Gemini summary:
Germany has become the ninth country in the world to legalize cannabis. The new law allows individuals to grow up to three cannabis plants for personal consumption and to possess up to 25 grams of the drug. Cannabis clubs will also be allowed to grow and sell cannabis to their members. The law is expected to come into effect in April 2024.
Germany doing it will likely set precedent in all of northern Europe. My prediction is Denmark will follow in 2 year time, Norway in 3-4 years and Sweden likely last at 5 years, even though I think we consume more of it per capita… Swedish stance on drug use has been extremely conservative for many, many decades by now and is super rooted in the common Psyche, which is why so many die of overdoses and kill themselves if it comes out they use. The stigma is heavy.
I honestly don’t believe Sweden will come around that quickly. We’re way too deep into prohibition to swing over like that. A majority of people do really hate drugs. This being said I absolutely think it will happen within a decade unless something goes wrong elsewhere.
Hopefully we in the Netherlands will finally legalize it as well instead of it being a gray area. Although that would require us to give up on beating Belgium’s record of not forming a government.
Don’t worry, they haven’t eaten a leader yet
Yeah, I also don’t see it happening in 5 years, the government knows its policy has caused Sweden to have the highest drug related death rate but they just double down on prohibition.
Anyway, if it’s not legalised in the next 3-4 years, I’m moving to Spain, I like who I am when I smoke, I like the control I have over my anxiety and the boos of life and energy I get.
Do many Swedish people treat alcohol like this or only the illegal stuff?
Alcohol is fine. Drugs being bad was just bashed into our cultural collective head so hard that it’s difficult to get out of. A politician cannot speak of decriminalisation without being thrown out of every one of the established parties.
The inconsistency is revealing.
It’s societal cognitive dissonance at it’s best.
This dude was the root of this war on drugs, here in Sweden and the US
Motherfucking Bejeröta
“book against violence in comic books”, say no more 🤣
Sweden and Finland will be among the last in Europe to decriminalize/legalize.
“Drugs are bad because drugs are bad” is too deeply ingrained into the older population. It will take years to change this attitude, even if the results of legalization in other countries will be positive.
“It just would not work here” is the eternal argument. And the only one.
Meanwhile both of those country inject caffeine intravenously. I have no idea how one could possibly go through a kg of coffee a month, yet for Finns that’s nearly the average.
I agree. We’ll be late.
Copenhagen loves regularly beating up Christiania too much for Denmark to make weed legal.
While Germany attempts to legalize cannabis, in Lithuania you can buy alcohol Mon-Sat from 10:00 to 20:00, except Sundays, where you have 3 hours window, from 12:00 to 15:00…
If it happens that cannabis is legalized in many Eu countries, I am pretty sure that Lithuania might start considering it in 10-30 years. 🙆
But oh well, I’ll simply travel more. I liked Berlin when I visited it few months back. :)
It’s pretty much the same in Sweden. And the only places you can buy alcohol are owned and run by the government
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You are aware they already decriminalized it right?
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Not fully decriminalized no, you’re right, but it has come a long way. And the step from illegal to decriminalized is much larger than decriminalized to legalized. The latter is also a way to boost the tax revenue and strangle gang income, with a slight risk of giving them legitimate revenue instead of illegal.
I had to look it up: Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Uruguay, South Africa, Georgia, Luxembourg, Malta, and now Germany. It’s legal in a little over half of the US including territories.
Did Germany change their plan though? Originally they were just going to open up 3 cannabis shops in Berlin as a test, now it seems they’re just going with full legalization across the country as of April. Anyone have more insight into the rollout?
To comply with EU law, cannabis won’t be sold commercially. Instead, people can form cannabis clubs where they grow it for their own use. Only members can get cannabis at such a club. Alternatively, you can grow it at home.
I really like this. Yes, it should be everyone’s choice to consume it or not. But there really shouldn’t be commercial incentives to get people addicted and to get rich from their addiction.
Imgine the same rules applying to alcohol and tobacco… (yes you can absolutely grow tobacco in Germany).
I’m a fan of the ‘speed bump’ for a lot of the same reasons, if nothing else than requiring a certain level of interest or effort beyond swiping a credit card. But I’d like to have a medical and/or compassionate carer exemption for non-recreation patients.
I have enjoyed my time with the herb and agree that legalization is our best harm reduction route, but I’m not going to pretend it’s a net societal gain either - like you said look at how we treat alcohol and: cars, marketing, licensing, enforcement, child access, addiction, rehab industry, etc
I’d like to smoke a joint once in a while, like two or three times a month. A single plant would last me years, home-grown or at a club doesn’t matter it’d be way too much.
So expect there to be a large second-hand market. “You can’t sell” doesn’t do anything about supply and demand.
Maybe there will be growclubs that are cheaper but only give you a little instead of 50g a month.
That makes a lot of sense as a law, actually. Most of the problems that have arisen from state legalization in the US has been from people trying to jump on the money train by starting huge questionable grow sites in remote areas (such as where I live). And, of course, getting some of the organized crime elements involved because there’s money to be made. I’m sure some will skirt this law but promoting it to be small scale, personal consumption only is pretty based.
This is the same as in Spain. I think you can have up to 6 plants at home, lol.
There are already EU countries that sell cannabis commercially
Which would that be?
Netherlands coffee shops. Legal or not on paper, it is widely sold commercially with coffee shops in most towns openly selling to the public.
You suspected it already, it’s not actually legal in the Netherlands either.
Thailand is in the middle of banning it as they elected a conservative government not long after legalising it.
Also for recreational use it’s legal in one of eight states/territories in Australia. Medicinal in every state but that’s not really the same even if it’s dead easy to get.
They did note elect that government.
How long is it by train from Berlin or Frankfurt to Luxembourg City and does Luxembourg’s bill allow for sales to German residents? I know the Netherlands had been trying to restrict their weed sales to Dutch residents (and I’m not sure if they were successful), but is this a situation where people were already just making day trips to buy it so might as well make it legal?
Smuggling weed across the border is still very much illegal.
Netherlands.
Legal to use but the coffee shop business might be some gray territory if I remember right
Legal to sell and have, but not legal to grow in large quantities.
How do shops get their inventory? That’s the gray area.
Legal to sell and have
No, that’s a common misconception about the Netherlands that even many of their own citizens don’t know is wrong. It’s not legal to own, even under 5g, there just isn’t a punishment for it if you get caught, except for police confiscating it
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I fail to understand how you can only possess up to 50 g of weed at home. You’re allowed to have three plants and one plant produces normally over 100 g. What.
Makes no sense at all! I just pulled 10 oz from a single plant in a 60x120cm cabinet. Guess you’ll have to smoke & eat the entire plant immediately!
decarb and infuse in oil?
Edibles and extracts are still illegal, so no
The fucking what?
Yes, the law is still very restrictive, in some ways more restrictive than before even. Calling it a legalization is pretty dishonest, it’s a partial decriminalization at best
no it is very much legalization because now there is actually a legal pathway to acquiring, processing, and handling the stuff
German government: “It’s illegal to bake anything else than yourself”
Dry weight
Yes, but he is right, a single plant can easily produce over 100g of dried buds
You have to destroy the surplus
It doesn’t make much sense, but conservatives are already losing their minds over the 25g we’re allowed to carry “nooo, we’re enabling drug dealers with those massive quantities”. If they went for 500g at home, there would’ve been a lot more negative press I imagine and it might not have gone through. Maybe it will be adjusted a few years down the line.
Dear Germans,
You won’t regret this as a whole but keep an eye on the old waistline.
-a guy from a place where it has been legal for a while
Dear whereever you are from,
We know. Some of us live next to the Netherlands, so we already had a steady access.
Sincerely,
Your Germans
X0X0
The cannabis clubs are bullshit… But I guess the only way to circumvent EU law :/ still feels like a half ass solution. Well… Better than nothing
These are really common in Spain, IMO they’re…not great.
As an old man who prefers edibles I really cant stand the smell/smoke/atmosphere.
I would really appreciate if our governments allowed us to be the adults we can be, and this would include being able to open a “more refined” dispensary for people other than who they think uses “The marijuanas”.
As an old man who prefers edibles I really cant stand the smell/smoke/atmosphere.
Well, you won’t get that smell in German cannabis clubs, since the law doesnt permit smoking there. But you also won’t be able to get edibles at a club, only buds. So if you prefer edibles you still have to make them yourself, and it will still be illegal
So if you prefer edibles you still have to make them yourself, and it will still be illegal
Wait, you can’t make edibles yourself to eat? No cookie?
No, sadly not. But of course the likelyhood of getting caught in your own home is slim, unless you do something stupid or live with people that report you to the police
Yeah dispensaries are better but is there something in particular you don’t like about social club style laws?
There’s probably going to be membership/sign up fees and required unpaid shifts. For someone who might want to smoke a blunt once or twice a year, that might be excessive.
Also the membership lists are a terrible idea in the current political climate.
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