Cannabis, Legalization | Germany opens for cannabis sales: Normal Norway is watching closely

No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke: the Germans have opened the door to cannabis consumption. People over the age of 18 can from today carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own use. They can also store up to 50 grams at home, and also grow up to three plants at home. This is reported by the German news service DW.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach tells DW that this is the best way to deal with drugs.

– A controlled distribution of cannabis in combination with protecting children and young people, Lauterbach told DW in March this year.

This is the new cannabis law

Cannabis users must stay at least 100 meters away from schools and nurseries. It is also not allowed to smoke cannabis in public places, such as pedestrian streets, between 07:00 and 20:00.

From July 1, the Germans will open up sales in cannabis clubs with up to 500 members.

Several hundred people gathered on Monday night in Berlin to celebrate and welcome the new law.

Norway says no to free cannabis

In Norway, too, several have attempted the same line, at the latest in 2023, when the MDG politicians Lan Marie Nguyen Berg, Rasmus Hansson and Kristoffer Robin Haug proposed this in the Storting. They then proposed that the Storting ask the government to draft legislation on legalization and sales, and to make it possible to sell medical cannabis on prescription. The proposal was voted down by a large majority in the Storting.

But work is being done on several fronts to change the current prohibition line. The user organization Normal Norway is open to regulation of cannabis in Norway.

– We are positive about legalization and excited about how the model in Germany works. A regulated sale is better than today’s total ban. The most dangerous thing about cannabis is the prohibition. It is possible that the cannabis club model can work in Norway. It is difficult for us to say what works in Norway given that we have no experience, says deputy chair Anne-Pia Lystrup in the association Normal Norway.

– We hope Norway can be inspired.