Since March 2024, Cannabis has technically been legal, but not much has changed.

It is now legal to posses pot, up to a limit (25 grams on one's person and 50 grams at home). It is also legal to smoke it in public, as long as one is not close to a school, playground or other place with children.

Many people thought that the change in German law would usher in a system like in the Netherlands, where there are Coffee Shops selling pot in every city, or many states in the USA, where there are dispensaries selling all manner of Cannabis products, but that is not how things now work in Germany.

CBD products (CBD oil and CBD cannabis), which are useful for dealing with pain, calming nerves and helping with sleep, have actually been fully legal for longer than that, as long as the THC content is no more than 0.2%. CBD will not get you high, and no-one takes CBD for pleasure. You can easily buy CBD products in shops or online. For pain control, however, THC is more effective than CBD.

Cannabis containing THC is another matter. It remains illegal to buy or sell cannabis with more than 0.2% THC. THC is illegal for people under 18, and people aged 18 to 21 are limited to cannabis of up to 20% THC content.

The only way to get pot containing THC in Germany is to grow it, either at home, or in shared grow-facilities at cannabis clubs. Excess product cannot be sold, but may be given away to other members of the same club. Clubs are limited to 500 members, and must be registered with the government. The total harvest of a club is limited, and excess harvest must be destroyed.

The new law made it legal to grow cannabis from the 1^st July 2024, but so far not a single grow-licence has been issued (clubs need to be licensed, individuals do not), although virtually all applied for one as soon as it was possible. Germany is notorious for having slow and inefficient bureaucracies, so I don't expect grow-licences to issued any time soon.

One of the government's justifications for legalisation is to stamp out the illegal drug trade, but since no-one can get cannabis (with THC) legally anywhere in Germany, and won't be able to any time soon, the illegal pot trade is still thriving.

You can easily and legally buy cannabis seeds, including strains with high THC content, but they take at least 3 months to mature.

Reuters reports that the German cabinet has passed a bill to legalise cannabis for recreational use.

Although the bill has still to be passed by parliament, this is probably only a formality, and means that Germany will join the growing number of countries legalising cannabis/marijuana (more details on where and under what conditions it is legal here on Wikipedia).

The bill will allow adults to possess "up to 25 grams (0.88 oz) of the drug, grow a maximum of three plants, or acquire weed as associates of non-profit cannabis clubs".

The situation regarding cannabis in Germany has for decades been in limbo. In the late 1990s, the German federal government cancelled all federal legislation against cannabis, and left it to the Lände (states) to enact their own legislation; there was a period of about 3 months between the cancellation of the federal legislation and its replacement by state legislation when cannabis was legal. All states chose to make cannabis illegal, but most have chosen not to enforce those laws for possession for small quantities for personal use, although dealing and possession of larger quantities is prosecuted; the notable exception is Bavaria (where I live) which has continued to prosecute even possession of tiny amounts, and Bavaria may attempt to continue to do so despite the change of the law at the federal level.

As someone who suffers from a lot of pain (due to a back injury), this change in the law is very welcome.

I can see a lot of people getting very upset by the news that, when he is in Bolivia, the Pope plans to chew coca leaves, as reported in this BBC story.

I do understand that chewing coca leaves is a very different thing to snorting cocaine, and also that coca is a hot political issue in Bolivia. Coca tea and chewing coca leaves are traditions in Bolivia (although being traditions does not automatically make them OK), but the practice has been under pressure in recent years because of efforts by the US DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). Bolivia has now distanced itself from the DEA programme, and made the DEA's practice of burning coca crops illegal in the country.

Nevertheless, there will of course be the usual crop of ignorant people, especially in the USA, who do not understand the distinction, and will see the Pope's position as endorsing cocaine and fuelling the drug problem in the USA. I have a suggestion for those ignorant people: watch a different news channel (Fox News is not helping you with your ignorance), do some basic research on the Internet, and maybe even try reading a couple of books.

There has been lots of debate about "illegal drugs", and will be much more. There are some good arguments on both sides, mixed in with heaps of propaganda (and it doesn't matter who does it, nor what side they are on: I hate being lied to and misled). Nevertheless, one pretty solid fact is that the biggest problems caused by illegal drugs are not caused directly by the drugs themselves, but (directly or indirectly) by them being illegal.