Luxembourg is the first country in Europe to legalize cannabis

by time news

Time.news – Luxembourg breakthrough on the recreational use of cannabis: from December adults over 18 will be able to grow it indoors for personal use only.

With the go-ahead from the government, Luxembourg becomes the first country in Europe to legalize the production and consumption of cannabis, in a measure aimed at contrasting the illegal market.

According to the law reform adopted, adult citizens will be able to legally grow up to 4 cannabis plants per person – or for each adult member of the household – for individual consumption on their balcony, terrace or garden. In addition, the seed trade will be authorized without any limit on the quantity or levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent.

The government has specified that it will be possible to buy seeds in stores, import them or buy them online. There is also the intention of allow domestic production of seeds for commercial purposes, but plans for both a domestic production chain and state-regulated distribution have been delayed by the Covid pandemic.

“We thought we had to act as we have a drug problem and cannabis is the most widely used and makes up a big chunk of the illegal market,” said Justice Minister Sam Tamson. It is with this motivation that the Luxembourg executive decided to amend the law on the production and consumption of cannabis.

“We want to start by letting people grow it at home. The idea is that a consumer is not in an illegal situation if they consume cannabis and by doing so we do not support the whole illegal chain from production to transport to sale where there is a lot of misery connected, ”explained Tamson.

A legal ban on the consumption and transportation of cannabis or cannabis products in public will be maintained and the trade in cannabis or cannabis products other than seeds, whether free or for a fee, remains prohibited. With a softening of the law, however, the consumption and transport of up to 3 grams will no longer be considered a crime, but classified as illegal.

the fines will be reduced to just 25 euros for possessing less than 3 grams, compared to those of 251 euros to 2,500 euros today. “Above three grams, nothing changes, you will be considered a reseller. There will be zero tolerance even for those who carry it,” Tamson stressed. A state-regulated production and distribution system is in place to ensure product quality with sales revenues to be invested “primarily in prevention, education and health care in the vast field of addictions,” say government sources.

The general framework for the revision of the law was defined two years ago in a coalition agreement between liberals, social democrats and greens.

Luxembourg thus reaches Canada, Uruguay and 11 US states in violating a United Nations convention on drug control, which commits the signatories to limit “the production, manufacture, export, distribution of imports exclusively for medical and scientific purposes. , trade, occupation and possession of drugs “including cannabis”.

Uruguay became the first country in the world to create a legal national marijuana market when it legalized the drug in 2013, and Canada followed suit in 2018.

In the Netherlands, perhaps the European country most associated with a soft attitude towards cannabis use, possession and trade are technically illegal. In the Netherlands there is a “tolerance policy” whereby recreational use is widely accepted within limits.

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