It's Time To Legalize Weed Say Voters In Slovenia, AKA 'The Promised Land For Cannabis'

This past weekend, Slovenia voters gave the green light to an adult-use cannabis legalization measure and a proposal to allow medical marijuana patients to grow the plant for personal use.

What Happened

On Sunday, voters in the Central European nation provided feedback on two cannabis-related measures. The vote was part of the wider 2024 European election, reported the International Cannabis Business Conference.

The first referendum question, which asked whether the Republic of Slovenia should "allow the cultivation and processing of cannabis for medical purposes on its territory," received 66.65% support with 99.92% of the votes counted.

The second question, which asked whether the Republic of Slovenia should "allow the cultivation and possession of cannabis for limited personal use on its territory, received 51.55% support with 99.98% of the votes counted.

Why It Matters

The people of Slovenia seem to be following the latest cannabis-related regulatory development in Germany, where legalization went into effect on April 1.

Interestingly, Slovenia could be the promised land for cannabis. That’s according to Petra Marinko, founder of food supplement and skincare company Nabie. She explained last year, that due to the country's vast honeybee population and the fact that it’s one of the cleanest countries on Earth. With five out of every 1,000 Slovene beekeepers, the country is well-equipped to produce premium cannabis.

What's Next

Even though citizens overwhelmingly approved both proposals, there’s still a possibility that Slovenia’s government will not adopt them, Benzinga's Nina Zdinjak recently reported.

Why? Cannabis referendum measures are consultation referendums, which are not binding.

At the moment in Slovenia, it is legal to grow hemp for seed as long as the plants contain less than 0.2% THC, according to Hemp King.

"People are clearly not satisfied with this drug policy," said Božidar Radišič according to domestic reporting by Delo. "However, problems are not solved by the same people who created them. If only half of the voters are in favor of greater use of cannabis, it will be a big move on the counter-propaganda financed by the Ministry of Health and doctors."

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