AIn view of the plans for a partial legal release of cannabis in small quantities, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) is planning clear rules and limit values for drivers. According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, Wissing wants to set cannabis limits for drivers in the future, similar to the alcohol limit for alcohol.
“We are examining how the basis for a limit value for cannabis can be determined and created on a scientific basis within the framework of the administrative offense provision of Section 24a of the Road Traffic Act,” said a spokeswoman for the minister of the newspaper. An interdisciplinary working group with experts from medicine, law and transport is planned.
For Wissing it is crucial “that regulations on the admissibility of driving under the influence of cannabis are consistently based on the requirements of road safety,” said the spokeswoman.
Federal cabinet wants to decide
This Wednesday, the Federal Cabinet will deal with the plans for a partial release of cannabis. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to present a draft law according to which the purchase and possession of up to 25 grams of cannabis will be exempt from punishment from the age of 18. The purchase should be made possible via so-called cannabis clubs. In addition, up to three plants should be allowed in self-cultivation at home. The draft law is to be discussed and approved in the Bundestag after the summer break.
Buschmann cannot share criticism from judges
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) contradicted criticism of the German Association of Judges on the planned law. The professional association had stated that the legalization of cannabis would lead to an additional burden on the judiciary. Buschmann told the newspapers of the Funke media group: “I am very confident that a more pragmatic drug policy will lead to some relief for the courts. The skepticism expressed by the judges’ association may also be due to the fact that there are general political reservations about this project.”
Buschmann said his ministry will monitor how the law works in practice. “Generally speaking, when people can legally buy and use cannabis, there are fewer cases that end up in court.”
The judges’ association, on the other hand, had declared that the many special rules for cannabis clubs and for the cultivation and sale of the drug, which are to come with legalization, should be checked and violations punished.
The interior ministers of North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, Herbert Reul and Armin Schuster (both CDU), as well as Hesse’s Minister of Justice Roman Poseck (CDU), are critical of the red-green-yellow federal government’s draft law. “This law will involve a complete loss of control,” Schuster told the editorial network Germany. Reul warned that the traffic light coalition would not burden the police and judiciary less, but more. Poseck accused the traffic light coalition of having made a “rotten compromise” that “entails disadvantages for all sides”.
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