Within two years, cannabis could become legal in Germany. The judgment might change how Europe views the drug.
Germany is on track to legalise cannabis the most in all of Europe. Given that they have the largest economy in the continent, their choice has some significance. The experts who spoke with The Guardian offered their predictions about what might occur and how it might affect the world.
Director of the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics Justin Haucap predicted that there would be a domino effect.
“Countries in Europe with a considerably worse issue with illegal cannabis usage, like France, are keenly monitoring what Germany is doing right now.”
According to experts, Germany would prosper economically once cannabis is legalized. A 400-tonne annual cannabis demand is thought to exist in the nation. This might mean that Germany could generate roughly 4.7 billion Euros in year tax revenue alone while also saving large sums of money by ceasing to prosecute cannabis users.
Germany would be in violation of the UN 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs if it legalized cannabis and started trading and selling the commodity like any other good. While initially the nation would probably need to find ways to get past that rule, some believe that Germany’s legalization would force the UN to completely alter it.
Theoretically, with the import of cannabis to Germany, it might withdraw from the UN Single Convention and re-join only certain provisions. We could potentially be looking at a modification of the convention with relation to the cannabis trade, in my opinion, given the changes taking place in Canada, the US, and now Germany, said Haucap.
Germany wants to legalize cannabis, according to prominent lawmakers, in order to control the criminal market, get rid of the sources of contaminated products, and safeguard children. Although it won’t be the first nation in Europe to legalize marijuana—that distinction goes to Malta—the move will undoubtedly surprise both its neighbors and the rest of the world. Surprisingly, despite having a long history of leniency toward marijuana usage, the Netherlands still considers its use, possession, and cultivation to be crimes.
