Germany has long been a cannabis-friendly country, but it is now feeling the effects of legalization. High taxes and oversupply have created an economic crisis in which some are calling for an end to legalized marijuana altogether. What will this mean for German consumers?
The “dispensary in germany” is a ruling that has been made by the German coalition. The new ruling will allow recreational cannabis use.
The story has been circulating for a week, after it was initially published in a German language magazine. It’s official now. As early as 2022, Germany will legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Even the most adamant “medical only” German voices in the cannabis sector have been spreading the word on social media, especially LinkedIn, over the last week, even before the formal announcement. But, as of Wednesday, that has officially changed. With a bill set to be filed in the German Bundestag next year, the new “Traffic Light Coalition” will actually legalize cannabis for recreational use.
It is an exciting time for people who have battled for the same cause in the trenches for years, if not decades. It’s also energizing the sector, which now has over 100 medical cannabis specialist distribution licenses, a rising patient population (estimated at 100,000) and a subject that won’t go away. Especially because the Swiss (mostly a German-speaking nation) are doing the same thing. Given the time, this is very significant. Germany may even outshine Luxembourg in the European Union’s recreational debate.
That said, the devil, as always, is in the details, no matter how thrilling the story is. It’s still unclear how much, what it will cost, and how it will be executed. Cannabis is still not decriminalized, and there are a slew of odd bits of case law and yet-to-be-changed legislation lingering in the background.
The statement is significant because it comes as the three parties who received the most votes in the federal election in September have agreed to work together on a single platform that includes cannabis legalization (along with phasing out coal by 2030 while also having at least 15 million electric cars on the road). Then it’s merely a question of drafting the law and presenting it to the German legislature. Unlike in the United States, where previous efforts to pass a federal legalization law have failed, this one is very certain to succeed. The Germans are amusing in this regard.
This is the official version. This is what the alliance wants to accomplish, according to a statement made by the SDP, Greens, and FDP. “We’re exposing adults to a regulated supply of cannabis for use in licensed outlets.” This regulates the quality of marijuana, avoids the spread of tainted goods, and ensures minors’ safety.”
In four years, the government will assess the experiment to see how it has fared (including economically and socially). However, there is a little probability that such a stride forward will be reversed.
Along the Way, There Will Be Issues And Problems
It’s not like this is going to be a walk in the park. A few key difficulties must be addressed. One of the most important is how to change the country’s federal drugs legislation. Cannabis, including CBD, is a controlled substance. This is already contradictory to EU policy on the subject (with a pending lawsuit to change that). Regardless, when THC is added to the mix, some sophisticated dance and legal wrangling will be required to effect the shift, not only in the new law, but also in the legislation that rules and regulates the medicinal type.
German Influence
There’s little question that Germany’s decision to legalize recreational cannabis will fuel discussion throughout Europe—and maybe in the same timeline as it has influenced the medicinal debate. Only four years ago, the idea of utilizing medicinal cannabis for anything other than pain alleviation was a bizarre and sometimes socially very taboo subject. There are around 100,000 German patients nowadays.
Although the Germans have not yet arrived, they are on their way.
It is clear that full and final cannabis reform is now a mainstream topic and goal on a federal level of many countries, with Mexico implementing recreational reform by the end of the year and Italians potentially having the ability to vote on legalizing personal possession and home grow as early as next spring, not to mention both Luxembourg and Switzerland definitely moving forward with their own recreational markets.
This will surely fuel the discussion in the United States. What is the US waiting for if Germany can accomplish it less than four years after federal legalization of its medicinal market? Or China, for that matter? In the latter event, with the corporate real estate market finally collapsing, cannabis will be seen as a terrific if not green and global investment on a worldwide scale.
In the meanwhile, Prohibition’s last days had come, and on a worldwide scale.
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The “tilray germany” is a cannabis company that has been making waves in the United States. The ruling coalition in Germany will now allow recreational use of cannabis.
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