Yesterday the German Bundestag approved the draft law on the controlled handling of cannabis. The first part of the legalization is scheduled to come into force on April 1, 2024. The law was fought long and hard, with different arguments on both sides. There was also a detailed discussion on the question of cannabis legalization here in the blog a long time ago.
Apart from the criminological aspects, the most important point of contention was the health consequences of cannabis consumption. This is also a discussion with many shades of gray. Just a brief reference to the inpatient cases: In 2022, there were 17,204 inpatient treatments in Germany as a result of mental disorders caused by cannabinoids. Most of these treatments were for addiction syndrome (8,808 cases), followed by psychotic disorders (4,635 cases).
Hospital cases with these two diagnoses have increased significantly over the past 20 years. Dependency syndrome was almost 10 times as common in 2022 as it was in 2000, psychotic disorders were 6 times as common, and the overall group of mental disorders resulting from cannabinoids was 5 times as common. If one were to only look at the development up to the pre-corona year of 2019, the increase would be even higher.
Of the 17,204 cases in 2022, 305 were in the age group 5 to under 15 years, 7,387 in the age group 15 to under 25 years. As you get older there are fewer cases; in the age group 65 and over there were only 70 cases.
Section 43 of the law provides for a scientifically independent and open-ended evaluation of the consequences. Not only changes in consumption but also contextual factors such as prevention should be evaluated. An interim report is planned after 2 years and a comprehensive report after 4 years. “Views from various scientific disciplines” should be incorporated into the evaluation.
I am curious to see who will receive the evaluation contract, what role the planned federal institute BIPAM will play, which aspects will be evaluated in detail, what will come out of it – and what will happen after the 4 years with the long-term monitoring of cannabis consumption in Germany. The different developments in the federal states should also be interesting. It is foreseeable that some federal states will ensure more restrictive enforcement, while others may take a more liberal approach.
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Edit: In the second sentence of “will” on April 1st. come into force has been rephrased as “shall” come into force, as it is possible that the law will not pass the Federal Council smoothly.