When you think about marijuana in Europe, we often see the Dutch as trailblazers, and while that is certainly the case, Germany could be about to start a revolution, becoming the first European Union member to legalise cannabis.
There has been lots of debate as to whether the substance should be legalised or not in many parts of the world, on the one hand citing the health risks and chance of addiction, on the other the health benefits and the fact you are far less likely to end up in a private drug rehab clinic compared to even alcohol.
And it seems the Germans have made their decision, with Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announcing the outline of a law that follows a similar model to Canada, declassifying it as a narcotic and creating state licenced production lines and sales systems.
The upshot of that would be that adults would be allowed to have 20 to 30 grams for personal use and it would be taxed by the government. It is believed that taxing such a market could generate more than one billion euros per year, with the aim being to undercut the illegal pot market and eradicate it from the nation.
However, marijuana dealers on the street are expecting it to make no difference, claiming that you can already legally get weed but the strains they sell are different, more potent and a better standard of the product.
Either way, should Germany go ahead with their aims to legalise the market by 2024, it could spark a revolution in other parts of Europe too.
In the UK there has been a very anti-marijuana stance in recent months, but EU countries like France, Italy and Belgium could certainly follow suit, and the financial implications of it could see more and more take the leap too.
The knock on effect of that could see more cannabis startups invest in Germany, producing even more revenue and setting the nation up as a worldwide producer. There are reservations within the industry itself of Germany’s proposal.
One of the main concerns is that Germany’s climate wouldn’t be able support outdoor cultivation of the plant, which would be around 700 tonnes per year, which would then require growing houses, and take up a large amount of energy consumption. At present, Germany can’t satisfy the medicinal market of 30 tonnes, so upscaling in such a dramatic way could be problematic and see the illegal market still the dominant one. They will need to ramp up cannabis production or import it from another country potentially to meet cannabinoid consumer demand.