Update: Cannabis decriminalisation decided

Last Friday, after nume­rous debates (we reported on this: The decri­mi­na­li­sa­tion of cannabis — “Legal, but…” and Update: Cannabis decri­mi­na­li­sa­tion is coming on 01.04.2024) the law on the controlled hand­ling of cannabis and the amend­ment of other regu­la­tions (Cannabis Act) and thus a controlled release of cannabis as well as an accom­panying partial lega­li­sa­tion was passed.

By 1 April 2024, the culti­va­tion and posses­sion of certain quan­ti­ties of cannabis will be legal for adults and thus exempt from punish­ment.

Accor­ding to the law passed by the traffic light coali­tion, which has now been adopted by a majo­rity, adults will be allowed to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis in public for their own consump­tion. Up to 50 grams of cannabis may be stored in the home and three live cannabis plants may be grown. If the culti­vated plant produces a harvest of over 50 grams, any yield in excess of this must be destroyed imme­dia­tely.

The consump­tion of cannabis is to be permitted in public from 8 pm to 7 am.

For young people and children, the use of cannabis will remain prohi­bited without excep­tion after 1 April 2024. Various provi­sions are to be made with regard to the protec­tion of minors. Consump­tion in the presence of minors is also prohi­bited in private settings. Further­more, public consump­tion will be prohi­bited within 100 metres of the entrance to schools, youth faci­li­ties and sports faci­li­ties. Minors who are caught using drugs will be obliged to take part in an inter­ven­tion and preven­tion programme. In addi­tion, the effects of partial lega­li­sa­tion on the protec­tion of minors will be reviewed after 18 months at the latest.

So-called “culti­va­tion asso­cia­tions” are also to be permitted from 1 July 2024. In these non-commer­cial asso­cia­tions, up to 500 adult members resi­ding in Germany can coll­ec­tively grow cannabis — up to 50 grams per member — and supply it to each other, up to one for personal consump­tion. Persons between the ages of 18 and 21 will be allowed to obtain a maximum of 30 grams per month with a lower active ingre­dient content (THC content of up to 10 %). Only cannabis in its pure form can be obtained, no mixtures with tobacco or food. The clubs will also be allowed to sell seeds and cuttings for private culti­va­tion. The clubs are not allowed to adver­tise, and storage and culti­va­tion areas must be secured.

In addi­tion to private culti­va­tion, the culti­va­tion clubs are thus to be the only legal source of cannabis in Germany. The origi­nally planned licensed specia­list shops are not to exist for the time being. Cannabis may be sold in shops — but only in regional pilot projects.

The new law and the asso­ciated partial lega­li­sa­tion may also have an impact on road traffic. The Federal Ministry of Trans­port is still working on a regu­la­tion for a THC limit at the wheel — compa­rable to the per mille limit that applies to alcohol. One of the compli­ca­tions here is that THC can be detected in the blood for a rela­tively long time, even after the into­xi­ca­ting effect has long since worn off. A solu­tion is to be found by 31 March.

Due to an amnesty regu­la­tion, the new legal situa­tion is also accom­pa­nied by multiple advan­tages for people who are curr­ently under criminal inves­ti­ga­tion for an offence against the Narco­tics Act or who have already been convicted of a narco­tics offence. Once the law comes into force, there will also be an amnesty on convic­tions for such cases, which will be permitted in future.

With the enact­ment of the new law, ongoing criminal procee­dings must be discon­tinued and unen­forced sentences must be remitted. In addi­tion, previous convic­tions must be deleted from the Federal Central Criminal Register.

Due to the amnesty, the German Asso­cia­tion of Judges curr­ently anti­ci­pates a neces­sary review of more than 100,000 files in the event of retroac­tive remis­sion of sentences, as well as a massive over­load of the judi­ciary as a result.

If you have been convicted of an offence in the past that is no longer punis­hable under the new legis­la­tion, we will be happy to support you. In parti­cular, we can apply for the entry to be deleted from your record and the Federal Central Criminal Register.