With the inevitable legalization of cannabis in Germany, the rest of Europe will experience a significant push towards cannabis reform.
The history of the cannabis reform movement in Europe will forever be marked by Germany’s adult-use legalization. While Germany, which implemented the first provisions of its new adult-use cannabis law on April 1, will not hold the title of the first country to legalize cannabis nationwide, German legalization is indisputably the most significant victory for cannabis reform in the history of Europe, and possibly the world.
Adults in Germany are now allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis outside of their homes, and the domestic medical cannabis industry is more efficient than ever thanks to the removal of cannabis from the German narcotics list. The declassification of cannabis is an essential part of the German CanG law.
In addition, adults in Germany are allowed to grow up to three plants in their private homes. According to a recent survey by Pronova BKK, 51% of respondents said they could imagine growing their own cannabis at home. A further 40% of occasional cannabis users also chose this option. A separate survey by YouGov found that 7% of German adults surveyed have already purchased cannabis seeds or cuttings, and a further 11% said they plan to do so in the future.
Time for Modernization
If the doomsday scenarios predicted by cannabis opponents in and outside Germany do not come to pass and German legalization is inevitably successful, it will provide a significant boost to the cannabis movement in Europe. Cannabis advocates across the continent will be able to point to Germany as proof that modernizing recreational cannabis policy works, and will be in a better position to push their own countries toward similar reforms.
A recent example of this concept can be found in Slovenia, where voters recently approved two referendum measures, both of which contain policy components that have already been implemented in Germany. One referendum measure asked Slovenian voters whether personal use and adult cultivation should be legalized. The other referendum measure asked voters whether Slovenia should allow domestic medical cannabis production. Approval of both measures, while non-binding, sends a clear message to lawmakers in Slovenia that it is time to follow Germany’s lead and modernize their own policies.
In the Czech Republic, lawmakers have long said the country will follow in Germany’s footsteps. Although legalization for adults is not imminent in the Czech Republic, national drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil confirmed in a recent email to European media that “a final decision is still pending and all options are conceivable.”
Small Successes in Policy Modernization
Smaller successes in policy modernisation are also piling up elsewhere in Europe, with the Netherlands providing an excellent example. The Netherlands recently expanded its regional pilot projects for adult-use cannabis trade to eight additional municipalities.
Pilot programs
Regional pilot projects for adult-use cannabis trade are also underway in several Swiss municipalities, and pilot projects will eventually form an important component in Germany’s legalization model. In Germany, pilot programs are scheduled to launch by the end of the year and will likely be more extensive than in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Successful pilot projects in all three nations will collectively encourage more European nations to launch pilot projects of their own.
Regressive Politics in Japan and Thailand
The increasing momentum for policy modernization in Europe coincides with regressive cannabis policies in Asia. Japan plans to implement a policy that penalizes cannabis users solely for the presence of THC in their system. THC use in Japan will be punishable by up to 7 years in prison starting later this year. In Thailand, lawmakers plan to re-criminalize cannabis after it is decriminalized in 2022. The successful efforts to modernize cannabis policy in Europe provide an important contrast to developments in Japan and Thailand, and demonstrate that modernized policies produce better public health outcomes than prohibition.
The European Centre for Monitoring Drugs and Addictions (EMCDDA) collects data on cannabis use from most European countries and publishes the results in an annual report. The EMCDDA recently published its 2024 report and found that 8% of European adults (over 22 million people) have used cannabis at least once in the last year. A large proportion of these users are likely to have used unregulated products, as many European countries still prohibit the trade in cannabis. People will use cannabis in Europe whether it is legal or not, and transitioning these customers from the unregulated market to a regulated market is a more sensible policy approach than prohibition.
The International Cannabis Business Conference is hosting several conferences and forums across the European continent in 2024 and 2025, including the upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference event in Slovenia on September 13. The September conference will mark the first major cannabis event in Slovenia following the historic votes in June and will be dedicated to the latest science and technology.
Source: https://cannabisnow.com/has-europes-cannabis-movement-hit-a-tipping-point/?utm_source=ICBC+Combined+List+Newsletter+and+Outreach&utm_campaign=ddc52d6050-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_07_08_04_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ddc52d6050-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D