As of: March 1, 2024, 5:23 a.m
By: Andreas Schmid
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The Federal Council wants to delay the cannabis law.
The loudest criticism no longer comes just from the Union - but from the traffic lights themselves. What does that mean for the law?
What took a long time has been finalized since last Friday: the cannabis law comes into force on April 1st.
At least that's the plan of the traffic light coalition.
But now it turns out that several federal states are not playing along.
They want to prevent the law from coming into force on April 1st and postpone it for six months.
Explosive: The criticism does not come from the Union, which is already critical of legalization - but from state politicians from the coalition parties SPD and Greens.
Cannabis criticism from the SPD and the Greens: NRW and Lower Saxony are putting pressure on it
The North Rhine-Westphalia State Justice Minister Benjamin Lambach told the specialist service
Table.Media
that the time of five weeks between the adoption and entry into force of the law was “not nearly” sufficient “for the public prosecutor's offices and courts in North Rhine-Westphalia to implement the regulations for retroactive remission of sentences on time can".
In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, “in tens of thousands of cases it has to be examined whether penalties imposed should be remitted in whole or in part,” explained Limbach.
He pointed out this problem early on, but Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) ignored him.
The background: The Cannabis Act removes the drug from the list of prohibited substances in the Narcotics Act.
People who were convicted of cannabis offenses under the old law can now hope for impunity.
The judiciary must therefore now evaluate all criminal files relating to the Narcotics Act to determine whether the facts in question would be unpunished under the new legal situation.
The countries criticize that it is too much effort.
Lower Saxony is also positioning itself alongside NRW.
Isn't the cannabis law coming on April 1st?
Suddenly there is talk of October 1st from the federal states.
© IMAGO/Bihlmayerfotografie/Steinach (montage)
Lower Saxony's SPD Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann was annoyed that the traffic lights were putting too much strain on the states due to this law.
“If the federal government allows the judicial authorities of the states to walk into such a situation with their eyes open, it shows a serious ignorance of the actual circumstances,” said the minister.
The minimum that the federal government must now agree to is a postponement of the entry into force by six months.
So until October 1st.
The Federal Council cannot stop the cannabis law - but it can slow it down
The Cannabis Act is a so-called objection law.
This means: The Federal Council cannot prevent the law per se - but can delay it by convening a mediation committee.
This committee, made up of members of the Bundestag and Bundesrat, deals with laws that are rejected by the federal states sitting in the Bundesrat.
Current examples are Lauterbach's Hospital Transparency Act or the Growth Opportunities Act, which is currently being blocked by the Union states in the Federal Council.
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The members of the mediation committee usually look for a compromise.
If this does not succeed, the traffic light can override the concerns of the Bundesrat with its majority in the Bundestag.
So the cannabis law is not about to expire, but it will probably actually be delayed.
Söder wants to sue against the cannabis law: “We will apply the law extremely restrictively”
The Federal Council committees will deal with the law in the coming days.
The next meeting is on the agenda for March 22nd.
A majority appears to be in favor of appointing a mediation committee.
Criticism also comes from other countries where traffic light parties are involved in government.
For example Baden-Württemberg (Greens/CDU) and Hamburg (SPD/Greens).
In addition, the CDU/CSU-led states are also clearly against this law.
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is currently considering a lawsuit.
“We on the part of the Free State of Bavaria will take part in everything that causes this law to be repealed or delayed or staged later or differently,” said Söder on Monday after a meeting of the CSU board in Munich.
“We examine all complaints, from the requirement for consent to general damage.
And I can already say today that we will apply this law extremely restrictively.”
He also sent a small threat to cannabis consumers: “If you want to be happier with the topic of cannabis, you are better off somewhere else than in Bavaria.
We will guarantee that.”