German Government Insists on Drug Legalization

Germany's liberal finance minister, Christian Lindner, will not give up on his efforts to legalize the use of cannabis.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner sees the partial legalization of the use of cannabis in Germany as a responsible move. The liberal politician believes that, particularly in terms of crime prevention and health protection, regulated distribution is better than referring people to the black market. Personally, he sees no arguments in favor of delaying the implementation of the law, as the opposition Christian Democrats and the right wing would have liked, he told public media recently, as highlighted by the international V4NA news agency. 

Lindner hält Cannabis-Gesetz für verantwortbar. Was denn sonst! pic.twitter.com/jB7Ks0Db6e

— Be11akindofthing 🕊️👩🏼‍🌾🚜🤖 (@Be11akindofthng) March 24, 2024

The proposal was largely drafted by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. On April 1, the coalition government plans to legalize the use of cannabis for adults to a limited extent. Over-18s will be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal use and grow three marijuana plants per household.

As is known, the law on legalizing cannabis adopted by the Bundestag passed its final hurdle in the chamber of the federal states (aka the Bundesrat), a few days ago. Despite strong criticism of the legislation, the Bundesrat failed to muster a majority to convene a mediation committee to resolve disagreements about the law with the Bundestag. This would have delayed the law from entering into force on 1 April. The law permitting the possession and cultivation of marijuana by adults for personal use under a number of conditions marks a turning point in Germany's drug policy.

The interior ministers of federal states and the opposition are particularly concerned that with the law coming into effect, prison sentences or fines already imposed for crimes that will no longer be punishable in the future are to be scrapped, or convictions entered in the federal central criminal record should be expunged. In addition, the authorities haven't been prepared for detecting violations.

Cover photo: Illustration (Photo: Pexels)