Germany’s bid to legalise cannabis is set to go up in smoke… because of its EU partners and Schengen zone freedom of movement rules
- German cabinet agreed plan for cannabis to be made legal, health minister said
- People will be allowed to possess up to 1oz of the substance for recreational use
- Adults will be able to buy cannabis from licensed sellers under the proposal
- But plan could be scuppered by EU neighbours and Schengen free travel zone
- Germany will have to prove to other EU member states its legislation would not infringe on their narcotics policies – but people can travel freely across borders
Germany’s plan to legalise the possession of small amounts of cannabis for recreational use as well as its sale and production could be scuppered by challenges from its European neighbours.
Under a proposal agreed yesterday by the nation’s cabinet, possession of up to 1oz of the substance would become legal, health minister Karl Lauterbach said.
Adults would be allowed to buy cannabis from dispensaries, people would be permitted to grow up to three plants at home, and farmers would be able to cultivate it for sale.
However, the legislation must receive approval from EU courts to ensure it complies with European law before it can be implemented.
In many EU states, there are staunch regulations prohibiting the movement of illegal drugs, but EU citizens are able to travel freely throughout the Schengen free travel zone.
This means Germany would be forced to prove that its decriminalisation of both possessing and selling cannabis would not infringe on its neighbours’ narcotics policies.
No other country in Europe shares its borders with more territories than Germany, but of its nine neighbours – Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland – recreational cannabis use is currently only legal in the Netherlands, under certain constraints.
It is therefore highly likely that Germany’s proposal will be shot down by the European Court of Justice, which has previously decreed that EU member states should prevent the sale of cannabis.
Germany plans to allow adults to possess up to 1oz of cannabis for recreational use, as well as licensing traders to sell and produce the drug
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach speaks during a news conference in berlin, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022
In the unlikely event that Brussels gives the thumbs up to Germany’s plans, then the legislation will be subject to German parliamentary debate before it can be implemented.
But the fact it is even being discussed represents a sea-change from current German laws that allow it only for medical use – and even then, only for the terminally ill.
Mr Lauterbach described the plan as creating ‘the most liberal legalisation of cannabis in Europe’ while also building ‘the most-regulated market’.
The hope is that Germany – the EU’s most powerful economy – will create a model that other European states can follow, Mr Lauterbach added.
It is thought the plan would ban the import of cannabis – meaning plants consumed in Germany would have to be grown in Germany – and ban advertising.
Marijuana sold in dispensaries or pharmacies would be limited to a THC content of no more than 15 per cent, with a 10 per cent cap for customers aged 18 to 21.
And sellers would have to be located away from schools, children’s facilities or youth clubs.
But Germany has not yet agreed on the finer points of the proposal which has been criticised by officials in the Free Democratic Party and the Greens, who claimed the plans were ‘unnecessarily restrictive’ and would drive people towards the black market to meet demand.
This file photo taken on August 10, 2019 in Berlin shows a German national flag bearing a marijuana leaf during the 23rd Hanfparade, a traditional German-wide pro-Cannabis march, to ask for its legalisation
Germany’s legislation must receive approval from EU courts to ensure it complies with European law before it can be implemented, but many EU states have staunch regulations prohibiting the movement of illegal drugs (European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pictured)
Legalising controlled sales of cannabis is one of a series of reforms outlined in last year’s coalition deal between the three socially liberal parties that make up Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government.
They said the plan would ensure quality control while also protecting young people, and agreed that the ‘social effects’ of the new legislation would be examined after four years.
In other liberalising plans, the government has removed a section Germany’s criminal code that made it illegal for doctors to provide information on abortion procedures.
It also wants to ease the path to German citizenship, lift restrictions on dual citizenship, and reduce the minimum age for voting in national and European elections from 18 to 16.
The government also hopes to scrap 40-year-old legislation that requires transsexual people to get a psychological assessment and a court decision before officially changing gender, a process that often involves intimate questions.
It is due to be replaced with a new ‘self-determination law’.
Turning over a new leaf: Where cannabis laws are being relaxed after decades of prohibition
It has been more than six decades since Ronald Reagan declared his war on drugs, sparking widespread bans and crackdowns on narcotics worldwide – including prohibitions on cannabis.
But having largely failed to eradicate use of the drug, amid growing evidence it has medical benefits, and amid concerns the bans are handing money to criminals, governments are starting to relax those laws.
Here are the different ways countries now treat the drug, and where exactly those laws have come into force…
Legal for recreational use
Though still rare, a handful of countries are allowing cannabis to be bought and sold legally for recreational use as opposed to medical use.
Canada was among the first to make the move, alongside the likes of Uruguay, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand.
Georgia also allows the recreational growing, possession and consumption of cannabis but not its sale, which mirrors laws on the island of Malta.
Germany could become the latest country to join this club.
Legal for medical use
Amidst growing evidence that cannabis has medical benefits – particularly for conditions such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis – a growing number of countries now allow doctors to prescribe the herb or products made using it.
The UK, where cannabis is otherwise illegal, does allow it to be prescribe by a doctor and allows it to be grown for medical uses.
Neighbouring Ireland is also allowing it for medical use under a pilot programme, similar to nearby Denmark.
Other Scandinavian countries including Norway, Sweden and Finland also permit medical use, as do Poland and Greece.
Australia and New Zealand are one of only a few countries in the southern hemisphere to permit its use for treatment, alongside Brazil – where it can only be given to terminal patients.
Decriminalised
This term describes a grey-zone somewhere between illegality and legality, where the law still formally bans the drug but politicians or police have said they will not prosecute those found in possession.
Perhaps the most-famous case is Portugal which decriminalised all drugs back in 2000 – saying possession would be treated as a public health issue with those caught sent into treatment instead of to the courts.
The Netherlands is another well-known case, where cannabis is technically illegal but is freely available from coffee shops.
In the United States, laws vary state-by-state. Nineteen out of 50 states now allow recreational cannabis, 12 have decriminalised it, and almost all permit it for medical use.
Decriminalisation is also popular in Europe, where the likes of Spain, Italy, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Switzerland use the policy.
Jamaica also takes a soft-touch approach to possession of the drug, which is fully legal for registered Rastafari.
Argentina, Chile and Peru in South America, and Israel alone out of Middle Eastern countries, also turn a blind eye to possession.
Illegal
Though not as widespread as they once were, laws banning all cannabis use are still relatively common throughout the world.
Russia bans the drug as does ally Belarus. China and large parts of the Asia-Pacific – including Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Malaysia – also ban it.
Outright bans are the norm throughout most of Africa and the Middle East, including in Turkey where very limited exemptions are made for certain medical products.
Ukraine, Hungary and Iceland also totally outlaw the drug.
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