Subhechcha Ganguly 
Together with Malta and Luxembourg, Germany now has some of the most lenient cannabis legislation in all of Europe.Germany became the largest EU nation to legalise cannabis for recreational use on Monday, defying strong resistance from opposition lawmakers and medical associations.Adults over the age of 18 are now permitted to possess up to 25 grammes of dried cannabis and grow up to three marijuana plants indoors under the first phase of the hotly contested new law.After the modifications, Malta and Luxembourg, which legalised cannabis for recreational use in 2021 and 2023, respectively, have some of the most lenient cannabis laws in Europe. Germany is no exception.
Known for its lax stance on marijuana, the Netherlands has recently adopted stronger measures to combat cannabis tourism. Hundreds of people applauded by Berlin’s famous Brandenbrug Gate as the law went into force at midnight, many of them smoking joints in what one participant, a very pleased 25-year-old Niyazi, called “a bit extra freedom”.The second phase of the legal reform will allow people to legally purchase marijuana through “cannabis clubs” around the nation as of July 1.
Until then, Georg Wurth, director of the German Cannabis Association, told AFP, “consumers must not tell the police where they bought their cannabis” in the event of a street check. “Disaster”Due to criticism from the EU, the original plans to sell cannabis through licenced stores were abandoned; nevertheless, a second law is now being developed to test selling the substance in stores in pilot districts.Each of these regulated associations is permitted to have 500 members, and each member may get up to 50 grammes of cannabis every month.
