scientific service
Analysis: Cannabis legalization violates EU law
According to a 1971 convention, cannabis is considered a drug. photo
© Christoph Soeder/dpa
The traffic light coalition wants to legalize cannabis in Germany. Preparations for the legislative process are under way. But experts from the Bundestag see legal problems.
According to experts in the Bundestag, the cannabis legalization planned by the coalition violates EU law. In an analysis for the CSU health politician Stephan Pilsinger, which is available to the editorial network Germany (RND/Montag) and the German Press Agency, the scientific service names European treaties to which Germany is bound and which stand in the way of legalization.
In the coalition agreement, it is agreed to introduce a “controlled sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops”. Preparations for the legislative process are currently underway. The federal drug commissioner, Burkhard Blienert (SPD), had announced a draft law for the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Members of the Health Committee of the Bundestag are currently traveling in the USA and Canada to find out about the legalization that has already taken place there in some cases.
EU framework decision provides guidelines
The scientific service refers to the so-called EU framework decision of 2004, which stipulates that every member state must, among other things, make the manufacture, offering, sale, supply and import and export of drugs a punishable offense – if these intentional acts were carried out without the appropriate authorization . In addition, the intentional, unauthorized cultivation of cannabis plants, among other things, must be punished. The same applies to possession or purchase of drugs. According to a 1971 convention, the term drugs also includes cannabis. The member states should act against the crimes mentioned “with effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal sanctions”.
The scientific service also refers to the so-called Schengen Protocol. In it, the contracting countries, including Germany, undertook to “prevent 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”.
In a further elaboration, the experts from the scientific service point out that the Netherlands cannot serve as a model for Germany. The “Opium Law” still applies there, making the cultivation, sale and possession of cannabis a punishable offense. However, possession and sale of smaller quantities is “de facto decriminalized”. “In all cases in which a consumer is caught with drugs, these are confiscated by the police – even if the amount is within the tolerance range described.” The sale of cannabis is “illegal in formal terms”, but will not be prosecuted within the tolerance limit. Cultivation and acquisition of larger quantities of cannabis are still fully criminalized.
Expert: Legalizing cannabis would not be legal
Pilsinger told the dpa that the elaborations showed that the legalization of cannabis provided for in the coalition agreement would not be legal. Simply tolerating cannabis, as it is done in the Netherlands, cannot and must not be an option for Germany. The protection of minors, like pushing back and fighting the black market in Germany, must have “top priority”, said Pilsinger.
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health said on Monday: “We are examining the analysis of the scientific service and of course including it in our considerations. Of course, the new cannabis rules must be legally secure. We are currently looking for a solution for legalization that also complies with international law is compatible.”