Legalization In Germany Is On The Table

Cannabis legalization is a state-by-state issue across America. Certain countries, like Uruguay and Canada, have set the trend for federal decriminalization and regulated markets. Cannabis remains a new industry, so there’s still room for progress overall. However, it looks like more countries worldwide are acknowledging the societal, economic, and medicinal benefits of establishing legal cannabis businesses.

As reported by German media publication ​​die Funke Mediengruppe, the incoming coalition government of the company proposes a framework to create a legal cannabis market for the country. The coalition, consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), intends on introducing new legislation to legalize cannabis in Germany formally.

“We’re introducing the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for consumption in licensed stores,” a spokesperson for the coalition said. “This will control the quality, prevent the transfer of contaminated substances and guarantee the protection of minors. We will evaluate the law after four years for social impact.”

The introduction of the new legislation would make Germany the latest country in Europe to strive towards cannabis reform, along with the Netherlands and Switzerland. The legislation would also make Germany the second G-7 country, next to Canada, to fully legalize cannabis. 

The news isn’t overtly shocking, though. As Bloomberg mentioned earlier this month, the incoming coalition has been in talks of making a move towards legalization. Per a survey conducted by the German Hemp Association, a majority of Germans are in favor of the legalization of cannabis, similar to how Canada and the United States structured recreational markets. The progress made towards destigmatizing cannabis aligns with recent announcements from the United Nations and the European Commission. They similarly removed cannabis and cannabidiol extracts from being classified as hard drugs.

When legalization takes place in Germany, the economic benefits will be plentiful nationally and across the world. For one, a legal cannabis market can bring €4.7 billion to the German economy. Secondly, it would significantly increase the European market as a whole, which projections say could be worth 3.2 billion euros by 2025.

Beyond Germany, cannabis companies in both Canada and the United States will finally expand beyond North America to provide patients with the proper cannabis supplies. Germany currently has strict laws surrounding medical marijuana. Yet, the limited market presently exists primarily being catered to by companies like Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Canopy Growth Corp. Curaleaf Chairman Boris Jordan also has a stake in Algea Care based out of Frankfurt.

As expected, the announcement from the upcoming coalition government didn’t come without pushback. Police unions in Germany have been particularly vocal against the decision to introduce legislation to legalize cannabis. The head of Germany’s police union Oliver Malchow told Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that legalizing cannabis would only bring more trouble. “There must finally be an end to trivializing the joint,” he said, adding that there’s already a hard time dealing with “legal but dangerous” alcohol.

Head of the German Police Union, Rainer Wendt, added that legalization would lead to more road accidents. He didn’t provide any statistics or scientific evidence to back up his claim. If he did, he would’ve known this has yet to be proven true. An academic study conducted in Canada and published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence found no increased rate of car accidents among adults and youth. The research analyzed 239,673 reports on ambulatory patients in the four years leading up to cannabis legalization in October 2018. Researchers compared the reports to documented emergency visits in the 18 months after Canada legalized cannabis, which found that the reported car accidents before and after legalization were consistent.