If Germany’s new government gets its way, the country known for its raucous celebrations of beer could become known for something else: legalized recreational marijuana. Is pot legal in Germany you ask? Not currently, but they are working on it right now!
According to a New York Times article “German Start-Ups Lay the Groundwork for a Marijuana Bonanza, written by Berlin correspondent, Christopher F. Schuetze, in its proposed coalition contract, the German government included a proposal to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Cannabis is already legal there for medical use and possession of small amounts have been decriminalized. But if Germany does move to legalize the green stuff, it would join just a handful of other countries in the world to do so, along with some U.S. states.
When Is Legal Cannabis Coming To Germany?
As the prospect of legal marijuana filters into the zeitgeist, a handful of startups are lighting up with ideas, labs and visions of a lucrative, weed-filled future. Sanity Group is one of the companies that Schuetze features in his piece. A high-tech, high-security lab built on a former wine-making site in a rural German village, the company is well-funded, with around USD$73 million in its coffers already. Among its investors are luminaries from the other side of the Atlantic: Snoop Dogg, Alyssa Milano and will.i.am are just a few.
Yet not everyone is embracing the potential green rush just yet. Schuetze quotes Jakob Manthey, a scientist at the Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research at the University of Hamburg, who warns of greed trumping safety. “A huge market is being created here and that could ultimately also be a reason — or an important factor — that will ultimately lead to the voices of scientists being considered less carefully than the voices of business interests,” he says.
While a formal legalization bill has yet to be presented, political observers and nascent firms like Sanity Group are betting on a sure thing. Until then, however, there’s always a good pint of German beer.
What do you think of legal cannabis coming to Germany? The next time you ask is pot legal in Germany, the answer may just be yes! Check out this article if you are intrested in how to grow cannabis legally.
