The Government wants to “regularize” consumption, sale and cultivation and stifle the black market with the most “liberalizing” law in Europe
Olaf Scholz’s electoral victory over the conservative bloc led a year ago to the formation of an unprecedented tripartite in Germany between Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals. The air of liberation was breathed, after the 16 years in power of the conservative Angela Merkel. The greens Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock -now Ministers of Economy and Foreign Affairs, respectively- represented that new air; the liberal Christian Lindner seemed happy to take over Finance, and Scholz represented, in a way, a reassuring continuity, having been deputy chancellor in the last grand coalition led by Merkel.
The coalition pact that the three partners ended up signing, on December 7, 2021, included the legalization of cannabis. At the head of Health Scholz placed a doctor of Medicine, Karl Lauterbach, one of the most heard opinions at the height of the covid and defender of the line of maximum caution. In the past he had been against the legalization of cannabis and warned of the evils that its consumption can cause in adolescents, including children. He over time he had changed his mind.
Little is breathed now of that liberating air, dynamism or relief. The Ukraine war fell on Europe eight months ago. The energy crisis has become a reality in a country that has had to rapidly reduce its extremely high dependency on Russia, the citizen is concerned about whether he will have enough gas for the winter, industrial orders are falling, recession is looming and Chancellor Scholz seems to be embarking on the path of isolation from France. Instead of cohesion, he grinds the Franco-German axis, the European mainstay.
In this context of pessimism, unimaginable a year ago, the doctor and Minister of Health Lauterbach recovered the chapter of the coalition pact related to cannabis. “The dose is what turns it into a poison,” he asserted when presenting the main lines of what, if it achieves the prior consent of Brussels, will be the most “liberalizing” bill in Europe. More than that of the Netherlands, based more on tolerance or decriminalization.
More than in Spain, which is preparing to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes (which in Germany is already a reality). The consumption and possession of up to 30 grams will be authorized, as well as the private cultivation of about three plants and the sale in authorized establishments. The term used by the minister is not “decriminalize” but rather “regularize” its consumption, sale and cultivation to stifle the black market, the current supply source for those children or adolescents whom Lauterbach says he wants to preserve from addiction.
The conservative and Catholic state of Bavaria has thrown its hands in the head and recalled the arguments that Lauterbach, as a doctor, defended against that legalization. The pharmacists’ union protests with similar arguments and argues that alcohol and tobacco already involve enough problems in the health of minors.
The EU filter
“A complete legalization will violate European regulations,” warned Milena Hassenkamp, a legal expert, in the weekly ‘Der Spiegel’. Lauterbach warned precisely when presenting his main lines (already approved by the Council of Ministers) that he will not take a bill to parliament that does not have a previous “positive reception” in the European Commission.
In January he will enter into “intense” negotiations with the Brussels authorities. If it receives the go-ahead, there will be a bill throughout the first quarter of 2023. There is no Plan B for this process, the minister insisted. Let no one rush: legalization, if it occurs, will be in 2024. It must first have passed a long and complex regulatory process. Until then, the Germany that points to recession and that no longer sees either Scholz or his tripartite illusion as it did a year ago will have an open debate unrelated to gas, war or inflation.
#Cannabis #debate #ease #sentences #Germany