Germany's liberal finance minister, Christian Lindner, is bent on legalising cannabis.

German Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner sees the partial legalisation of the use of cannabis in Germany as a responsible move. The liberal politician believes that, particularly in terms of crime prevention and health protection, regulated distribution is better than referring people to the black market. Personally, he sees no arguments in favour of delaying the law’s entry into force, as the opposition Christian Democrats and the right-wing would have liked, he said in a public media programme.

Lindner hält Cannabis-Gesetz für verantwortbar. Was denn sonst! pic.twitter.com/jB7Ks0Db6e

— Be11akindofthing 🕊️👩🏼‍🌾🚜🤖 (@Be11akindofthng) March 24, 2024

The proposal was largely drafted by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. On 1 April, the coalition government plans to legalise cannabis for adults to a limited extent. Over-18s will be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal use and grow three marijuana plants per household.

As is known, the law on legalising cannabis adopted by the Bundestag passed the final hurdle in the Bundesrat, the chamber of the federal states, a few days ago. Despite strong criticism of the legislation, the Bundesrat failed to muster a majority to convene a mediation committee to resolve disagreements about the law with the Bundestag. This would have delayed the law from entering into force on 1 April. The law permitting the possession and cultivation of marijuana by adults for personal use under a number of conditions marks a turning point in Germany’s drug policy.