Cannabis legalisation in Germany: a European dilemma?

euronews (in English)

Last spring, hundreds of people gathered under the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to celebrate the legalisation of recreational cannabis use in Germany.

Transcript

00:00Last spring, a giant cannabis leaf was standing in the place of this Christmas tree,

00:10while hundreds of people gathered here, under the door of Brandebourg, in the heart of Berlin,

00:16to celebrate the entry into force of a law legalizing the use of recreational cannabis by adults.

00:21The goal was to counter an illicit market in full expansion in Europe.

00:26The law's detractors fear that it will favor the explosion of drug consumption, especially among young people.

00:34The experiment, carried out by Germany, the third and largest country in the Union to have legalized cannabis,

00:40is in any case at the heart of a reflection committed throughout Europe.

00:49Cannabis is a drug derived from hemp, available in various forms.

00:53Dried leaves and buds, marijuana, flower resin and compressed leaves, hashish, and resin concentrate, hashish oil.

01:01Often smoked, cannabis can be vaporized or added to food.

01:06It contains many molecules, including THC or tetrahydrocannabinol,

01:11the psychoactive substance of cannabis, which has health risks.

01:17Cannabis is the most used illicit drug in the European Union.

01:21Nearly a third of adults aged 15 to 64 have consumed it at least once in their lives,

01:26of which 8% are nearly 23 million people over the past year.

01:32Majorly prohibited, the possession and consumption of recreational cannabis are tolerated in 9 countries of the Union,

01:39where penal or financial sanctions are reduced, even non-existent, for small quantities of cannabis.

01:44They are legal under certain conditions in Luxembourg, Malta and Germany,

01:48where the production of cannabis at home is also allowed.

01:54Legalization projects are being studied in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

01:59The law legalizing the use of recreational cannabis in Germany since last April

02:03also opens new perspectives to the industry of cannabis for therapeutic use.

02:08I am at the heart of the company DEMECAN, one of the largest producers of medical cannabis in Europe,

02:14for which the stakes are enormous.

02:18I am at the heart of the company DEMECAN, one of the largest producers of medical cannabis in Europe,

02:24for which the stakes are enormous.

02:29The law on recreational cannabis

02:32Unlike the law on recreational cannabis, the law on medical cannabis has also been softened,

02:39which in a few months has already made the market boom,

02:42emphasizes one of the co-founders of the company.

02:45Until April we were only allowed to produce two varieties that basically the government decided

02:51and we had to deliver directly to the government.

02:53Now we are free to produce new varieties that we must no longer sell to the state,

02:57but we can sell to pharmacies and patients directly.

03:01We have seen pretty much 50% quarter over quarter market growth in Germany,

03:06so what really changes the game is that the market is now much more accessible.

03:09Before it was possible to prescribe medical cannabis in Germany, but it was very difficult and that has changed now.

03:17An impossible progression for the cannabis social clubs,

03:21non-profit associations, only authorized to distribute recreational cannabis.

03:52Then there is the option of social clubs, which are highly regulated and no profits are allowed.

03:58So I think what definitely is lacking is controlled dispensaries,

04:01and that would be an actual legalization that would be the pillar too, but that hasn't been done yet.

04:10A second pillar that planned the commercial sale of recreational cannabis in an initial version of the law.

04:16A project abandoned in favor of European law prohibiting the trade of drugs.

04:22The thing is, everything is better than people buying cannabis in an illegal market.

04:26The benefit of having better control over the product even in the recreational part of the cannabis world

04:32is that we can exclude that there are contaminants.

04:34A recent study found in cannabis that was actually bought in the illicit market in Germany

04:39by products of cocaine, virus up to COVID and even traces of feces.

04:46The European legislative framework should be clarified, says this entrepreneur.

04:52So what is your recommendation to Brussels?

04:55We would definitely hope that there are EU-wide regulations that give a little bit more framework

05:00as opposed to every country deciding for their own rules.

05:03I think we would all benefit from clear regulations how medical cannabis should be treated in Europe

05:08and which liberty every country has for recreational cannabis.

05:12If Europe would decide every country is free to do their own recreational cannabis policies

05:17then that would help a lot because right now it's very unclear how Europe reacts

05:22if a country really goes into a recreational way.

05:25So that would be a great benefit if we had clear regulations.

05:29The legalization of recreational cannabis in Germany

05:38Could the legalization of recreational cannabis in Germany influence European drug policies

05:44while the illicit market is exploding?

05:47I interviewed the EU Agency for Drugs,

05:50on the advantages and risks of such an option.

05:54There are many different objectives.

05:56The inconvenient thing is that they conflict.

05:59If you want to take money away from the illegal market,

06:03you should have as much legal cannabis available as possible.

06:08If you do not want to encourage young people and you don't want to normalize,

06:13you should have as little available as possible.

06:16And that's going to be a trade-off.

06:18Are there estimates of the economic benefits of regulated legalization of cannabis?

06:24We certainly know there can be economic benefits in terms of tax revenue.

06:29You have the counter effect that taxes raise the price of the product

06:33and you are more likely to drive the consumer back to the illegal market.

06:38Europe has talked more about quality of product.

06:41There will be less pesticides involved,

06:44better tested rates to understand just how much THC is in the product.

06:50Safety is something that Europe is pushing much more than the idea of gaining money.

06:55And finally, are such experiments likely to influence the general European framework drug policies?

07:03The question is, will the existing framework be somehow reinterpreted or renegotiated?

07:12We will see how much appetite the European politicians have to negotiate

07:18and in what direction they choose to negotiate.

07:21Will it be opening up a space for these countries to operate

07:25or will it be closing down because the other countries really don't want such a system

07:31within the European Union space?

07:33And we don't know the answer to that yet.

07:36The experiment conducted in Germany could, on the other hand, be short-lived.

07:39Conservative parties, favoured by the elections in February,

07:43have announced their intention to revoke the law on the use of recreational cannabis.

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