The German parliament has voted to legalise the controlled possession and cultivation of cannabis from April, despite warnings from medical associations and the police that it will harm young people and fuel drug use.
The law will allow adults to grow up to three plants for private consumption and to hold 50g of cannabis at home and 25g in public, equivalent to dozens of strong joints.
Possession and use of the drug will remain prohibited for anyone under 18 and selling it to minors will carry a sentence of at least two years in prison.
Passed by the Bundestag on Friday with a clear majority of 407 in favour and 226 against, the reform is a prestige project of the embattled centre-left government under the chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Ministers argued that the law would regulate the quality and supply of cannabis, regularly consumed by an estimated seven million Germans.
The three-way coalition came to power in 2021 promising a liberal revamp of Germany but has become bogged down in budget cuts and unpopular environmental reforms.
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The changes will give Germany some of the most liberal cannabis laws in Europe, together with Malta and Luxembourg, which legalised recreational use of the drug in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
The government said lessons had been learnt from bad experiences in the Netherlands. Most experts reject the Dutch example, which places cannabis in a legal twilight zone by permitting its sale through “coffee shops” while punishing the production of it, thereby driving the shops into the arms of criminals.
Germany will also make it legal for people to grow cannabis together in clubs. Smoking it will be permitted in public, but not within sight of schools or daycare centres. It will also be easier for companies to grow cannabis for medical purposes in Germany.
“We are pursuing two goals. The first is to combat the black market. The second goal is to better protect children and young people,” Karl Lauterbach, the health minister and member of the Social Democrats, said in the debate before Friday afternoon’s vote.
The number of cannabis users was increasing steadily and weed sold on the street was heavily contaminated, he said, adding: “We can’t go on like this.”
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Experts say substances that can end up in black-market cannabis include sand, hairspray, talcum powder, spices or even glass and lead. It can also be contaminated with heroin or synthetic cannabinoids that are up to 100 times stronger than the natural substance, they say.
During the debate, one member of the opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) called out: “What has the minister been smoking?”
Tino Sorge, the CDU politician, said: “You are asserting in all seriousness that by legalising more drugs we will contain drug use among young people … That is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard.”
Health groups have warned that cannabis use among young people can affect the development of the central nervous system, leading to an increased risk of developing psychosis and schizophrenia. Sustained use has also been linked to respiratory diseases and testicular cancer.
“Chronic cannabis use makes you stupid, to put it bluntly, and can also cause psychosis,” Thomas Fischbach, president of the German federation of doctors for children and adolescents, said. “Cannabis use among young people will increase because such substances are always passed on to younger people.”
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Until now, German law has restricted personal use of cannabis to people with certain medical conditions. Private recreational use of the drug was banned, though police often turned a blind eye to possession of small amounts.
