A bill to legalize marijuana in Germany will be implemented on schedule in April, with lawmakers representing individual states in the Bundesrat declining to refer the legislation to a mediation committee that would have meant setting back the timeline by six months, as stated in Marijuana Moment.
There were concerns that the Bundesrat, a body also known as the Federal Council, would vote to recommend the committee referral. But that didn’t happen, which means the marijuana legalization bill will go into effect on April 1.
The bill will make possession and home cultivation of marijuana legal as well as authorize social clubs to distribute marijuana to members.
To prevent the bill implementation delay, Marijuana Moment states that German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who has for months been the government’s lead on the cannabis plan, put forward a “protocol declaration” to the Federal Council ahead of the vote. This aimed to address members’ outstanding concerns about issues such as youth prevention, reduced cultivation canopy sizes and zoning requirements for social clubs distributing marijuana.
Ultimately, this strategy worked as the Bundesrat didn’t vote for the mediation referral.
