Germany voted today to legalize the personal use and cultivation of cannabis. 

The law passed by parliament will permit individuals to cultivate up to three plants for personal use and possess up to 25 grams. The law will also allow for the formation of non-commercial cultivation clubs to cultivate and possess cannabis on behalf of their membership. The personal use aspects of the law will go into effect on April 1st. The forthcoming social clubs will be recognized officially on July 1st. 

Ahead of the vote, reform had been in the air for some time in Germany. Similar to what happened in the United States, medical marijuana growing more accepted in Germany helped make the legalization conversation a lot more viable faster than many expected. 

One of the big players in the German medical market is Bloomwell Group. Medical cannabis companies like Bloomwell Group are in a prime position to help facilitate the market as it likely will transition to something wider than just social clubs after the sky doesn’t fall. 

“After two years of back and forth, we finally have clarity. The passage of the CanG bill today by Germany’s Parliament ushers in a new era of progressive drug policy,” said Niklas Kouparanis, Co-Founder and CEO of Bloomwell Group, “This is the biggest moment in German cannabis history since the legalization of medical cannabis in March 2017. The era of dysfunctional and unjust prohibition is coming to an end in our country, and Germany has the potential to serve as a role model for other countries looking to explore legalization measures.”

While Kouparanis is excited for German citizens to be able to spark up without fear of persecution, the medical aspects of the law stood out to him too. 

“The most significant aspect of the law involves the medical market, and the reclassification of medical cannabis as a non-narcotic,” Kouparanis said, “Starting April 1st, the demand for medical cannabis will grow rapidly and significantly – we can forecast that patient numbers will increase between 7 and 10 times over the next year. Patients will be the big winners, as doctors will be able to prescribe cannabis as they would any Rx prescription and prices will be more affordable for patients. Medical cannabis will also become more widely accepted in professional circles. Within the Bloomwell Group and our telehealth company, Algea Care, we will be using e-prescriptions for even greater patient accessibility.”

Here at L.A. Weekly, we often argue cannabis isn’t legal if the poor can’t smoke it in a legal setting. The further you go from West Hollywood the worse it gets for us here in California. The Germans are looking to solve this before there is a real marketplace.

Kouparanis argued the provision allowing for cannabis clubs is an important step towards the de-stigmatization of cannabis use, as adult consumers will no longer be criminalized for simply smoking or ingesting the plant. 

“Of course, our ultimate goal in Germany remains to legalize the entire value chain for a full-fledged adult-use market, going beyond the nonprofit, members-only cannabis clubs and creating a commercial market that can be accessed by all adult consumers.,” Kouparanis said. 

Now it’s time for German activists and advocates to focus on the effective implementation of what passed today in parliament. While a massive step forward, it is creating a bit of a grey market once July hits. And that’s cool, whatever it takes to get things legal. But there won’t be the full protections that you have with the supply chain in places like California and other state-legal markets. 

With the next step in this process, Germans would not only get to create the standards for their rec market but be a major moral compass for other European countries looking for leadership on the issue. We’ll keep an eye on how the implementation of everything goes.