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Cannabis clubs have been allowed to apply for a license since July 1st. However, it will still be months before the first legal grass is available from the cultivation associations. Will it not be until 2025?
Cannabis consumption has been permitted under certain circumstances since April. A second aspect of the cannabis law is now coming into force. Since July 1, cultivation associations, so-called social clubs, have been allowed to apply for a license. The clubs may have a maximum of 500 members and distribute a maximum of 25 grams of cannabis per day and 50 grams per month to them. This always involves self-cultivated cannabis. However, bureaucracy and the time required stand in the way of prompt consumption of grass from cannabis clubs.
Cannabis club applications from July: processing time could delay start
The application for a cultivation association is submitted to authorities in the federal states. These are health authorities or agriculture ministries. Clubs are already complaining about excessive requirements, which would not have changed even with a change in the cannabis law. In fact, the requirements have increased. For example, there is a ban on pooling resources. This means that one person cannot be responsible for several areas in the cannabis club. This makes an application more difficult.
The decisive factor, however, is time. The authorities have a legally set deadline of three months to process the applications. However, the clubs are not allowed to start growing until they have the license. As a query among the federal states shows, most authorities assume that they can meet this deadline: the application should therefore be approved by October 1 at the latest. In certain circumstances, however, there is a risk of delays. “The applications must be complete; only then does the three-month processing period rule apply,” is what Schleswig-Holstein said in response to an inquiry.
“No legal CSC weed this year”? Cannabis clubs face stalemate
The clubs are therefore required to submit complete and error-free applications. The decision then lies with the authorities. Steffen Geyer, chairman of the umbrella organization of German Cannabis Social Clubs (CSC), feared that individual countries would take their time here. “That depends very much on how the local authorities work,” he said to IPPEN.MEDIA.
For example, there is good communication with the authorities in Berlin. However, the cannabis-critical Free State of Bavaria will probably sit out the three-month deadline, said Geyer. “That’s why I assume that we will not see any legal CSC grass in Bavaria this year.” At the end of June, Bavaria’s Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) spoke of “restrictive enforcement” and announced that the licensing procedures would be closely examined, especially with regard to “comprehensive youth and health protection in the cultivation associations.”
Cannabis club founder: “It won’t really get started until the beginning of next year”
In addition, a hemp plant needs time before it can be harvested. “The grass needs two to three months to grow,” explained Geyer. Conversely, this also means that if everything goes smoothly with the approval process at a club, legal cannabis can only be distributed to members at the end of 2024 at the earliest.
However, this ideal scenario for the cultivation associations does not seem to be achievable in the area. “No club will plant a plant in July. At least not in Hamburg’s sphere of influence,” Andreas Gerhold, founder of the Cannabis Social Club Hamburg, told our editorial team. “In fact, it won’t really get going until the beginning of next year.” (as)
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