Germany legalises cannabis, but makes it hard to buy
Germany legalises cannabis, but makes it hard to buy
Under the law backed by MPs, possession will be legal, but strict rules mean it will be complicated.
The German parliament has backed a new law to allow the recreational use of cannabis.
Under the law, over-18s in Germany will be allowed to possess substantial amounts of cannabis, but strict rules will make it difficult to buy the drug.
Smoking cannabis in many public spaces will become legal from 1 April.
Possession of up to 25g, equivalent to dozens of strong joints, is to be allowed in public spaces. In private homes the legal limit will be 50g.
Already police in some parts of Germany, such as Berlin, often turn a blind eye to smoking in public, although possession of the drug for recreational use is illegal and can be prosecuted. Use of the drug among young people has been soaring for years despite the existing law, says Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who is instigating the reforms.
The initial drafts proposed canabis shops and licenses. But the EU declined it. So we get the max that is currently possible. Yes that law has some strange parts, but nothing too concerning.
And if everything goes as planned, we will get shop's in the future
Huh? What are these plans and who is going to implement them?
The coalition wants to implement model regions, where commercial delivery chains, from farming to the counter, should be tested for 5 years.
This will require another law of course.
The goal is to show the EU that legalizing helps better to archive the goals of the prohibition then the prohibition.
Germany: We will not be bullshitting with any of you Low Effort fucks. If you need it, you come get it
—if you just want it— yeah, no. Unless you reallly want it— then come get it.
This is the best they could do after the EU said no to commercial sales and shops.
I'm all for legalization and partake on a monthly basis or so, but I'm kind of down for keeping it more difficult to obtain. Four or five dispensaries per mid-size city should be plenty as long as competition still exists. I work at a school and access to cannabis has become a rising issue. Outside of school, the greater availability has led to "burnouts" being more common.
I think parallels can be drawn to the opioid epidemic and alcohol. Where availability is high, reliance and addiction rises. There's no reason to flood low-income neighborhoods with convenience stores where half or more of the inventory is alcohol.
Again, with many things, Germany is ahead of the curve.
The ingredients laws for beer should be translated directly into aerosolizer laws (nic, vg, pg, heavily vetted and approved flavors), and the controls on marijuana sales seem to be going the same way. Good on them.
On the other hand, there are places, where it's so easy to get weed and other drugs even today and delivered directly to your doorstep. In those places it may be easier to stick with your dealer for procurement and enjoy the benefit of decriminalization of possession and consumption than going through the hassle of joining a cannabis club. This in turn would negate some.of the discussed benefits of legalization.
The last time I was in Berlin, the year before Covid, they had set ups in some of the parks which were like painted lines and 'boxes' on the floor
Weed dealers were allowed to sell within these lines (probably not actually legally, but with an understanding that the police would leave them be? Not sure of the specific rules) but not outside of them
This meant that people who weren't interested wouldnt have their park time marred by shady people coming up and trying to sell them drugs, and people who were interested could just go to one of the dealers in the lines
It was just a better, safer way of doing things. Everybody won.
Actual legalisation is the next step of course. Criminalisation of something as minor of weed just creates crime and danger, it doesnt reduce it. So this is good news
I hope that they get around to legalizing common shops. My logic says that the situation would lead to a surge of acquiring substances from shady dealers, which could in turn lead to increased narcotics use.
I'm probably wrong - at least I hope so.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Already police in some parts of Germany, such as Berlin, often turn a blind eye to smoking in public, although possession of the drug for recreational use is illegal and can be prosecuted.
He wants to undermine the black market, protect smokers from contaminated cannabis and cut revenue streams for organised crime gangs.
A ferocious debate about decriminalising cannabis has been raging for years in Germany, with doctors' groups expressing concerns for young people and conservatives saying that liberalisation will fuel drug use.
Simone Borchardt of the opposition conservative CDU told MPs that the government had gone ahead with its "completely unnecessary, confused law" regardless of warnings from doctors, police and psychotherapists.
Original plans to allow licensed shops and pharmacies to sell cannabis have been scrapped over EU concerns that this could lead to a surge in drug exports.
This means that Germany could be in the paradoxical position of allowing possession of rather large amounts of the drug, while at the same time making it difficult to purchase.
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