in the founding phase of a club or are now just waiting for the law to finally come into force.
According to the draft law, “cultivation associations” should be permitted. So something like clubs for adults, in which up to 500 members who live in Germany grow cannabis together and distribute it to each other for their own consumption – a maximum of 25 grams of cannabis per member per day and a maximum of 50 grams per month.
The clubs must be organized as non-commercial associations and require a permit that is valid for a limited period of time. In its draft law, the federal government assumes that there will be 1,000 growing associations in the first year after it comes into force and that there will be an increase of 500 of these associations in each of the following years. This estimate was also described as too low by the federal states.
In the future, adults aged 18 and over will generally be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal consumption. Three live cannabis plants should become legal in your own home and, according to a change, up to 50 grams of cannabis for personal consumption. Public consumption should be banned, among other things, in schools, sports facilities and within sight of them – specifically within 100 meters of the entrance area as the crow flies. No later than 18 months after the law comes into force, an initial assessment should be available on, among other things, how it affects the protection of children and young people.