Germany is legalising cannabis use, with the Dutch policy as an example ‘of how not to do it’, German health minister Karl Lauterbach has told broadcaster NOS.

Coffee shops, where the Dutch can buy cannabis in limited quantities for private use, are not part of the German plans which include allowing people to grow their own small amount of cannabis at home, or obtain it via non-commercial associations. Germany is also looking at the possibility of commercial cannabis plantations.

‘Cannabis consumption is a reality and heavier penalties to deter people have not worked,’ agriculture minister Cem Özdemir told the broadcaster. Instead, Germany is looking to combat the black market and safeguard punters from possibly contaminated cannabis, he said.

Lauterbach, who said he knows the Dutch policy on cannabis from up close because he studied in Aachen near the Dutch border, said commercial coffee shops aimed at selling as much cannabis as possible is not an option for Germany.

The Dutch combination of legal sale and consumption and black market production ‘is a sum of disadvantages’, he said.

The Netherlands is currently investigating ways of removing the grey area between licenced cannabis cafes or coffee shops and illegal growing but an experiment involving legalised production has run into several delays.

Cannabis clubs

Cannabis Clubs, as the German associations will be called, will be bound by strict regulations and are responsible for the growing, harvesting and distribution of the cannabis. They will also have to put security in place to make sure the plants do not fall in the wrong hands.

Each club can have no more than 500 members of 18 or over and will operate on a non-commercial basis. Maximum consumption will be a total of 50 grammes a month and the amount of THC in the cannabis will also be limited.