After Malta in 2021 and Luxembourg last year, Germany on Monday, April 1, became the third EU country – and the largest – to legalize the use of recreational cannabis, with a law that raised just as many expectations as concerns, writes France Presse.
At midnight, the time for the first “legal” cigarettes, several hundred people celebrated the law’s entry into force with puffs of smoke in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, according to an AFP journalist. Amidst the young and happy crowd, Niyazi, a 25-year-old, said he sees the decriminalization of the drug as “a little bit more freedom.”
Possession of up to 25 grams of dried cannabis is now allowed in public places, as is home cultivation of up to 50 grams and three adult plants.
This approach is diametrically opposed to that of France and differs from that of the Netherlands, where consumption is not legal but is tolerated, especially through “coffee shops”.
Germans still have 3 months to wait before they can buy drugs legally
In Germany, however, citizens will have to wait another three months before they can buy drugs legally through a “Cannabis Social Club”.
Hence the warning issued in the meantime by Georg Wurth, the representative of the German Hemp Federation: despite legalization, “consumers do not have to tell the police where they bought their cannabis” if they are stopped on the street.
“Because from April 1, in principle, drugs can only be obtained illegally,” he said in an interview with AFP.
The situation will really change on July 1, with the entry into rights of the clubs. These non-profit associations will be able to sell their members a maximum of 25 grams per day and a maximum of 50 grams per month.
These clubs, a kind of communal cannabis gardens, will be able to grow the drug on an open-air plot, in a greenhouse or in an uninhabited building. Each such club will be able to have a maximum of 500 paying members, who must be resident in Germany for at least 6 months.
According to the government, the new legislation, fervently supported by environmentalists and liberals in Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition, should enable a more effective fight against illegal trafficking. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has said several times that countries like Canada, which have implemented legalization, have succeeded in reducing the black market.
Doctors fear the effects of consumption among young people
But many medical associations fear an increase in consumption, especially among young people. By the age of 25, cannabis use carries greater risks for the still-developing brain, according to experts, who draw particular attention to the danger of developing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. –
For Katja Seidel, an addiction prevention specialist at the Tannenhof Center in Berlin, the new law is “a disaster”.
Germany’s health minister has promised increased resources to raise awareness among young people about the dangers of cannabis, without announcing specific amounts. The authorities emphasize that cannabis remains prohibited for young people under the age of 18. Consumption is also prohibited within a radius of 100 meters around schools, nurseries and playgrounds.
Police and judges are not happy with the new law
Police officers are also outraged at what they see as a “bureaucratic monster with lots of regulations”, according to branch union president (DPolG) Rainer Wendt.
“From April 1, our colleagues will be in conflict with the public, as uncertainty reigns on both sides,” explained the vice-president of the police union (GdP), Alexander Poitz.
For its part, the Federation of German Judges (DRB) anticipates an increase in workload: due to the amnesties resulting from the law on cannabis-related crimes, more than 200,000 cases will have to be re-examined. This will prevent the criminal justice system from “devoting itself to other tasks for weeks and months at a time,” points out DRB’s Sven Rebehn.
Tags: consumption cannabis legal Germany hundreds people celebrated entry force law
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