Germany opens its “cannabis clubs”

The first “cannabis clubs” in Germany, authorized from Monday, will allow smokers to access a legal circuit for the production and distribution of weed, with a little patience until the first harvest. This is the second expected step in the legalization of recreational cannabis implemented by Europe’s largest country three months ago.

Since April 1, Germany has decriminalized the possession of cannabis in limited quantities. The clubs will allow amateurs to cultivate plants and share the harvest with each other.

In these associations, open only to residents of Germany, members over 21 will be able to buy a maximum of 50 grams of weed per month (30 grams for adults under 21). The anticipation is tangible: “Mariana Cannabis”, an organization that brings together 180 clubs across the country, already claims to have 20,000 members.

However, there are still no seeds or plants on their land located near Leverkusen (south). This is due to the administrative process which requires each club, limited to 500 members, to apply for an operating license which can take up to three months to obtain. “We are impatient, but we still have to wait,” explains to AFP Keno Mennenga, representative of “Mariana Cannabis” who is counting on a launch of distributions in January.

In Munich, the cannabis club Cantura is already full. Its members have been paying 25 euros per month since March. Between the cost of a premises, the security system and energy-intensive growing equipment, the necessary investment amounts to hundreds of thousands of euros, according to Fabian Baumann, its president.

The thirty-year-old is also waiting for only one thing to start planting: the operating permit, which he hopes to receive by October at the latest. “We need about eight weeks between cuttings and harvesting. If all goes well, we will be able to supply cannabis to our members this year. That would be wonderful,” he says.

The German government hopes to combat trafficking and crime by creating a legal circuit. “The German model plays on progressiveness. There is the idea of ​​being careful and evaluating in real time,” observes Ivana Obradovic, deputy director of the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT), and coordinator of a study on the implementation work of legalization in North America.

“The idea is to keep control of the supply to prevent it from prospering quickly,” she explains, recalling that one of the paradoxes of legalization in the United States is to have created “a situation of overproduction, particularly in California and Oregon, where production exceeds local demand 5 to 6 times.

On the other hand, all countries where legalization has been implemented have observed a decline in the black market, more or less rapid depending on the models.

In Canada, only 40% of cannabis smokers obtained their supplies from the legal market the year following legalization in 2018, compared to 75% today, according to figures from the OFDT. “The black market is in control and it’s getting worse and worse. We can prevent it from getting worse,” assures Keno Mennenga.