Germany’s legalization draft bill was revealed on July 5. The draft bill details phase one of Germany’s two-phase legalization process.
Germany’s legalization draft bill provides information on cannabis consumption, home cultivation, and the establishment of cannabis growers’ associations and cannabis social clubs’ models.
While Germany’s legalization has pros and cons, at least on paper, the draft bill is superior to the corporatization models of countries like Canada.
Similarly, the United States could learn much from Germany’s legalization draft bill.
Additionally, insight into post-WW2 German culture helps explain the radical “woke” activists who have taken over major companies and institutions, including many in the cannabis industry.
Details of Germany’s Legalization Draft Bill
We’ve covered Germany’s legalization process before. But now, with a draft bill published by the German Ministry of Health, we have some concrete answers.
- Adults 18 and above can possess up to 25 grams of cannabis
- Adults over 18 can cultivate up to 3 plants
- Consumption within a 200-meter radius of schools, playgrounds and other youth facilities is prohibited.
- Consumption in “pedestrian zones” between 7 am and 8 pm is prohibited
Germany’s legalization draft bill also establishes cannabis growers’ associations or Anbauvereinigungen.
The draft bill allows each association to accept up to 500 members. These associations can supply members with seven seeds or five cuttings per month.
Germans will not be able to consume cannabis inside or around these associations. The government is also banning these associations from advertising or sponsoring events.
Germany’s state governments will regulate the associations. According to Germany’s legalization draft bill, there is a maximum limit of one association per 6,000 residents.
Removal of Cannabis from Narcotics Drugs Act
Germany’s legalization draft bill includes removing cannabis from the country’s Narcotics Drugs Act.
Proponents say this will give the medical industry more flexibility by allowing patients to get a regular cannabis prescription instead of a specialized narcotic prescription.
As mentioned, Germany’s legalization draft bill comes in two parts. Many expect the government to approve the first phase by August, which could mean German social cannabis clubs by year’s end.
The second phase of the German legalization model will be published later this year. It requires a review by the European Commission.
Earlier, Germany had plans to legalize cannabis through commercial means. However, European laws and international treaties prevented the country from following through.
While the world has ignored Canada and Uruguay’s flaunting of international drug laws, the situation in Germany is more sensitive. Other EU member states could have sanctioned Germany and compromised trade deals.
Of course, Germany could have called their bluff. A powerhouse economy, without Germany, there is no European Union. They could have said, “we’re legalizing the way we want. Deal with it.”
However, since the end of WW2, Germans have hesitated to take bold steps out of touch with European sensibilities.
There is a notion of “German collective guilt” or, Kollektivschuld, referring to the guilt individual Germans feel over the atrocities of the Holocaust and World War 2.
It is the foundation of today’s far-left “wokeism.”
The Lesson Behind Germany’s Legalization Draft Bill
Germany was originally going to legalize cannabis commercially. The EU said no, so Germany returned to the drawing board. Germany’s legalization draft bill is the result.
In a way, German guilt produced a far better legalization scheme that rewards local, small-time growers instead of large corporate conglomerates.
But this is a silver lining in an otherwise terrible policy of inflicting cultural guilt onto innocent people.
After the war, Allied forces began a propaganda campaign promoting shame and guilt. A famous poster showing a Nazi concentration camp came with the line: “Your Fault!”
Philosopher and psychologist Karl Jaspers said, “an acknowledgment of national guilt was a necessary condition for the moral and political rebirth of Germany.”
Now, this is neither the time nor place to get into the details of German history. Whether “national guilt” was necessary for the country’s citizens post-WW2 is outside the scope of Germany’s legalization draft bill.
But with every industry – including the cannabis industry – captured by “woke” radicals, it’s worth noting the similarities.
Wokeism: A German Disease?
Like Germany’s legalization draft bill, “wokeism” comes in two parts.
The first part is left-wing identity politics put on steroids. This is where you can trace its origins to critical theory and the Frankfurt school of Marxism.
The second part is less well-known. It is the German collective guilt process but transplanted to America.
Instead of shaming German citizens for things Hitler did, now it’s regular Americans (mainly white Americans) being shamed for things slave owners did.
German author Bernhard Schlink has said being German is a huge burden due to the country’s past. Now we see the same thing with today’s far-left. Being “white” comes with a considerable burden.
No one with any decency or common sense denies that what the Nazis did was beyond horrible. Likewise, the fact that slavery persisted in America until the 19th century is abysmal, to say the least.
But what do people living today have to do with the past? As comedian Doug Stanhope says, “it’s dead people’s baggage. Quit carrying it.”
Likewise, a cannabis business should focus on providing consumers (or medical patients) with top-tier cannabis.
Combining identity politics with German-style guilt doesn’t make you more “progressive” or enlightened. It makes you an annoying cult member.
Canada and the US could learn a lot from Germany. Germany’s legalization draft bill already looks more promising than the top-down corporate schemes of Biden or Trudeau.
We can also root out “woke” disease by revealing its origins in German-style collective guilt.