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Still no majority for legalisation in Germany – neither in parliament nor among the population, but cannabis through prescription, with strict reimbursement rules by health insurance will be available.
In Germany there is hardly any movement, some medical cannabis, otherwise still jail
Despite the fiasco of German drug policy, since passing the national narcotic law in 1972 the number of user offences has increased 200fold and seized quantities of illegal substances have exploded, the bulk of which is cannabis-related, whatever attempts were proposed to even incrementally introduce licensed cannabis trade have been futile – e.g. by the city of Cologne or Kreuzberg in Berlin. The national institute for pharmaceuticals and medicinal products, BfArM, rejected the requests cooly. Although scientifically accompanied tests to assess the effects of possible trade are wanted throughout, as in 2015 showed statements of experts during a hearing on behalf of a draft introduced by the Greens. The Green‘s draft which planned the distribution chain‘s regulation, no sale to minors, consumer protection and also taxation of cannabis was approved by (almost) all experts as an initiation of long-overdue liberalisation of the drug laws, met with no assent in parliament.
Virtually as a reaction upon the decision of the Federal Labour Court which compelled the BfArM to grant an exceptional permit to a patient to grow his own cannabis, the cabinet presented a draft to change the narcotic law. This draft makes cannabis available through prescription, but is very restrictive with regard to the reimbursement of cannabis as medicine by health insurance. The draft also plans a cannabis agency to monitor the commercial production of cannabis for medical purposes in Germany. Currently only a few hundred patients receive cannabis as medicine. At least their number could increase with the new law.
Yet, in Germany there is still no majority for a complete legalisation of cannabis; at any rate the number of proponents has been increasing for years. At the same time, a majority does not rate the drug war as successful and believes that cannabis will be legally available for adults in Germany in a few years.
