Partial cannabis legalization: It’s better not to make a law like this

The cannabis law is courageous, but many points are still unclear – a clear example for the critics. But they have failed to come up with a counter-concept.

The decision in favor of the cannabis law and thus partial legalization is courageous. The federal government is taking a new approach to drug policy. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach appeared less courageous and more chaotic when preparing the law.

A few days before it comes into force, there are still unanswered questions, for example when looking at the future limit value in road traffic. The unresolved points were and are a direct assist for the opponents.

Several parts of the law are incomprehensible

There are several parts of the law that are incomprehensible: Smoking weed will become legal on April 1st, but you can no longer buy the drug legally. It can only be purchased legally from July 1st – as a member of a cultivation club. In the meantime, the black market can make a nice profit and sell off its mostly contaminated, dangerous material.

The fact that the criticism of the interior and justice ministers was not taken into account could be a backlash for Lauterbach: Convicted cannabis users should be acquitted retroactively if their crime is legal in the future under the new rules. This part of the law could and should have been postponed in order not to burden public prosecutors and courts unnecessarily.

A chance to end failed drug policy

The traffic light government should have given the legislative process more time and taken greater account of the critics’ concerns. But despite this criticism, the law offers an opportunity to end the drug policy that has so far failed. Anyone who knows how much cannabis consumption has increased among teenagers and young adults in recent years, and how many people have become addicted to drugs as a result, cannot sit back and say we carry on as before.

The critics – above all the CDU and CSU – have failed to introduce a counter-concept into the debate, an alternative to partial legalization. And when some Union politicians said before the vote in the Bundesrat that they did not want to work on the law, but would rather stop it when it came to the mediation committee, they damaged the democratic process and achieved exactly the opposite.

It applies, undesirable developments to track down

It was only this “blockade with announcement” that led to many traffic light politicians in the federal states deciding against the mediation committee. The Union could have prevented what it saw as the worst there. Missed the chance.

Now comes the law as it is on the table. After all, it is designed in such a way that its effect, particularly on the protection of children and young people, should be tested at regular intervals.

Lauterbach and all other supporters must now take this seriously. This is the only way to build trust in the new drug policy. It is important to detect undesirable developments, admit mistakes, change the law or even overturn it if the effect and goal are missed. Not only the introduction, but also the handling of the law and further development will require courage.