The German parliament has voted in favour of legalising cannabis for personal use following a historic vote in the Bundestag today.
Under the new legislation, which will come into force on April 1st 2024, cannabis will be removed from the official list of illegal substances that make up Germany’s narcotics law. Adults will be allowed to possess a maximum of 25g of cannabis in public and 50g at home, and will also be allowed to cultivate 3 plants for personal use.
The legalisation of cannabis was an election promise made by the governing coalition of three parties; the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens. The so-called traffic light coalition pledged to remove cannabis from the hands of criminal gangs and to bring in legislation to protect young people after winning a general election in 2021.
The German health minister Karl Lauterbach has previously stated that legalising cannabis is key to protecting public health, citing contaminants in criminally supplied cannabis as a risk to consumers. “Child and youth protection is at the heart of what this law is meant to achieve,” Lauterbach said before the vote.
“With this law, we will achieve a significant reduction in the black market, better protection for children and young people and a safer product for older consumers.”
Under the new law, under 18s will be banned from consuming cannabis. 18 to 21 year olds will only be allowed to buy up to 30g of cannabis with a maximum THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content of 10%.
The law will also allow the creation of cannabis social clubs from July 1st 2024. Clubs will need to obtain a licence to operate, will not be allowed to run for profit, and will be permitted to have a maximum of 500 members. These clubs will be allowed to produce cannabis on behalf of members, with limits on how much cannabis each member can be given per month.
There has been some opposition from both opposition parties and from within the coalition, with concerns expressed about the potential harms of smoking around children. The new law will ban cannabis from being consumed within 100 meters of schools, parks and sports facilities.
The change falls short of the initial plans laid out by the coalition to open up a fully regulated commercial cannabis market in Germany, which would include retail dispensaries as seen in countries such as Canada and some states in the US. These plans, often referred to as the second pillar of legalisation, fall foul of EU regulation. Members of the EU, including Germany, are bound by cross-European policy which prohibits nationwide adult-use cannabis sales. Lauterbach has stated that he is in continued talks with the EU on how Germany can progress to this second stage through a pilot program, similar to those already underway in Switzerland and The Netherlands.
