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24th May 2023
Germany: Following the example of his opposite number in Bavaria in criticising the federal plan to legalise recreational cannabis, North Rhine-Westphalia’s health minister Karl-Josef Laumann says he is “fundamentally opposed” to the five-year regional model plan, press reports. Laumann’s spokesperson said the federal government had not yet shown how the plan can be compatible with European and international and law.
15th May 2023
- Germany: Bavaria's health ministry has criticised the federal Ministry of Health's draft law to legalise recreational cannabis. "Federal Health Minister Lauterbach's draft law on cannabis clubs is a bureaucratic monster. It is so complicated that the regulations are almost impossible to implement, not to mention monitor. We see a considerable regulatory and monitoring burden that will fall in large part on the states and municipalities ... Bavaria will examine and use all legal possibilities to prevent the legalization plans", said Klaus Holetschek, Bavaria's health minister.
8th May 2023
- Germany: A bill to regulate recreational cannabis clubs, possession and consumption has reportedly been leaked to the press. In addition to the rules already presented by the Health Ministry in the key point paper in April, the bill sets requirements for cannabis clubs, such as security measures, the necessity of an addiction and prevention officer, and the need to report on the production, sale and destruction of products. It also sets rules for public consumption: no consumption between 7am and 8pm and within 250 m of schools, playgrounds, day-care centres and sports facilities. The bill has not yet been made public.
3rd May 2023
Germany: The Ministry of Health has published a technical report on the effects of the legalisation of recreational cannabis in Canada, the US and Uruguay, evaluating the different approaches. The report recommends a complete marketing ban and that edibles should be sold in child-proof containers with no more than 10 mg of THC.
2nd May 2023
Germany: Health minister Karl Lauterbach has sent a first draft of a bill to legalise recreational cannabis to other ministries for pre-publication review, press reports.
25th April 2023
Germany: The Ministry of Health has notified through the European Commission’s TRIS database a bill to add the synthetic cannabinoid ADB-BUTINACA to the New Psychoactive Substances Ordinance. The ministry has invoked emergency procedures, saying such substances should be removed immediately from the consumer market.
12th April 2023
Germany: The Health Ministry has presented new key points for the cannabis legalisation project. In phase one, non-profit cannabis clubs will be allowed to grow cannabis for recreational purposes and distribute it to members for personal consumption, with a maximum of 25 g per day and 50 g per month. Possession of less than 25 g and cultivation of three female plants will not be penalised. Only flowers and resin will be allowed. A second phase will be a five-year scientific project with companies allowed to produce, distribute and dispense recreational cannabis through licensed specialist stores under a state-controlled framework. Edibles are being considered for this phase. A draft law on the first phase will be presented this month and the second after the summer break.
3rd April 2023
- Germany: After suggesting that a draft law to legalise recreational cannabis may be presented at the end of March, health minister Karl Lauterbach has said that the original proposal has been revised and a new proposal will be presented soon. No specific deadline or further details were given. Carmen Wegge, spokesperson for the coalition Social Democratic Party (SPD), told the media that the proposal is likely to be presented in April: "It is a sign of appreciation that the parliamentary groups are to be informed in advance by the federal government about what the departments involved have agreed on ... Now that the Easter break is approaching, I expect to be informed in one of the next session weeks in mid-April at the latest."
31st March 2023
- Germany: After health minister Karl Lauterbach suggested that a draft law to legalise cannabis could be presented at the end of March, the government coalition Social Democratic Party (SPD) passed a motion for a progressive drug policy that includes decriminalisation, cannabis social clubs and the self-cultivation of five plants. According to the newspaper Spiegel, the SPD leadership no longer expects cannabis to be legalised, with the motion reading "comprehensive legalisation is obviously not feasible in the short term for reasons of European law".
20th March 2023
- Germany: Last week the Health Committee of the Bundestag held a public hearing with experts about the decriminalisation of cannabis. Cannabis associations, lawyers and professors spoke in favour of decriminalising cannabis, but preferably as a transition towards a comprehensive regulatory framework. An amendment to the Narcotics Act to decriminalise cannabis, proposed by the opposition Left Party (Die Linke), is currently being considered by the Bundestag.
16th March 2023
- Germany: The Federal Joint Committee, which is responsible for determining which medical treatments are covered by statutory health insurance, has decided on new regulations for medical cannabis. Among other things, the regulations stipulate that only the initial prescription of cannabis and a fundamental change in therapy require the approval of health insurance companies, and that the companies can refuse initial approval only in justified exceptional cases. The text of the decision will be released soon, and if there is no objection from the Ministry of Health, it will be published in the Federal Gazette.
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