Germany releases policy paper for Cannabis decriminalization

[Better Day 5,766]

3 minutes ago, Debithius said:

Cannabis is not harmful in most dosages, period. Everything taken excessively can be extremely harmful but we don't go around banning every single thing we consume. No cannabis is not harmful.

Not from what I have been. 

[Oriane 22,797]

So it's legalization, not decriminalization, right?

Anyway all drugs should be at least decriminalized.

3 hours ago, Supersonic said:

• prohibtion of advertisment for cannabis products
• legally binding neutral packaging of cannabis products in order to not entice children

I find this funny because it always shocks me how advertisement for tobacco is allowed in Germany. In France it's not authorized, actually I think they even ban cigarettes from appearing on other stuff (I think it was erased from the Pulp Fiction poster for example). No idea how much of a difference it makes and how different the consumption of tobacco differs in France and Germany, but if you're making neutral packaging, don't allow advertisements.

[HermioneT 1,998]

I don't really get why one would want it and it's soo popular ( asides from medical reasons obviously) and think that it's kind of sad that many people want drugs (including alcohol) for whatever . But good for anyone who really needs it and that the police doesn't need to harass people because of it anymore. Just hope the government does not spend so too much time over that, there are so many challenges which need to be tackled politically.

[Oriane 22,797]

@Midnights Mayhem Please look up countries that have decriminalized drugs and compare statistics on addiction with countries that have strict laws against it.

[GAYHEMikey 8,237]

Weed and music helped my depression. I am all here for it

[PartySick 172,975]

5 hours ago, Midnights Mayhem said:

It just causes the above. People should just say no to drugs. We all have a choice in our lives. A legal deterrent will solve the drugs issues instead of throwing drugs at people and wasting tax payers money on allowing people to stuff themselves with drugs. 

I mean...you're wrong

Prohibition has never worked and expecting "just say no" to solve our drug problems makes about as much sense as teaching kids to abstain from sex and expecting it to solve teenage pregnancy and STDs 

[Better Day 5,766]

37 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I mean...you're wrong

Prohibition has never worked and expecting "just say no" to solve our drug problems makes about as much sense as teaching kids to abstain from sex and expecting it to solve teenage pregnancy and STDs 

Except it’s adult that choose to take drugs. Humans are not a weak species and have free will 

[Supersonic 49,376]

6 hours ago, Oriane said:

So it's legalization, not decriminalization, right?

Anyway all drugs should be at least decriminalized.

I find this funny because it always shocks me how advertisement for tobacco is allowed in Germany. In France it's not authorized, actually I think they even ban cigarettes from appearing on other stuff (I think it was erased from the Pulp Fiction poster for example). No idea how much of a difference it makes and how different the consumption of tobacco differs in France and Germany, but if you're making neutral packaging, don't allow advertisements.

It's decriminalization with benefits basically, no EU country is allowed to actually "legalize" drugs because that's against the contracts they signed with their membership back in the day. 

That's why the proposed start of the decriminalization is so late, they're trying to check with the EU on how to word the law, so it doesn't get sacked by the EU council (like the failed automobile toll law of 2019 in Germany). They're probably expecting that some of their proposals will be rejected and that they have to tone it down in order to find a compromise with the EU. 

Also as of January 1, 2022 all advertisments of cigarettes are illegal in Germany, e-cigarettes and tobacco vaporizers will follow in 2024. So tobacco and weed would basically experience the exact same restrictions, except for tobacco still being widely availabe everywhere and the lack of licenses that are needed for selling it  

[Oriane 22,797]

11 minutes ago, Supersonic said:

It's decriminalization with benefits basically, no EU country is allowed to actually "legalize" drugs because that's against the contracts they signed with their membership back in the day. 

That's why the proposed start of the decriminalization is so late, they're trying to check with the EU on how to word the law, so it doesn't get sacked by the EU council (like the failed automobile toll law of 2019 in Germany). They're probably expecting that some of their proposals will be rejected and that they have to tone it down in order to find a compromise with the EU. 

Also as of January 1, 2022 all advertisments of cigarettes are illegal in Germany, e-cigarettes and tobacco vaporizers will follow in 2024. So tobacco and weed would basically experience the exact same restrictions, except for tobacco still being widely availabe everywhere and the lack of licenses that are needed for selling it  

Oh I didn't notice that ads for tobacco had been banned! That's good.

So how about the Netherlands, is it also just decriminalized there? What's the difference between this and a country where it's legal?

 

[Supersonic 49,376]

Just now, Oriane said:

Oh I didn't notice that ads for tobacco had been banned! That's good.

So how about the Netherlands, is it also just decriminalized there? What's the difference between this and a country where it's legal?

Decriminalization and legalization are pretty hard to differentiate, it's minute differences. For the lived experience, they don't really matter a lot. But they matter a lot when it comes to lawsuits and continuity of laws in a country, especially in Europe where you basically have two Supreme Courts that can axe your laws (the national supereme courts and the EU supreme court).

A full legalization of cannabis for example would mean that it would become an unregulated substance that anybody could produce, sell and/or own. It's basically removing any sort of penalties from interacting with said substance, a free for all. A decriminalization is a more measured and cautious response: it gives out legally binding conditions and parameters under which consumption, production and ownership of such substances are not prohibited.

For example under the proposed decriminalization act of Germany,  you'd be allowed to own30g max, everything above would be illegal. Under a full legalization, you'd be allowed to own however much cannabis you wanna own. Anybody who has any experience of weed however, will tell you that 30g is a LOT of weed (like the equivalent of 15 bottles of Tequila) , way more than enough. So the lived experience of decriminalization vs. legalization would still be very similar, but only one of the scenarios would have legally binding parameters.