According to the plan, the decriminalization applies to possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis and sale in licensed shops to adults for recreational purposes. The next step will be to investigate whether the plan is compatible with EU legislation.
The goal is to fight the black drug market and the government intends to regulate the permitted market tightly, says Karl Lauterbach, who represents the social democratic SDP, on Wednesday.
Legalizing the controlled sale of cannabis is a reform included in the coalition agreement between the parties that make up Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government: the SPD, the liberal FDP and the environmental party The Greens.
According to the coalition, the “social consequences” of the new legislation must be examined after four years.