The possession and consumption of cannabis has been legal for adults in Germany since midnight on Monday, under certain conditions. Legalization was celebrated at midnight at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with a ‘smoke-in’. Activists have invited people in many places to smoke weed together on Easter Monday.
On April 1, the cannabis law, which the traffic light government had implemented despite major resistance from the opposition, states and associations from medicine, the judiciary and the police, came into effect.
“Real alternative to the black market”
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach again defended the move. “Today we are putting an end to a failed ban policy,” said the SPD politician. This is a historic opportunity. “From now on, we combine a real alternative to the black market with better protection of children and young people. Things could not continue as before,” the minister added.
Now, as a first step, the possession, private cultivation and consumption of certain amounts of cannabis for adults will be allowed. From July, so-called cultivation associations will be allowed to grow and distribute cannabis to their members under strict conditions under state control. At the same time, the law provides for measures to prevent addiction.
When it comes into effect, cannabis will disappear from the list of prohibited substances in the German Narcotics Act. People over the age of 18 are now allowed to carry a maximum of 25 grams of the drug in public and a maximum of 50 grams at home. In addition, you are allowed to have a maximum of three cannabis plants in your home. Smoking weed is allowed in public, but not near children and young people, schools, daycare centers, playgrounds and sports fields and not in pedestrian areas during the day.
Violations can be punished with heavy fines. Passing on the drug – with the exception of clubs – remains a criminal offense and carries a risk of imprisonment, especially if passed on to minors. Cannabis remains prohibited for young people under the age of 18.
Several hundred people lit a joint in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin at exactly midnight. The legalization was celebrated under a meter-high cannabis leaf in an exuberant atmosphere with reggae music (see video above).
Source: Krone
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