In August, thousands of people took to the streets in different cities across the country to support the legalization of marijuana

On August 11, thousands of people took to the streets to support the legalization of marijuana in Germany. According to Excelsior, particularly in Berlin, thousands of people took the streets to show to the Government that it is time to change some points of the legalization. This considering that countries like Canada and Uruguay, as well as some U.S. States, have flexible legislations that have left profitable results.

Leer en español: Alemania: ¿Cómo va en materia de leyes para la legalización de la marihuana?

The same newspaper explained that the "Marijuana March" was arranged so that the protesters could walk through central places of the capital, such as the Federal Parliament, the Government District and the Chancellery. All this accompanied by music and shows. This march has been convened since 2008, in favor of the legalization of cannabis. For this reason, it is worth asking how Germany is doing in terms of psychotropic laws such as marijuana?

Controlled doses of marijuana for the terminally ill

According to Antena 3, a few months ago the German Lower House, also known as the Bundestag, took the first steps towards the decriminalization of marijuana. The bill approved in the Bundestag seeks that the terminally ill can receive controlled doses of marijuana, with the intention of controlling the endless pains that these diseases cause.

Therefore, the German authorities began to give strict authorizations to certain pharmacies for the prescription sale of this psychotropic, in addition to allowing the growth of the marijuana plant in certain places. But, as the same media explained, the treatment is not cheap at all. A terminally ill patient can spend more than 500 euros every month in the purchase of this psychotropic.

In any case, the German Government was emphatic to declare that this measure does not represent a legalization of marijuana, its sole purpose is to appease the pain suffered by terminally ill victims.

Read also: These are the countries that have legalized the use of marijuana

German parties in favor and against the legalization of marijuana

The German left is the wing that has made the most bills in favor of the legalization of marijuana in country, the best example of this is The Greens party. According to Sensi Seeds, the German portal specialized in cannabis regulation, the first major attempt by The Greens to regularize the sale of this psychotropic was in 2016, with the Cannabis Control Bill. However, this was rejected by most of the members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).

Now, in this term, The Greens once again presented a more specific bill about the regularization of marijuana and its distribution. This law will again remain at the disposition of the majority coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel. As Sensi Seeds affirmed, the Christian Democratic Union, the party of Angela Merkel, has been the main stone in the shoe for the legalization of marijuana.

In 2016, the CDU won most of the votes against the bill proposed by the The Greens party. For its part, the Social Democratic Party has been in favor of relaxing the strict laws surrounding marijuana in the debates that have been held to approve or not the new law presented by The Greens.

However, according to Sensi Seeds, its intentions of little or no use in the debates, when the party has commitments to comply with the CDU. Due to the agreements made at the time of forming the coalition, it is expected that in the end the SPD will vote against this new law, explained the same media.

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz

Translated from "Alemania: ¿Cómo va en materia de leyes para la legalización de la marihuana?"