The German health minister, as legislators prepare to pass a revised marijuana bill next week defended the reform in the legislature against critics, and briefly outlined next steps for the commercial sales pilot program. One German state has indicated that it will take legal action to prevent the reform taking place within its borders.
In a meeting with the Bundestag, Karl Lauterbach, the Health Minister, took questions from members. Some were against legalization, while others expressed an interest in implementing the reform as quickly as possible.
Translation: At various points, he said that their arguments “misrepresented the legislation” and that they were referring to lawmakers who claimed legalization would send a wrong message to the youth, leading to an increase in underage consumption.
Lauterbach stated that “the fact is, child and youth protection continues to be carried out by education and sales of products and services to children and adolescents remain prohibited.” Lauterbach said, “That’s the only thing we changed in this area: A tightening.”
He said, “As a part of this legalization we are pushing the black market back.” The less black market, the lower the chance that our children are brought into consumption by the black markets.
A second member questioned about the second phase of the legalization plan. The bill, which is set to be voted on next week, would legalize cannabis for adults and allow social clubs to distribute it. However, little information has been released about the second pillar, the creation of a pilot commercial sales program.
Lauterbach responded that “we are examining the details” of the upcoming plan when asked about the timeline.
He stated that the federal agencies who would be participating in the pilot program for commercial sales have received questions that will help them determine the next steps. They are “currently” preparing these agencies.
He said that “the schedule for next year seems achievable at this stage.”
The Bundestag is expected to pass the social club and legalization legislation in about two weeks, after a first vote was delayed to the dismay of advocates.
However, the Bundesrat, which is a separate body of legislators that represents German state governments, has not been as supportive. The Bundesrat members tried to stop the reform proposal in September, but ultimately won.
Bayerischer Rundfunk has reported that the state of Bavaria now intends to file a lawsuit to stop the reform within its jurisdiction.
Judith Gerlach, the Bavarian Minister of Health, said: “We will definitely examine legal…whether we still can legally defend ourselves.”
She said that if legalization is implemented, Bavarian officials would interpret its provisions in the most restrictive way possible.
The so-called Traffic Light Coalition has recently revised the legalization bill, and most of its amendments are designed to ease restrictions that were opposed by advocates and pro-legalization lawmakers.
Possessing a small amount of cannabis over the allowed limit will not automatically be treated as a crime punishable with jail time. Possession of 25-30 grams of cannabis will be treated as an administrative offense.
The limit on home-grown marijuana will also be raised from 25 grams to 50 grams.
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The Health Committee of the Bundestag held an hearing recently, during which opponents criticised some aspects of the proposal. The Union, an alliance between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Unions (CSU), also presented a competing proposal. This would not legalize cannabis, but “improve the health protection, strengthen education, prevention, and research,” Kirsten Kaspert-Gonther said.
The German Federal Cabinet approved an initial framework of a legalization initiative late last year. However, the government wished to receive the EU‘s approval to make sure that the reform would not violate their international obligations.
The framework was the result of months of discussions and reviews within the German government and the traffic-light coalition government. Last summer officials began a series hearings to inform legislation that would end the prohibition of cannabis in Germany.
Last week, government officials from several countries, including the U.S. met in Germany to talk about international marijuana policy, as the host country works to legalize the drug.
Last year, a group of German legislators, including Narcotics Drugs Commission Burkhard Blienert , visited the U.S. separately and toured California marijuana businesses to help inform their country’s legalization approach.
The visit took place two months after the first meeting of its kind between top officials from Germany , Luxembourg , Malta , and the Netherlands to discuss plans and challenges related to recreational marijuana legalization.
In 2021, the leaders of the coalition government announced that they had agreed to end the cannabis prohibition as well as enacting regulations for a new legal industry. They first revealed certain details of this plan in 2013.
In a new international survey released last year , the majority of respondents in Germany and other key European countries supported legalization.
Marijuana Regulators Discuss Legalization At National Academies Meeting
The article Germany’s top health official defends Marijuana Legalization Bill against critics ahead of next week’s vote first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
