Germany on track to partly legalise cannabis for personal use after heated debate

Germany’s parliament is expected to partly legalise cannabis on Friday after a heated debate about the pros and cons of allowing easier access to the drug.

Under the new legislation, which will make Germany the third country in Europe to legalise the drug for personal use, cannabis would be removed from the official list of banned substances. Adults would be allowed to possess 25g of it at one time.

The health minister, Karl Lauterbach, has said he expects that the new legislation would enable the market to be reclaimed from drug dealers who supply many of the 7 million Germans estimated to regularly use cannabis. The government said many users rely on the drug for medicinal reasons and that the new law would also improve the quality of cannabis consumed by increasing numbers of young people.

“Child and youth protection is at the heart of what this law is meant to achieve,” Lauterbach said before the vote. “Over the past decade consumption by children and young people has steadily increased.” He said the law would cause the hidden market to shrink and would help control the drug’s distribution.

Doctors against the law change have warned that, on the contrary, it will endanger the health of young people by making the drug more accessible and thus increasing the risk of addiction.

The three-way coalition led by the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, including Social Democrats, Greens and the pro-business FDP, agreed in November to push on with the reform, having included it in their coalition agreement on sharing power.

Adults would be permitted to grow up to three plants and possess small amounts of cannabis from 1 April, and three months later it would also be available in licensed not-for-profit clubs established to grow and distribute the cannabis plant.

Cannabis consumption for the under-18s would continue to be forbidden, while 18 to 21-year-olds will only be allowed to buy up to 30g of cannabis with a maximum THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content of 10%.

Opposition has come from some of Germany’s 16 states – which will have responsibility for policing the law – including the southern state of Bavaria, ruled by the conservative Christian Social Union, which has urged the government to think again.

Some of Lauterbach’s fellow Social Democrats have also issued warnings, in particular about the use of cannabis around schools and kindergartens. The minister, in turn, has said legislation will prohibit the smoking of cannabis within 100 metres of educational establishments.

Police authorities have said that they will have difficulty imposing the rules. But Lauterbach responded by saying the policing of the hidden market has also been difficult.

Tino Sorge, health spokesperson for the opposition conservative Christian Democrats, said the law was the wrong signal at the wrong time.

“In suggesting you can smoke weed instead of getting started in an apprenticeship or job, the coalition government is sending a completely wrong signal to our society, and acting as the state’s drug dealer. The government is playing with the health of our young people.”

The law change will make Germany the third European Union member state to legalise cannabis for personal use, after Malta and Luxembourg.

Advocates for the drug’s use for medicinal purposessaid they are hoping for a positive influence from the decision by Europe’s largest economy and which may pave the way for other countries to follow suit.

Observers from around the world will be closely watching how the law works in practice in Germany.