Federal Council: Cannabis Legalization to Take Effect on April 1st
With the passage through the Federal Council, the planned partial legalization of cannabis in Germany has successfully cleared the final parliamentary hurdle today: The Cannabis Act “CanG” (Pillar 1) officially comes into effect on April 1st, as the convocation of the compromise committee did not materialize. In today’s vote, a minority advocated for a compromise committee, while the majority abstained or voted against. For the German cannabis industry, this marks an important, albeit only initial step, states Finn Hänsel, founder and CEO of the Berlin-based cannabis company Sanity Group: “The foundation for the decriminalization and destigmatization of consumers, but above all, for better patient care with medicinal cannabis, has been laid today. Now the real work begins.” A timely implementation of the second pillar of CanG is now essential. In the medical context, due to the removal of cannabis from the Narcotics Act, a significant increase in the number of patients is expected, as access to this form of therapy is significantly simplified.