A contentious bill to legalise recreational marijuana use and cultivation in Germany has been passed by the country’s cabinet.
The legislation, which still has to pass parliament, would allow adults to possess up to 25 grams of the drug, grow a maximum of three plants, or acquire it at cannabis clubs.
It is one of the most liberal cannabis laws in Europe.
The centre-left government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes the law will curb the black market, protect consumers against contaminated marijuana and reduce drug-related crime.
A key pillar of the plan, which removes the taboo around cannabis use, is also a campaign to raise awareness about the risks, which should ultimately curb consumption, said Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
“With the current procedures we could not seriously protect children and young people, the topic has been made a taboo,” Lauterbach told a news conference in Berlin to present the law.
“We have rising, problematic consumption, we couldn’t simply allow this to go on,” he said. “So this is an important turning point in our drug policy.”
However, opposition is fierce, with conservative policymakers in particular warning that it will encourage marijuana use and create even more work for authorities.
“This law will be linked to a complete loss of control,” Armin Schuster, conservative interior minister for the state of Saxony, told media group RND.
Even lawmakers from Scholz’s own Social Democrats have expressed scepticism. Interior Minister of Hamburg, Andy Grote, told broadcaster NDR that experiences in other countries showed consumption would simply rise with legalisation.
Many countries in Europe have already legalised cannabis for limited medicinal purposes, including Germany since 2017. Others have decriminalised its general use.
