What would happen when Germany legalised cannabis?
Maybe clouds of sweet-smelling marijuana smoke would clog up the bars and streets? Maybe dazed and confused stoners would spend their days listening to bad reggae, shops would sell out of snacks known to sate the “munchies” and those sketchy-looking fellows in the park, the guys who’ll sell you a bag of weed for €10 behind a bush, would have to find new work?
Nobody really knew, but we were about to find out. On April 1, cannabis was declared legal for consenting adults, making Germany only the third European Union country to fully legalise cannabis.
At a minute past midnight, hundreds of Berlin cannabis fans celebrated by sparking one up under the Brandenburg Gate. In Bavaria, about 40 gathered outside the offices of the conservative, anti-marijuana Christian Social Union party to smoke a vengeful joint.
Since then, though, the change in German law has been about as discernible as the sound of ganja-loving locals inhaling deeply. You can now keep 50g of cannabis at home, grow three plants and carry 25g around. You cannot smoke and drive, no pot for under-18s and no smoking near schools. But local police have reported no wave of cannabis-related crime as a result.
That may yet come, because all the other rules around cannabis are a lot harder to follow.
The government doesn’t want to commercialise cannabis too quickly, so weed can be grown only in “cultivation communities”, then sold by not-for-profit “cannabis social clubs”.
These must comply with a list of rules a distant universe away from chilling with Mary Jane and Bob Marley – one grower describes them as “a bureaucratic monster”. Clubs must apply for cultivation licences, be burglar-proof, have health and safety officers, addiction and youth-protection plans and document exactly what is grown and consumed.
Clubs can apply to start growing their own from July 1 but nobody actually knows where to apply. The cannabis produced should be of a certain standard but standards are yet to be set. And it’s unclear what responsibility the clubs, which can have only 500 members, bear for their adherents.
There’s also the growing question of where to grow. Some clubs have leased disused factories, gardens and even an underground mine. Others are waiting for rules to be clarified.
Another pressing issue: what to call your cannabis club? German stoners have pushed the creative envelope already with names like High Ground, High Society, High Culture, High End Social Club and – bonus points for this one – We Love Weed.
In many ways, cannabis campaigners think social clubs are a good idea. They’ve been successful in Spain even though cannabis is only partially legal there. As one Berlin club writes on its website, clubs cut out criminal middlemen, and “if you hire the right people to grow, a lean supply chain can result in a supply of high-quality buds at a relatively low price”. Clubs will sell a gram of weed for €4-10 (NZ$7-17).
However, given all the bureaucracy, they won’t be able to hand out any weed until next year. As a result, “we’re no competition for the black market and organised crime”, one Berlin club board member told local media.
An evening walk through a local park two weeks after Germany legalised cannabis appears to confirm this. Despite the change of laws, those sketchy fellows are all still hanging out there. “Want some weed?” one of the lurkers offers gently from behind a bush as we stroll by.
Cathrin Schaer is a freelance journalist living in Berlin.
