It is looking likely that Germany will legalize recreational cannabis before the end of 2022. U.S. News reported that the German government is seeking to finalize the process by the end of the year. It should be recalled that Germany decriminalized medical cannabis in 2016. In November 2021, leaders of the incoming political parties stated that there was a formal agreement to legalize cannabis. Now, in 2022, the health ministry is about to start the five expert hearings on the various topics around the subject on Tuesday.
The hearings scheduled at the end of the month will be centered on how best to protect young people and consumers’ health. Drug czar Burkhard Blienert said, “Like many others, I have worked for years toward us in Germany finally ending the criminalization of cannabis consumers and beginning modern and health-oriented cannabis policy.”
In the announcement by the government health department on Monday, over 200 representatives from various fields such as Medicine and Law will be involved, including government officials and international experts. In the coalition deal made in November last year between the three socially liberal parties in the government, legalizing the sale of recreational cannabis in licensed shops was part of the reform. This deal was spearheaded by Olaf Scholz, who took over from Angela Merkel in December as the new chancellor.
Another component of the agreement is the plan to examine the ‘social effects’ of the new legislation after four years of implementing it. The legislation is set to be drafted in the later part of 2022, once the hearings with the experts have been done. Germany’s Health Minister, SPD-affiliated Karl Lauterbach, revealed that he wants the cannabis reform to be on this summer’s legislative agenda.
Lauterbach, quoted in German media, said he’s “changed his mind about this in the past two years…I’ve been an opponent of cannabis legalization, but I revised my opinion about a year ago.”
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