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Cannabis is set to become legal from April – but the law could be delayed by the states

Photo: Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

Next Friday, the cannabis law will be discussed in the Federal Council - and if you believe Karl Lauterbach, it will be decided on this day whether it will come or “die”.

This is what the Federal Minister of Health writes on the online platform X. The states have a lot to criticize about the law, the current point of contention: the amnesty rule.

The law stipulates that prison sentences or fines that have already been imposed for cannabis offenses that will no longer be punishable under the law in the future should be waived when it comes into force (read a detailed report here).

The law is scheduled to come into effect on April 1st.

This can mean a lot of work for the judiciary.

The “Deutsche Richterzeitung” asked the states: According to this, 210,000 criminal files nationwide have to be re-examined, usually individually by hand.

The Federal Ministry of Health estimates the number of complex procedures that would need to be examined at short notice to be a maximum of 7,500 nationwide.

These are cases with multiple offenses; the judges have to calculate the punishment in these cases, which can eat up a lot of time.

The German Association of Judges said that the lower figures mentioned only represented a small part of the actual effort.

A public prosecutor, however, told SPIEGEL that in many cases the amnesty only meant a small amount of additional effort.

Climb to the mountain of files

This goes back and forth, but one thing is certain: prosecutors are sometimes convinced that they can conquer the mountain of files, unlike many justice ministers.

Stuttgart, for example, as a SPIEGEL investigation revealed, had already worked through three quarters of its cases weeks ago.

The Hamburg public prosecutor's office told "Zeit": "We would be able to implement the cannabis law on April 1st."

Health Minister Lauterbach has warned against delaying the planned legalization of cannabis in the Federal Council on April 1st.

“Every country co-governed by the SPD and the Greens must know that the cannabis law will die next Friday if you call the mediation committee,” wrote the SPD politician on X and followed up on Sunday: “If federal states force the cannabis law into the mediation committee "I can't get it out anymore."

The law is on the Bundesrat’s agenda for March 22nd.

It does not require approval, but the state chamber could call the mediation committee with the Bundestag and slow down the process.

Several health politicians see the project as threatened, as the Handelsblatt reported.

It's "on the brink," said Janosch Dahmen, health policy spokesman for the Greens.

His FDP colleague Andrew Ullmann made a similar statement: The law's chances would be poor if it were sent to the mediation committee.

Ullmann explained that the law could “fail” in the mediation committee because it can only be put on the agenda unanimously.

If that doesn't happen, it could no longer pass the mediation committee.

According to the plans of the traffic light coalition, cannabis will be legalized for adults on a limited basis on April 1st.

Possession of up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal consumption should be permitted.

Three live cannabis plants should become legal in your own home and up to 50 grams of cannabis for personal consumption.

Smoking weed in public spaces should be banned, among other things, in schools, sports facilities and within sight of them - within 100 meters as the crow flies of the entrance area.

jpa/dpa