(CN) — Germany's federal government unveiled a draft law Wednesday to legalize the possession and purchase of small amounts of cannabis despite opposition from Germany's conservatives and groups of judges, police and doctors.
The legalization of marijuana came to the forefront in Germany following national elections in 2021 that saw a socially liberal coalition take over from former Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.
In joining forces in November 2021, the coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats said they backed decriminalizing cannabis, a position in line with that taken by many state governments in the United States. So far in the European Union, only the small island nation of Malta has legalized cannabis.
On Wednesday, Germany's federal cabinet unveiled a set of proposals to allow people 18 and older to buy cannabis and grow up to three marijuana plants. People would be allowed to possess 25 grams (about 1 ounce) of cannabis.
The law also would allow the establishment of private clubs with no more than 500 associates that could grow and sell cannabis to its members. It also would up set up regional pilot projects where cannabis could be sold at specialty shops in an effort to better understand the effects of allowing the commercial sale of marijuana.
It would remain illegal for anyone under 18 to use cannabis, and the law contains numerous restrictions. Among them, anyone between the age of 18 and 21 would be limited from buying more than 30 grams a month. Those older would face a limit of 50 grams a month.
The proposals also would prevent marijuana from being smoked at clubs where it is sold, thereby preventing Dutch-style coffee shops from popping up in Germany. It also stipulates that marijuana growers must ensure children have no access to the plants and calls for a nationwide campaign to educate Germans about the dangers of cannabis use.
The law will be taken up by Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, after it returns to work on Sept. 4 once summer recess ends.
“This is an important law that will represent a long-term change in drug policy,” Karl Lauterbach, Germany’s health minister, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Lauterbach said it was time to reverse what he called an “unfortunately failed” policy on cannabis.
He called the proposals “the best form of legalization that has been tried so far” in comparison with drug policies rolled out in the Netherlands, where it is tolerated but not technically legal, and in North America.
“We want to limit consumption and make it safer, especially for children and young people. But we don’t want to expand it,” he said.
In Germany, it is illegal to buy cannabis though not to consume it. Advocates say legalizing cannabis will curb the drug's black market, though critics question that assumption and say the illicit market will continue to flourish.
The law faces opposition in parliament, mostly from Germany's center-right Christian Democrats who have long opposed legalizing marijuana. They argue the law would put new burdens on police and lead to an explosion of marijuana use.
Armin Schuster, a member of the Christian Democrats and the interior minister of Saxony, warned that the law would unleash a “complete loss of control.”
The German Association of Judges, police unions, the Association of German Criminal Investigators and the German Medical Association are among those critical of legalization.
Some members of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats also are questioning the move to legalize cannabis.
“If there's anything we don't need now, it's this law,” said Andy Grote, a Social Democrat and the interior secretary in Hamburg, as reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. He said examples from other countries show that legalization leads to more cannabis consumption.
Now recognizing the medicinal properties of cannabis, the United Nations removed it from a list of the most dangerous drugs in 2020. Reclassification by the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs has given a big boost to efforts to legalize cannabis around the world, though the panel still classifies its use for nonmedical and nonscientific purposes as illegal.
Uruguay became the first country to legalize cannabis in 2013, and pharmacies began selling it there in 2017.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
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