On October 26, 2022, Germany unveiled its plan to legalize cannabis, a possible sign from the EU’s biggest economy of a continental shift underway towards a cannabis-friendly Europe. This legislation would be the most comprehensive and regulated plan for cannabis legalization in Europe, following the Netherlands’s ‘coffee shop’ marijuana distribution and full legalization in Malta. Because neighboring EU countries have stricter regulations surrounding the substance, Germany will have to prove it can control its border sufficiently to stop cannabis from leaving the country. Additionally, in order to uphold international trade laws, Germany must be able to meet all domestic demand from internally cultivated marijuana, and this means Germany must plan for complete cultivation inside the country. The policy is not expected to be enacted until 2024, but a draft is expected as early as 2023.

The new policy would allow adults to obtain and possess up to 30 grams of recreational cannabis for personal consumption. Marijuana plants would be limited to two to three plants per person, and the sale of cannabis would be limited to specialty stores. Despite legalization, the advertisement of cannabis products would be banned, and the packaging of products would be required to warn against addictive effects, list the date harvested, the weight, the producer, and the THC and CBD content.

Though the law is currently being drafted, Germany as a whole is not unified behind it; the conservatives in Bavaria have expressed concern that Germany will become a destination for ‘drug tourism’ and expressed concern over the health effects of marijuana use. The Bavarian Health Minister, Klaus Holetschek, claims that, “Consumption entails significant and sometimes irreversible health and social risks - and any form of trivialization is completely irresponsible.” However, the risks of marijuana use are the main reasoning behind this new drug policy. Karl Lauterbach, the Health Minister of Germany, argues that the liberalization will help Germany prevent rampant misuse of the drug rather than contribute to it.

While medicinal marijuana has been legal in Germany since 2017, Lauterbach explained the reasoning for moving forward with liberal drug policies as an attempt to squash the illicit drug market and have some control over the cannabis consumption inside the country. The previous method of a complete ban on recreational use has actually led to rising use of products high in THC content, with no government oversight on the products sold and consumed. With this new legislation, the drugs available to their population would have a controlled level of THC or CBD, and might even have a THC or CBD limit for those consuming the drug under the age of 21. The plans remain unclear, however, with a full draft of the law not expected till at least 2023. Whether this draft will pass depends first on approval from the UN and second on the state of Germany’s government at the time of its vote.

Before any laws begin a draft process in Germany, however, the state is submitting its proposal to the EU Commission to ensure that it does not infringe on any treaties. Other EU states already have some form of legalized cannabis: Malta was the first EU state to legalize all cannabis; in France all cannabis use is also legal; the Netherlands tolerates use of 5 grams in coffee shops; and Italy, Switzerland, and Portugal all have low levels of cannabis tolerated as well as medical marijuana legalized. However, Germany’s legalization plan will potentially be the most liberal cannabis policy yet, with its allowance of both medical and recreational cannabis, the amount a person may possess, and the number of plants one will be allowed to grow. The path ahead remains unclear, but if Germany can create a successful and sound legal framework for the legalization of recreational cannabis, the rest of Europe may follow suit. Lauterbach claims the plan could be “a model for Europe,” that could be molded, transplanted, and grown to fit other European countries. Particularly if the introduction of legal cannabis proves an economically beneficial venture in what is already the largest economy in the EU, cannabis may become the dominant industry of Europe’s future.

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