Germany is starting the legal process for cannabis legislation soon.
That’s at least according to the country’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach who announced the news last week.
Germany’s new coalition included the legalization of recreational cannabis in its political agenda in late 2021, but there had been few details on how to regulate the industry.
Lauterback told German newspaper Handelsblatt that he changed his mind on legalization over the past two years, and he now believes the dangers of non-legalization outweigh the risks of recreational cannabis legalization.
“I’ve always been opposed to cannabis legalization, but I revised my position about a year ago,” he said.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner has also confirmed that the process of legalizing recreational cannabis has started.
“A question that people keep asking me: ‘When will Bubatz [German street slang for cannabis] be legal? I would say: soon,” he wrote in a tweet on April 6.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said he is planning a comprehensive technical preparation to legalize cannabis through a consultation process together with the Ministry of Health and other departments.
