Germany legalises cannabis, but makes it hard to buy - eviltoast
  • shani66@ani.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    74
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    9 months ago

    Still don’t get the irrational obsession with weed, if you fuckers allow beer and coffee then weed is barely a difference

  • Blaubarschmann@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    48
    ·
    9 months ago

    Title is misleading. Officially it’s not possible to “buy” weed, you only get it from your social club “for free” with a monthly membership fee. Clever way to get around the “buying” aspect

  • WallEx@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    41
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    9 months ago

    as a german i feel divided, on one hand its a step in the right direction, on the other hand it doesn’t go remotely far enough in my opinion.

    • notapantsday@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      38
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      9 months ago

      I think this is perfect. Make it legal but non-commercial. It should not be allowed to make a profit off of other people’s addiction and there shouldn’t be financial incentives to get people addicted as quickly as possible.

      I wish they would do the same for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc.

      • WbrJr@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        9 months ago

        I would be very careful with that. Not official alcohol for example can be very dangerous if the person making it does not know about methanol, which is toxic. If it is not destilled properly, it can end up in the final mix and cause dangerous problems. I guess it goes with other drugs as well. People will still make a profit from it, just without taxes. It’s just easier to justify having some plants at home. So the state is missing out on drug taxes, which could be quite high (lol).

        So by creating drug stores, where you can buy controlled, legal drugs would be a lot mor profitable for the state, healthier for society and better for the consumer.

        This half assed weird regulation will be used by the conservative parties to justify blocking further legalisation by arguing it’s already free I guess

      • htrayl@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        16
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        There are definitely financial incentives, they are just underground now. Which is worse in every way.

        • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          9 months ago

          Ah yeah because dealers didnt exist before? Also it will be allowed to run non profit clubs to grow weed as a community. And you can grow it at home so no incentive for underground markets at all. Dealers are gonna slowly disappear if anything.

    • misk@sopuli.xyzOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      9 months ago

      I think this is fine because while people should be allowed to do light drugs I don’t mind making them jump through some hoops so that it’s not that convenient. Alcohol and nicotine are definitely way too accessible and it affects perception of this law.

      I use cannabis in Poland where we accidentally legalized it by allowing doctors to prescribe it online which combined with corruption means anyone who wants it can get it but it’s not so obvious unless you’re interested. It’s a surprisingly OK compromise.

      • WallEx@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        I think if you’re not harming anyone else you should be allowed to do whatever you want. I don’t see, why drugs are prohibited in the first place.

        • fr0g@feddit.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          Well, who’s gonna pay for your medical care when you inevitably develop drug problems/health issues. So in a socialized healthcare system, you are harming others with it.

          (And not offering treatment or making the patient pay for it which they often won’t be able to, would be very inhumane imo)

          • 🦄🦄🦄@feddit.de
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            9 months ago

            Well, who’s gonna pay for your medical care when you inevitably develop drug problems/health issues.

            The same that pays for alcoholics, injuries from extreme sports and people suffering from heart attacks because of an unhealthy lifestyle already?

        • xigoi@lemmy.sdf.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          9 months ago

          It’s easy to harm other people by doing drugs. For example, a parent who smokes will make life worse for their child.

      • novibe@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        9 months ago

        10 Dutch cities legalised weed not too long ago. They legalised the production and sale. The coffee shops and other shops in those cities all sell 100% legal weed. So, yeah…

        • IndigoAmber@social.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          9 months ago

          @novibe Also, (I think,) weed is technically still illegal in the Netherlands, but for example possession up to 5g is tolerated by simply not enforcing the law.
          Germany on the other hand fully legalized possession of up to 25g (50g).

          • novibe@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            9 months ago

            Yes but in the cities that legalised it the limits are different. For growing and possession.

            • novibe@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              9 months ago

              I think they for sure are gonna change it. That really makes no sense. One plant will can give more than that if you even marginally know what you’re doing.

        • IndigoAmber@social.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 months ago

          @novibe Yes, but that’s still just experimental / in a testing phase and how most coffee shops operate currently is a legal grey area. And I don’t expect that to change soon, because ultimately they can’t fully legalize cannabis for the same reasons Germany could not: it would conflict with EU regulations.

          • novibe@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            9 months ago

            But wouldn’t it be possible for cities to legalize it locally only then? Like… every city?

  • Haven5341@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    I had a very quick look at the law. It’s a first step. Better than nothing and long overdue. I’m thankful but the law itself seems to be in part contradictory.

    I.e.: I’m allowed to grow three cannabis plants. Sounds good? I’m additionally not allowed to own more than 50 grams of cannabis plant material (buds, leafs and stem). How should i even grow a single cannabis plant without making myself culpable?

    I guess we’ll have to wait and see how these contradictions are handled by the courts.

    • vapeloki@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      9 months ago

      50g ate the dry weight. You are allowed to posses 3 plants + 50g consume ready product. So, this should work out just nice with smaller plants

      • Haven5341@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        You are allowed to posses 3 plants + 50g consume ready product.

        Sure. As long as the 3 plants are alive:

        § 3, Abs 2 CanG reads:

        Personen, die das 18. Lebensjahr vollendet haben, ist abweichend von Absatz 1 im Geltungsbereich dieses Gesetzes an ihrem Wohnsitz oder an ihrem gewöhnlichen Aufenthalt der Besitz von Cannabis wie folgt erlaubt:

        (1) von bis zu 50 Gramm Cannabis, bei Blüten, blütennahen Blättern oder sonstigem Pflanzenmaterial der Cannabispflanze bezogen auf das Gewicht nach dem Trocknen, und

        (2) von bis zu drei lebenden Cannabispflanzen

        https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/20/104/2010426.pdf

        Translated by Google:

        By way of derogation from paragraph 1, persons who have reached the age of 18 shall be permitted to possess cannabis at their domicile or habitual residence within the scope of this Act as follows:

        (1) up to 50 grams of cannabis, in the case of flowers, near-flower leaves or other plant material of the cannabis plant in relation to the weight after drying, and

        (2) of up to three live cannabis plants

        That is 3 plants that are alive(!). If I’m harvesting or the plant dies of other causes, the plant is no longer alive and I’m suddenly in the possession of much more than the 50 grams allowed by law (and the whole plant counts, not just the buds).

        • tryptaminev 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺@feddit.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          16
          ·
          9 months ago

          I mean in practice the key question will be, whether “my neighbour grows weed, i’ve seen a plant in the window” will still be probable cause for a search warrant or not.

          If it won’t be, then you’d be good realistically.

        • vapeloki@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          9 months ago

          That is a non issue in my opinion. As long as it is not dryied yet you can process it. Just cook it out for example. Or use it as fertilizer.

          • Haven5341@feddit.de
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            As long as it is not dryied yet

            The law doesn’t make a distinction between dried or not dried. This is only used for measurement. It only distinguishes between alive and dead.

            Just cook it out for example.

            It’s still a dead cannabis plant.

            This law makes no sense in this regard. Allowing three plants just so you have to destroy two an a half of them.

            And at one point in time you will be in possession of an illegal amount of cannabis. Even if it is for a short period of time. Sure, you probably won’t be caught but it still seems to be illegal according to CanG

            • vapeloki@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              12
              ·
              9 months ago

              Seriously: a plant takes around 8 weeks to bloom, and can stay in that state for another 8 weeks. That is plentiful time to harvest and not all at once. Also, while the first one is blooming you can grow number two.

              As someone who growed stuff at home in the past, it makes perfect sense to me.

              With 3 plants you have always one blooming and two following. Time it correctly and you have a constant flow of supply without ever having more then 50g of dryied products.

              After you are done harvesting, dispose the rest of the plant and be fine. As the stem of cannabis is mostly water, it will not weight anything near 25 g if dryied. If it does, your plants are larger, and I think this may be intentional to limit the amount of products that can be harvested. Over all, while not perfect, the law is much better then many seem to want give credit for.

              I was co author of the largest pro canabis petition ever in Germany, and the author of the anti-alcohol petition (reusing the arguments of the lawmakers why canabis can not be legalized, and just replaced alcohol with canabis). I am fighting for this since 20 years. And this is a huge step forward. Yes, it is limited. But the limit is imposed by the EU and not the German government.

              • buzziebee@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                9 months ago

                It’s still a bit concerning that we don’t have clear guidelines on how growing and harvesting these plants will be enforced with this very low limit. If someone grows 1 plant and doesn’t smoke the harvest quickly enough they might have say 300g of harvest and they suddenly go from legal while it’s growing to illegal 2 days later. If you’re in a state where they might want to be stricter on growing this could be a real problem.

                Having limits on grams carried in public whilst not part of a cannabis club makes sense to me, but this restriction on quantities at home when you are home growing doesn’t.

                • vapeloki@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  9 months ago

                  The new law does not allow you to pass our weed on. This I a crucial part on the crackdown on the black market. It is a little bit to strict IMHO, but I can understand why.

                  Limiting the amount you may own at home limited has the same goal. And if you let your plant grow that much, that is kinda suspicious.

                  You could just deal from home.

                  In the next weeks, organizations that fought for legalization will provide courses and information on how to obey those limits.

            • fr0g@feddit.de
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              9 months ago

              The law does make sense, if you put it into practice. In practice the dry weight amounts will probably just be checked on the street. Checking your home will require a warrant which isn’t easy to come by, so they’re not gonna bother about cases where it might be three or four plants or this or that many grams.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Already police in some parts of Germany, such as Berlin, often turn a blind eye to smoking in public, although possession of the drug for recreational use is illegal and can be prosecuted.

    He wants to undermine the black market, protect smokers from contaminated cannabis and cut revenue streams for organised crime gangs.

    A ferocious debate about decriminalising cannabis has been raging for years in Germany, with doctors’ groups expressing concerns for young people and conservatives saying that liberalisation will fuel drug use.

    Simone Borchardt of the opposition conservative CDU told MPs that the government had gone ahead with its “completely unnecessary, confused law” regardless of warnings from doctors, police and psychotherapists.

    Original plans to allow licensed shops and pharmacies to sell cannabis have been scrapped over EU concerns that this could lead to a surge in drug exports.

    This means that Germany could be in the paradoxical position of allowing possession of rather large amounts of the drug, while at the same time making it difficult to purchase.


    The original article contains 559 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!