Partial release of cannabis could violate EU law. For this reason, the Minister of Health, Lauterbach, has intelligently divided the project.

This cannabis plant from the Berlin Hemp Museum is located in a secure room Photo: Sebastián Gollnow/dpa

FREIBURG taz | Will the planned cannabis law be legally valid or is there a risk that it will be overturned by the courts? Problems with EU law and international law will most likely arise. However, the traffic light coalition has cleverly divided its plan: the partial release of cannabis should be carried out in two steps.

First of all, the Cannabis Law, which the Bundestag will vote on this Friday, largely decriminalizes the possession of cannabis. Each person can possess 25 grams of herb for their own consumption and three plants for their own cultivation. Cannabis cultivation associations with up to 500 members can also cultivate collectively, but without commercial purposes.

In a second step – Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) speaks of a second “pillar” – a broad legalization of cannabis will be tested in model regions. Then hemp should also be able to be purchased in authorized stores, such as pharmacies. Many cities, including Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg and Cologne, have already expressed interest in testing the promised model. However, an official application is not possible yet.

A 2004 EU framework decision prohibits the cultivation and sale of drugs, including cannabis. However, there is an express exception for “personal consumption” if provided for by national law. That is why the first step in the legalization of cannabis focuses exclusively on personal consumption.

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Things will be more difficult in the second step, when commercial cultivation and sales are also legalized. For this reason, initially only five-year regional model tests are planned. The objective is to scientifically verify whether legalization ultimately serves to better protect health, since authorized stores sell products of proven and consistent quality.

There is also hope that organized crime can be driven out of the cannabis trade. The goal is to avoid the mistake made in the Netherlands, where the sale of cannabis products in cafes is tolerated, but the supply chain remains illegal, from which organized crime in the neighboring country mainly benefits.

Only when the current cannabis law is approved will Lauterbach want to present the key points and a draft law for the second pillar. Only then will the minister want to formally involve the EU Commission by notifying the draft law in Brussels, i.e. subjecting it to review. The close agreement is aimed at avoiding a lawsuit by the EU Commission before the European Court of Justice. At the same time, the federal government also wants to achieve a relaxation of the EU framework decision with other EU states, such as Portugal.

In addition to EU legislation, critics of cannabis legalization also point to international law. Germany has signed and ratified several treaties that also classify cannabis as an illegal drug, most recently the 1988 Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Under this, possession of drugs “for personal use” is also punishable, unless the “legal system” of the respective country The State of the country speaks against.

However, in 1993, the then far-sighted Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) claimed that Germany issued an interpretative declaration when ratifying the Convention on Narcotic Drugs, according to which the German legal system could be “ subject change.” The federal government also refers to this 1993 declaration when stating that the Cannabis Law is “compatible” with international law.