Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
Mugglehead Magazine
Alternative investment news based in Vancouver, B.C.

International

Germany’s new government says it will legalize cannabis

The traffic light coalition confirms it will set up a regulated cannabis market

Germany's new government will legalize cannabis
The 'traffic light' coalition agreement is ready, and the new government plans to legalize weed. Photo via SPD

It’s official. Germany’s new coalition government will legalize cannabis.

Since the October election, there have been rumblings of legalization while the so-called traffic light coalition — Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) — negotiated the next government.

On Wednesday, the intention to legalize weed, reported last week, was confirmed now that a coalition agreement has been reached.

In the coalition agreement, the government said it will regulate cannabis sales in licensed shops for adult use.

A review of the cannabis law will take place after four years to determine the social impact.

The new government will expand drug checking and harm-reduction measures, as well as tighten marketing rules for alcohol, nicotine and cannabis.

Further details have yet to be released.

Under current laws, small amounts of cannabis are allowed, and the country has allowed medical pot since 2017.

The former government under Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had been opposed to legalization.

But while the new coalition government is backing cannabis reform, it doesn’t guarantee an easy path toward legalization.

The government will only control the Bundestag and will likely need approval from the Federal Council (Bundesrat), another house of the German government, explains market intelligence firm Prohibition Partners.

“Past attempts to legalize cannabis on a trial basis, for example in Berlin in 2016, were blocked by federal regulators on the basis that changes to the German Narcotics Act require majority support from both of these governmental houses,” reads a blog post last week. “Currently, the Bundesrat is controlled by conservative interests, though advocates are hopeful this will change in the next year or two, as the dominance of Angela Merkel’s CDU dwindles across the German states.”

The agency adds that the specifics of Germany’s legalization plans will be “crucial in determining the nature of the newly legal adult-use market”

Read more: Legalization could bring Germany €4.7B annually and create 27,000 jobs: survey

Germany has grown into the largest cannabis market in Europe since the country legalized medical use in 2017.

A recent study estimated legalization could net €4.7 billion a year for Germany through tax revenues and savings in law enforcement, as well as create 27,000 jobs in the regulated industry.

Germany’s legalization plan could be a first for the European Union, but the small European country of Luxembourg is also reforming its cannabis laws to allow cultivation for personal use.

Luxembourg has said it’s working on further reform.

Read more: Luxembourg set to greenlight cannabis cultivation for adult-use

 

Follow Mugglehead on Twitter

Like Mugglehead on Facebook

Follow Kathryn Tindale on Twitter

kathryn@mugglehead.com

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Cannabis

Hawaii senate's approval of recreational marijuana legalization bill marks milestone in state's cannabis reform

Cannabis

The country's lawmakers voted 407 to 226 in favour of the new legislation

Lithium

German officials who met with the Argentinian delegation will be travelling to South America next month to further strengthen ties

Cannabis

The country would become the first in Europe to legalize