Cannabis Legalization Debate In Germany's Bundestag Heats Up With Pro And Con Arguments

Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, debated for the first time a draft legislation from the Federal Government that would regulate and legalize cannabis. The meeting, postponed last Friday, gave enough time to the bill’s opponents to propose measures that would halt the reform.

The Federal Government's draft law, backed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, seeks to legalize the possession and consumption of cannabis for adults under specific conditions and promotes responsible marijuana use. The bill, first introduced in April, was conceived as a “scaled-back” version of the original project, following talks with the E.U., which suggested a more gradual approach.

Bundestag member Carmen Wegge, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), made a case for cannabis legalization, pointing out that illegal marijuana “is often contaminated,” and profits support organized crime, reported Marijuana Moment.

Niklas Kouparanis, co-founder and CEO of Bloomwell Group, a Frankfurt-based marijuana business and a winner of this year’s Benzinga awards for best European cannabis company, commented on the news.

“The good news first: Germany’s Traffic Light Coalition has shown a great deal of unity and will,” Kouparanis said. “There is only one small, final step missing before the law legalizing cannabis for adult use is finally passed. Fortunately, several representatives of the traffic light factions also indicated that there is still room to improve the current draft of the legislation, including modifications that can result in less bureaucracy and more practical relevance. For example, it’s still possible to adjust the legislation’s distance regulations, which would be difficult to verify. However, while we do expect this adjustment to be made, if the distance regulations remain in the legislation, there must be exceptions for medical cannabis patients. Criminalizing patients would be absurd.”

Strong Opposition

Opposition came from the Union (CDU/CSU) in the form of a measure titled "Stop Cannabis Legalization, Improve Health Protection – Strengthen Education, Prevention, and Research,” which claims that would lead the country in “the wrong direction” and will result in higher rates of marijuana use.

Health minister, Karl Lauterbach, answered the CDU/CSU’s concerns in a Wednesday post on X (previously Twitter) wherein he noted that cannabis consumption among youth is increasing and therefore it would be better to have safer products on the market.

Der Konsum „bis zu 25“ nimmt seit Jahren zu. Gleichzeitig steigen Drogenkriminalität, toxische THC Konzentrationen und es gibt mehr Beimengungen. Sollen wir auch hier, wie bei anderen Themen, das Problem beklagen und nichts tun? Wenn Cannabis, dann sicher und ohne Dealer https://t.co/9xMNHprXPg

— Prof. Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) October 18, 2023

More opposition came from Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing populist party, which submitted a proposal called "Abandon the Legalization of Cannabis for Recreational Purposes and Initiate a Scientific Benefit Assessment of Medicinal Cannabis Analogous to Pharmaceutical Law." The urges lawmakers to avoid legalizing recreational cannabis and to consider only medical marijuana.

What’s Next

The cannabis legalization measure and two opposing proposals were all referred to the Health Committee, which is set to debate on Nov. 6.

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Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash and Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels