Will they, or won’t they? For the past several years, speculation about German leaders finally making recreational cannabis legal has come and gone, as well as some announced plans that never materialized. However, many experts believe that the time, finally, is coming in 2024.

The current German coalition government appears to be finalizing the details of a decriminalization plan that includes dates for cannabis cultivation and the establishment of cannabis clubs, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). This would mark a big step forward after the scope of legalization narrowed in the European country earlier in 2023.

Members of the coalition, which includes the Social Democratic Party, the Free Democratic Party and The Greens, has reached an agreement on establishing regulations for the possession of cannabis in German, if not a legalized cannabis sales marketplace.

“In the negotiations, we have succeeded in finding practicable regulations that guarantee the protection of young people and health and make the decriminalization of adult users a reality,” Kirsten Kappert-Gonther, the Green Party health spokeswoman, told DPA.

Some of the German Legal Cannabis Provisions

While the full details have not yet been reported, the proposed changes would decriminalize possession of cannabis for personal use. Kappert-Gonther said the deal calls for doubling the amount of dried cannabis permitted for home cultivation from 25 to 50 grams. The deal also would reduce the exclusion zones for cannabis consumption around daycare centers, playgrounds, and schools to 100 meters from the previous 200 meters.

Initially, plans called for criminal liability for those in possession of amounts exceeding 25 grams. However, the new deal would make quantities ranging from 25 to 30 grams of cannabis in public spaces and 50 to 60 grams in private spaces an administrative offense. Criminal offenses would apply only to those who possessed cannabis beyond these limits.

When Could The New German Cannabis Law Take Effect?

Originally, Germany’s leaders had hoped to decriminalize cannabis at the beginning of 2024, a plan that now is no longer feasible, However, they hope to put the new rules into effect sometime in the spring of 2024.

As noted by DPA, the original plan also called for cannabis sales in licensed shops, but that will not be implemented for the time being. However, as a step toward making that a reality, cannabis will be removed from the German list of prohibited substances in the Narcotics Act.

In a sense, the plan is not unlike that proposed by President Joe Biden in the United States. He has not supported full legalization but supports decriminalization. He also has asked the Justice Department to review cannabis’ place on the Schedule I list of legal drugs.