Germany to legalise cannabis, country’s new coalition government announces

Elly Blake24 November 2021

Germany is set to legalise the recreational use of cannabis, the country’s new coalition government announced on Wednesday.

This would allow cannabis to be regulated and sold to adults for use in licensed premises.

Other countries to have legalised cannabis for recreational use include Uruguay, Canada, South Africa and Georgia.

The centre-left SPD, liberal Free Democrats and Greens struck a power-sharing deal and are now poised to take power from the conservative CDU party, two months after the country’s federal election.

Angela Merkel is stepping down after 16 years as Chancellor.

Publishing their agenda for government today, the so-called ‘traffic light’ coalition announced a raft of other measures such as phasing out coal power and steps to tackle Covid amid a fourth wave spearing across the continent.

The parties set out the aim to phase out coal use by 2030, eight years ahead of schedule, as part of Germany’s plans to be climate neutral by 2045.

It also plans to lower the voting age from 18 to 16-years-old, with plans to reform electoral law to bring an end to ever-increasing numbers of MPs.

Negotiators have spent more than a month negotiating the agreement which paves the way for a so-called ‘traffic light’ coalition - named after the colours associated with each of the parties.

Olaf Scholz, of the center-left Social Democrats, said the new government would not seek “the lowest common denominator, but the politics of big impacts.”

Scholz stressed the importance of a sovereign Europe, friendship with France and partnership with the United States as key cornerstones of the government’s foreign policy - continuing a long post-war tradition.

The Social Democrats have served as the junior partner to Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats.

The three would-be governing parties have said they hope parliament will elect Scholz as chancellor in the week beginning December 6.

Before that can happen, the deal requires approval from a ballot of the Greens’ roughly 125,000-strong membership and from conventions of the other two parties.

Other countries to have legalised cannabis for recreational use include Uruguay, Canada, South Africa and Georgia.

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