Recreational cannabis becomes legal in Germany despite criticism

After Malta in 2021 and Luxembourg last year, Germany becomes the largest EU country on Monday. legalize the recreational use of cannabis, with a reform that raises as many expectations as fears.

At midnight, the time of the first “legal” joints, several hundred people celebrated the change of law in plumes of smoke in front of the emblematic Brandenburg Gate, in the heart of Berlin, noted an AFP journalist.

In the middle of a young and joyful crowd, Niyazi, a young man of 25, says he sees in decriminalization “a bit of additional freedom”.

Possession of 25 grams of dried cannabis is now authorized in public places, as well as cultivation at home, up to 50 g and three plants per adult.

A approach diametrically opposed to that of France and different from that of the Netherlands, where the consumption of hashish is not legal but tolerated, in particular through “coffeeshops”.

Paradoxically, you will have to wait another three months in Germany to legally buy drugs via a “Cannabis Social Club”.

A giant fake cannabis leaf is displayed in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, March 31, 2024 © AFP – John MACDOUGALL

Hence the warning in the meantime from Georg Wurth, representative of the German Hemp Federation: despite legalization “the consumer must not tell the policeman where he bought his cannabis ” in the event of a check on the street.

“Because from April 1 we can in principle only obtain drugs illegally,” he said in an interview with AFP.

The situation will really change on July 1 with the clubs. These non-profit associations will be able to sell to their members a maximum of 25 grams per day and no more than 50 grams per month.

– Shared cannabis gardens –

These clubs, a sort of shared cannabis gardens, will be able to cultivate the drug on land outside, in a greenhouse, in an uninhabited building.

Marijuana smokers celebrate the legalization of recreational cannabis in Germany on April 1, 2024 in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin © AFP – John MACDOUGALL

Monitored at least once a year by the authorities, each association will be able to accommodate, in return for a contribution, a maximum of 500 people who have been residing in Germany for at least 6 months.

According to the government, the new legislation, ardently desired by environmentalists and liberals in the coalition of social-democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz, should make it possible to fight more effectively against trafficking.

Believing that the policy of prohibition has failed, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach regularly argues that countries like Canada, which have implemented legalization, have been able to reduce the black market.

A cannabis plantation for medical use on the premises of the pharmaceutical laboratory Demecan in Ebersbach, near Dresden, November 28, 2022 © AFP – JENS SCHLUETER

But many medical associations fear an increase in consumption, particularly among young people.

Up to the age of 25, cannabis consumption carries increased risks for the brain which is still forming, according to experts, who point out in particular the danger of developing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.

< p>– Prohibited to under 18s –

For Katja Seidel, specialized in addiction prevention at the Tannenhof Center in Berlin, the new law is “a catastrophe “.

The German Minister of Health has promised increased means to educate young people about the dangers of cannabis, without announcing precise amounts.

Marijuana smokers celebrate the legalization of recreational cannabis in Germany on April 1, 2024 in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin © AFP – John MACDOUGALL

The authorities argue that cannabis remains prohibited for those under 18. Its consumption is also within a radius of 100 meters around schools, nurseries, playgrounds.

The police are also up in arms against what they considered a “bureaucratic monster with a lot of piecemeal regulations”, according to the president of the branch union (DPolG), Rainer Wendt.

“From April 1, our colleagues will find themselves in conflict situations with citizens, because uncertainty reigns on both sides”, explains the vice-president of the police union (GdP), Alexander Poitz.

For its part, the Federation of German Judges (DRB) anticipates additional work: in Due to the amnesties resulting from the law for cannabis-related offenses, more than 200,000 files will have to be re-examined.

This will prevent criminal justice “from devoting itself to other tasks for weeks and months”, points out Sven Rebehn, of the DRB.

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