Germany Will Legillate Cannabis For Recreation, Limited To A Maximum Of 30 Grams

Illustration of marijuana. (Unsplash/@kimzy)

JAKARTA - Germany announced plans to legalize marijuana on Wednesday, a move Chancellor Olaf Scholz said would make Germany one of the first countries in Europe to do so.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach presented a basis paper on legislation, which is planned to regulate the controlled distribution and consumption of marijuana for recreational purposes among adults.

Later, individuals will be legalized to obtain and own 20 to 30 grams of recreational marijuana for personal consumption.

The coalition government reached an agreement last year to introduce legislation over a four-year term, to allow the distribution of controlled marijuana in licensed stores. Lauterbach did not provide a time limit for the plan.

Many countries in the European region have legalized marijuana for limited medical purposes, including Germany since 2017. Others have decriminalized the general use of marijuana, while not making it legal.

According to the paper, personal cultivation will be allowed to some extent. Ongoing investigations and criminal proceedings related to non-illegal cases will be stopped.

The government will also introduce a special consumption tax, develop education related to marijuana and abuse prevention programs.

It is known, legalizing marijuana could bring Germany's annual tax revenue and cost savings of around 4.7 billion euros (4.7 billion US dollars) and create 27,000 new jobs, according to a survey last year.

About 4 million people consumed marijuana in Germany last year, 25 percent of which were between the ages of 18 and 24, Lauterbach said, adding legalization would put pressure on the marijuana illicit market.

Germany will present the paper to the European Commission for pre-assessment and will only draft a law once the Commission approves the plan, Lauterbach added.

"If the EU Commission rejects Germany's current approach, our government should look for alternative solutions. Not only saying: Well, we are trying our best," said Niklas Kouparatis, chief executive of Bloomwell Group, one of Germany's largest cannabis companies.

Berlin should have a plan B if the EU rejects the legalization, Kouparatis said, adding marijuana imports should be allowed because domestic cultivation will not be able to meet demand in the short term.

Separately, the decision has raised various reactions across the country with Europe's largest economy.

The German pharmacist association warned of the health risks of legalizing marijuana, saying it would put pharmacies in a medical conflict.

Pharmacists are health care professionals, so "the possibility of a competition situation with a purely commercial provider is seen as critical," Thomas Preis, head of the North Sungai Pharmacist Association, told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

The legalization plan has not yet been welcomed by all states. Bavarian Health Minister, for example, reminded Germany not to become a tourist destination for drugs in Europe.

However, the German Greens said decades of banning marijuana only exacerbated the risk.

"Because conditions are too tight for the legal market only to promote the black market for very strong marijuana," said lawmakerSUIT Kappert-Gonther.

Meanwhile, Lars Mueller, chief executive of German cannabis company SynBiotic, said Wednesday's move was "almost like winning a lottery" for his company.

"When the time comes, we will be able to offer franchise-like models for cannabis stores other than our own stores," Mueller said.