The law that liberalizes cannabis for recreational use in Germany comes into force amidst street parties and bitter controversy.
A historic turning point in a country that is already the largest European market for therapeutic cannabis since the government legalized it in 2017. According to the new rules, adults will be able to walk around with 25 grams of cannabis and grow up to three at home plants for private consumption.
In a later phase, cultivation in non-profit clubs will also be permitted, each limited to 500 members, and regional pilot programs for commercial supply chains will be created.
The new rules also provide for an amnesty under which convictions for crimes related to cannabis, which has now become legal, will have to be reviewed and in many cases annulled.
However, regional authorities fear that the judicial system will be overloaded with thousands of cases. However, smoking cannabis will still be prohibited in playgrounds, near schools, in sports facilities - including football stadiums - and in facilities for children and young people, and in the presence of the public.
It is also forbidden to smoke cannabis in public from 7:00 to 20:00, just as driving under the influence of the drug is obviously prohibited.
The green light of the measure was welcomed at the stroke of midnight by demonstrations of joy throughout the country: in Berlin, under the Brandenburg Gate, around 1,500 people gathered, almost all with their joint in their mouth, to give life to a "smoke in", the equivalent of the sit in carried out by the anti-prohibitionists. But not everyone is happy with the new rules, approved at the end of a bitter political clash in parliament. At the moment of the final vote, ten days ago, the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach defended the text by saying that it was designed to curb the drug dealing market.
With an estimated 4.5 million regular users of the drug, the German government is confident that it will be able to tackle drug-related crime by ensuring a safe, high-quality and regulated product. Several regional presidents have an opposite opinion.
