You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Germany Decriminalizes Cannabis for Personal Use

HeadlineApr 02, 2024

In Germany, a new law went into effect Monday legalizing the personal possession of up to 25 grams of cannabis. It also allows individuals to cultivate up to three marijuana plants at home. Cannabis will remain illegal for anyone under 18, as some health professionals warn the new legislation could increase smoking among young people. At midnight Monday, people gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate for a “smoke-in” to celebrate. This is a supporter of the new law.

Felix Reimer: “If you really go into education instead of criminalization — and that’s the right way to go now — I think you can definitely bring awareness to it, because no matter what kind of consumption it is — alcohol, marijuana, maybe other things, too — the most important thing is always safer use and harm reduction. So always make yourself aware of what is actually a healthy dose. The dose makes the poison.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top