As support for cannabis legalization continues to rise internationally, government officials in Germany indicate they’re ready to take meaningful steps toward enacting reform.
Amidst the transition of the country’s governing coalition in late 2021, when Olaf Scholz, a member of the Social Democratic Party, took over as the chancellor of Germany, leaders from three top parties indicated they would introduce legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis following the power shift.
In addition to the Social Democrats, the Freedom Democrats and The Greens officially signed a three-party coalition deal in December.
RELATED: Germany’s New Coalition Supports Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization
While leaders from those political parties included full cannabis legalization on their agenda leading up to the coalition deal, they offered few details on what a new industry would look like in a country of roughly 83 million people—the largest in the European Union.
But those details will be brought to the forefront soon per top government officials, Forbes reported.
Specifically, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, with the Social Democrats, and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, with the Freedom Democrats, indicated the legalization process is on its way.
“A question that people keep asking me: ‘When will [cannabis] be legal?’ I would say: soon,” Lindner wrote in a Tweet on May 6.
Later that day, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, with the Freedom Democrats, announced that he’s working with Lauterbach, Food and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, with The Greens, and other departments to begin the formal phases of the legalization process.
“The legalization of cannabis is coming,” Buschmann wrote on Friday. “In Meseberg, I discussed this with Cem Özdemir and Karl Lauterbach. The Federal Drug Commissioner is already planning comprehensive preparations for the release, and Karl Lauterbach has announced a first draft law for 2022.”
According to Lauterbach, the technical talks will likely start this summer, and a draft bill is expected to follow in late 2022, Forbes reported.
With medical cannabis legalized since 2017 in Germany, the country’s domestic production totals are about 2.6 tons of cannabis annually, Niklas Kouparanis, CEO of Frankfurt-based cannabis holding company Bloomwell, told Cannabis Business Times in November.
And although Germany imports cannabis for medical use, Kouparanis said he forecasts a supply shortage when the country legalizes adult use.
“If the rec market opens up, we expect … [a demand of] 100 to 200 tons annually, immediately,” Kouparanis said. “So, with 2.6 tons [domestic production capacity], it will not be sufficient to actually satisfy the rec market and patients that we need to supply.”
