Berlin's Justice Senator Says Cannabis Law Benefits Mafia-Like Structures And It Should Be Repealed

Berlin’s Senator for Justice Felor Badenberg recently criticized Germany's cannabis law. According to Badenberg, contrary to the objectives of the law, legalization actually made the fight against the black market and organized crime more difficult, writes Zeit online, according to translation.

"What was touted by the federal government as a milestone in drug policy has proven in practice to be a serious mistake that will cause long-term damage to our country," the CDU politician told the German Press Agency. "It has to be repealed."

On Thursday, Nov. 28th, a conference of justice ministers of the federal states will be held and experiences with the cannabis law will be discussed.

Partial cannabis legalization took effect in Germany on April 1, making it the third country in the European Union to legalize adult-use cannabis after Malta and Luxembourg. Under this first pillar of cannabis legalization, adults over 18 can legally possess up to 25 grams of dried cannabis flower and cultivate up to three marijuana plants at home. One of the biggest breakthroughs under the law is that medical cannabis is essentially regulated like ibuprofen.

However, Berlin's proposed resolution argues that the law has caused troubles in effort to deal with the illegal market and organized criminal activities, especially in the commercial trade in cannabis products. The issues lies in the fact that the law change disabled telephone surveillance, online searches in its usual extent. This means that not all the evidence are allowed to be used in criminal proceedings.  

Read Also: Germany’s Govt. Coalition Crisis, Is Cannabis Reform At Risk?

Get Benzinga's exclusive analysis and the top news about the cannabis industry and markets daily in your inbox for free. Subscribe to our newsletter here. If you're serious about the business, you can't afford to miss out.

Drug Dealers As Beneficiaries Of The Law

One specific case that recently made headlines, involves a 36-year-old man who smuggled 450 kilograms (992.08 lbs) of cannabis into Germany, estimated to be worth 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million). The controversy arises from the new law, which doesn’t consider cannabis-related crimes as serious crimes and therefore the prosecutors can’t use encrypted chats from the provider Encrochat as evidence. The man was released, prompting Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Justice, Marion Gentges (CDU), to say, "Drug dealers are beneficiaries of this law.”

The case was before the Mannheim Regional Court, but the court's judgment is not yet legally binding, writes the outlet. However it is raising questions among the judiciary nationwide, and cannabis opponents are using it as an argument against the reform.

The German government is working on the second pillar of its cannabis legalization law –setting up municipal five-year pilot programs for state-controlled marijuana to be sold in licensed shops. Moreover, it was recently confirmed that recreational cannabis sales will launch in Hannover and Frankfurt next year under a pilot program set to last five years.

Read Next:

• German Cannabis: 20 Tons, 10M Grams – And That’s Only 0.3% Of The Market, What’s Missing?
• European Leaders Meet In Berlin To Discuss Cannabis Policies

Photo: Courtesy of Plateresca via Shutterstock