2024-03-19 10:31:49
The Federal Council is scheduled to discuss cannabis legalization next Friday. If the state chamber calls the mediation committee, the Federal Minister of Health sees the entire project at risk.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has warned against delaying the planned legalization of cannabis in the Federal Council on April 1st. “Every country co-governed by the SPD and the Greens must know that the cannabis law will die next Friday if you call the mediation committee,” wrote the SPD politician on the X platform (formerly Twitter). “The Union countries would thank you and bury the law in the mediation committee with all the procedural tricks.”
He referred to a statement by Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU): He also wrote on
The law is on the Bundesrat’s agenda for March 22nd. It does not require approval, but the state chamber could call the mediation committee with the Bundestag and slow down the process.
Concerns have been raised by the federal states, among other things, about a planned amnesty for old cases that would no longer be punishable under the new law and would have to be examined individually. Lauterbach countered that cannabis legalization would eliminate tens of thousands of consumer crimes every year and that the burden on the courts would be relieved. “Amnesty is a burden when it is introduced. But postponing it doesn’t help, the work stays the same.”
Imprisonment sentences or fines that have already been imposed for cannabis offenses that will no longer be punishable under the law should be waived when it comes into force or convictions recorded should be deleted from the Federal Central Register. It is expected that thousands of complex cases will have to be checked individually – the Federal Ministry of Health estimates the number nationwide to be a maximum of 7,500, while the federal states are assuming much higher numbers. They fear that the judiciary will be overwhelmed if it has to do this in a short space of time in addition to its actual work.
According to the traffic light coalition’s plans, the drug cannabis is to be legalized for adults on a limited basis on April 1st. In principle, possession of up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal consumption should be permitted. Three live cannabis plants should become legal in your own home and up to 50 grams of cannabis for personal consumption. Smoking weed in public spaces should be banned, among other things, in schools, sports facilities and within sight of them – within 100 meters as the crow flies of the entrance area.
GdP: Improve the law in the mediation committee
Meanwhile, the police union (GdP) hopes that the Federal Council will prevent the partial legalization of cannabis on April 1st. “We particularly regret that the law does not provide for any transition periods that would enable the police, customs, judicial authorities and youth welfare offices in this country to prepare for the new legal situation,” says a letter from the GdP’s deputy federal chairman, Alexander Poitz, to the President of the Federal Council, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Manuela Schwesig (SPD). Schwesig should therefore work to ensure that the Mediation Committee is called upon at the Federal Council meeting on Friday. Important open questions could be clarified there.
Otherwise, according to the GdP, there is a risk of legal and operational uncertainty. The union also fears that if the law comes into force unchanged, criminal gangs could quickly adapt to the new legal situation, adapt their profit model and possibly open up new target markets. It is also not clear how cannabis consumption will affect road traffic. In addition to a coordinated limit value, there is a lack of suitable equipment to detect cannabis in vehicle drivers.