Medical associations, police organizations and judges have reservations about the law, arguing that marijuana can have a negative effect on the brain, which is still developing until age 25, or that the rules do not are not clear enough.
The legislation was part of a deal reached by the country’s three-party coalition government. It allows the possession of cannabis (up to 25 grams) and home cultivation for adults (up to three plants).
Cannabis consumption could “now leave the taboo zone” posted German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on X (formerly Twitter) Monday morning. He argued that legalization would help end the black market.
VIDEO: Berlin holds smoke-in as law on recreational use of cannabis comes into force.
Several hundred cannabis enthusiasts gathered at midnight under the Brandenburg Gate to smoke marijuana in public as the new law legalizing its recreational use comes into force on April 1. pic.twitter.com/gULtOS5P55
– AFP news agency (@AFP) April 1, 2024
Other parts of the legislation will allow “cannabis social clubs” to provide up to 500 members with a daily maximum of 25 grams and a monthly maximum of 50 grams. Members must have resided in Germany for at least six months.
These clubs will not be fully operational until the summer, however, as the part of the law that regulates cultivation in cannabis clubs will come into force on July 1.
Marijuana consumption remains prohibited within a 100 meter radius around schools, daycare centers and playgrounds.
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