Through it all, the German government has unveiled its long-awaited revised plan to legalize cannabis.
German officials held a press conference yesterday, attended by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, in which they announced the country’s plan to legalize cannabis.
The revised plan for hashish in Germany is inspired by the policies and reports of other European countries with a twist.
This is boosted by the Swiss-style pilot mission for the sale of hashish products, which will also be launched in the Netherlands.
The recent Maltese law to decriminalise the possession of hashish and internal cultivation would have possibly influenced this plan as well.
In addition, the German plan to create hashish social clubs in Spain and which will soon be implemented in Malta stands out.
This integration of approaches from other European countries paves the way for a hashish-only policy experiment in Germany.
The proposed legalization across Germany is based on two main pillars.
The first pillar of the proposed plan would allow for the creation of non-profit associations, also known as hashish social clubs, nationwide to grow and consume hashish for recreational purposes.
German hash social clubs can have a maximum of 500 members. Adults over 21 years of age or older can consume up to 50 grams of hashish per month, while for those between 18 and 21 years of age the maximum limit is 30 grams per month. The intake and service of alcohol in hashish social clubs is prohibited, as well as the consumption on site.
However, associations can only distribute up to seven seeds or five cuttings per month to their members for internal cultivation.
In Germany, adults can grow and possess hash at home. For private use, they can grow up to 3 flowering plants. However, the developing environment will have to be safe and inaccessible to young people and young people.
If minors are caught in hashish, they deserve to participate in intervention and prevention programs. In addition, other people who have already been convicted of possession or self-cultivation of up to 25 grams of hashish or a maximum of 3 plants can request that their records be expunged from the federal central register.
The second pillar of the planned legalization is to launch a five-year pilot program at the regional level. The aim is to identify a regional and time-bound style that can serve as a reference for other European countries and the European Commission. This program will conduct a clinical study of the effects of advertising chains on health, child coverage, and the illegal market.
The program will check advertising source chains in various districts and cities in other federal states. This will cover the production, distribution and sale of hashish in specialised establishments. The mission will be subject to clinical follow-up, limited to five years and reserved for citizens of the affected communities.
However, German officials noted that this second pillar may still need to be reviewed by the EU.
It is noteworthy that the proposed plan does not involve the general legalization of cannabis. On the contrary, it only allows non-public use of cannabis.
The revised plan differs from the original plan announced last year.
In fact, the original plan to legalize hashish and identify a market similar to that of the U. S. states. where hashish is legal. This market would generate tax revenues for the government, estimated at 5,300 million dollars a year. In addition, the plan would create approximately 27,000 legal jobs in the hashish industry.
After Health Minister Leuterbach stated that the EU had definitively reacted to the original plan, the German government changed course and announced a desire to review the plan due to possible violations of European and foreign legal frameworks.
Therefore, the demanding situations posed by foreign and European regulations prohibiting the sale of hashish products have led the German government to adopt a more moderate legalization of hashish.
The German federal government has justified its legalization plans with the aim of limiting the illegal market, thus allowing for higher quality of hashish products and protecting public health and youth.
At first glance, the proposed plan appears to be in line with those goals. However, several critical issues will still need to be clarified when the bill is introduced. These come with the announced restriction on THC content and regulations related to hashish social clubs.
In addition, Germany had to abandon the concept of full legalization of hashish, which would have generated significant revenues and established the first legal hashish market in Europe with possible investments from the North American hashish industries.
Ministers said a bill would be tabled later this month to put the proposed plan into effect, with legalization set to take effect sometime this year. However, the Regional Commercial Sales Pilot invoice has an undetermined release date and will be submitted at a later date.
With this step, Germany becomes the second EU member to legalise cannabis for private use, after Malta, which did so at the end of 2021.
It turns out that other EU countries that legalise hashish could overcome the legal hurdles posed by EU regulation by adopting the hashish social club models already established in Spain and soon to be implemented in Malta. In addition, they may only allow internal cultivation for non-public use, as the sale of hashish products is lately prohibited by foreign and European legal frameworks.
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