En la última audiencia de la Comisión de Salud del Parlamento alemán (Bundestag), antes de las elecciones de septiembre, no se habló sobre el coronavirus, sino sobre el cannabis. Esta no era la primera vez en el año que los políticos de los distintos partidos y los expertos invitados a la audiencia abordaban propuestas para una política de drogas diferente. Esta vez se debatió, a pedido del grupo parlamentario del Partido Demócrata Liberal (FDP), una distribución legal controlada de "cannabis con fines de consumo" entre los adultos, como exigieron los liberales en la moción. Y en vista de la creciente demanda mundial para su uso medicinal y recreativo, incluso tienen en mente un "Cannabis made in Germany" como posible artículo de exportación.

As a new European report pushes for greater communication of cannabis use risks, France is banking on a policy of prohibition, the effectiveness of which remains to be proven. Cannabis remains the most widely consumed illicit drug in the EU, according to the latest report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The report stresses the need for effective risk communication strategies to inform consumers “about the adverse health effects associated with new substances, drug-drug interactions and products with a high active ingredient content”. However, France is instead betting on a sanctions-based approach through strict legislation, where consumers risk not only a fine but prison time.

In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Catha edulis) provides an interesting anomaly. It is first of all a plant-based substance that undergoes minimal transformation or processing in the journey from farm to market. Secondly, khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. In European countries, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years.

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Khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. Outside that area, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years. Where khat has been studied extensively, namely Australia, the UK and until recently the Netherlands, governments have steered clear of prohibition because the negative medical and social harms do not merit such controls. Where strict bans on khat have been introduced they have had severe unintended negative consequences and failed to further the integration, social incusion and economic prosperity of Somali communities in particular, which chew khat most widely. Experi­ences fromNorth America andScandi­navia show that a ban will not solve problems associated with kath but tend to increase them.

The EU is planning to combine migration, counter-terrorism, and security in its new repressive anti-drug agenda that could have far-reaching consequences for Morocco. The European Commission has been developing this new strategy far away from public scrutiny. The drastic new drug agenda was only revealed after 29 civil society organizations spoke up in protest of the EU’s shadowy dealings. “It’s worrying because drug policy is now captured in the security agenda, just as counter-terrorism and illegal migration, it’s all being put in the same package,” Tom Blickman from he Transnational Institute said. “Supply control policies don’t work, it has been tried for more than fifty years. They have not worked in the past, do not work now, and will not work in the future.” 

First-mover advantage: It’s a phrase long used by Canadian cannabis companies that have spent billions of dollars to accelerate their international sprawl since legalization in 2018. But as Germany moves to open its adult-use market, it remains unclear to what degree Canada’s early start will help its companies succeed abroad. While medical cannabis has been legal since 2017, Germany would be the first country in the European Union to legalize the drug for recreational use. As Europe’s largest economy with nearly double Canada’s population, Germany’s recreational market is expected to quickly outpace domestic demand. With the prospect of a new cash source in grasp, Canadian companies are jostling to position themselves to capitalize on the new opportunity.

The Czech cabinet approved a plan for fighting addictions until 2025. It includes the introduction of a strictly regulated cannabis market based on rules drafted by an expert group. The plan still has to pass through both houses of the Czech parliament and be signed by the president before it becomes law. National anti-drug policy coordinator Jindřich Vobořil previously said that the plan would have five priorities. One of them will be a controlled cannabis market. Another one is the tax policy, which could bring Czechia up to CZK 15 billion a year. The remaining three priorities are prevention and treatment, promoting the relevant steps in the EU, and preparing for possible impacts.

Czech National Anti-drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil wants to strictly regulate the Czech cannabis market as cannabis sales should be decriminalised and regulated at the European level. While recreational cannabis is not allowed in Czechia, possession and growing at home has been decriminalised since 2010 but is still punishable as a civil offence. Market regulation and decriminalisation of cannabis users were among the topics of a meeting of European anti-drug coordinators, organised under the Czech EU Presidency. “We hope it will be a coordinated effort (to regulate the cannabis market). It is impossible not to talk about it on an EU-wide basis. Prohibition has not proved to be effective enough; we need to look for other models of control,” Vobořil said. (See also: Anti-drug coordinator: Czechia could soon legalise sale and growing of marijuana)

The severe restrictions on movement and activities during the coronavirus pandemic had little effect on Europeans' appetite for illegal drugs in 2020, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Cannabis use remained "stable" and at "high levels," said the EU agency in its yearly report. In 2020, it found, 15.4 percent of Europeans aged between 15-34 made use of the drug, mostly unchanged over 2019. The availability of harder drugs like cocaine also continued unchanged, notes the report, citing large seizures in 2020. In the case of heroin, it writes in a supplementary report, data from 10 hospitals shows "no overall change in the number of presentations associated with heroin between January and September 2020" when compared with the previous year.

El reciente acuerdo entre la Comisión Europea y el Gobierno alemánpuede ser el impulso necesario —tras la legalización en Malta y la permisividad regulada en Países Bajos— para que la UE cambie de óptica en el tratamiento del consumo, compraventa y posesión de cannabis y asuma así lo que el propio ministro alemán de Sanidad defendió en rueda de prensa: con la nueva propuesta reguladora “no creamos un problema sino que tratamos de solucionarlo”. Con lentitud y timidez va abriéndose paso en la UE la conciencia de que la legalización del cannabis puede resultar más inteligente que mantener una prohibición que en la realidad social hace agua por todos lados mientras sigue siendo una boyante industria clandestina y absorbe una gran cantidad de dinero público en persecución policial.

El ministro federal de Salud de Alemania, Karl Lauterbach (socialdemócrata), pasa a la ofensiva de la legalización del cannabis, aunque con un optimismo moderado. La autoridad presentó los puntos clave del proyecto, por lo que la discusión de si el cannabis debe ser legalizado o no ya no es tema, sino solo el cómo y cuándo. El proyecto comenzará a ponerse en marcha, tras largas consultas con casi todos los ministerios federales. El siguiente paso será coordinarse a nivel europeo. En Alemania, pese a los avances, aún no está claro si la legalización podrá llevarse a cabo en el corto plazo, debido a que se debe esperar a lo que diga la Comisión Europea, para luego presentar un proyecto de ley. (Véase también: Alemania abre la vía a la legalización del cannabis)

El ministro de Sanidad de República Checa, Vlastimil Válk, declaró que no tiene prisa por llevar adelante la legalización del cannabis y que prefiere esperar a ver cómo se acciona la iniciativa en Alemania. Las declaraciones del ministro chocan con las del coordinador nacional de la política de drogas de República Checa, Jindřich Vobořil, quien hace cosa de dos semanas dijo que llevaría adelante el proyecto de legalización aunque le costara un juicio en el Tribunal Europeo de Justicia. La intención del coordinador de la política de drogas es aprobar no sólo la regulación del autocultivo y el consumo de cannabis, sino también la regulación de un mercado comercial de cannabis, algo que chocaría con las leyes de la Unión Europea.

"Si esta ley llega a aprobarse, sería el proyecto más liberal para legalizar el cannabis en Europa, pero también el mercado más regulado", aseguró el ministro de Sanidad de Alemania, Karl Lauterbach, al presentar la semana pasada el plan del Gobierno de coalición semáforo para despenalizar el uso recreativo de esta droga. "Podría ser un modelo para Europa". Sin embargo, el propio Gobierno admite que su proyecto legislativo podría chocar con varios tratados internacionales firmados por Alemania. La legalización del cannabis también podría ser incompatible con la legislación de la UE, en particular con el Convenio de Aplicación de Schengen y la Decisión Marco sobre tráfico de drogas. El Ejecutivo alemán se ha comprometido a notificar formalmente el proyecto de ley a la Comisión Europea antes de su aprobación para tratar de obtener su luz verde.

Alemania evalúa las consecuencias de convertirse próximamente en el mayor mercado potencial para la venta legal de cannabis, ya que el Gobierno de coalición de centro-izquierda sigue adelante con su plan de permitir la distribución controlada de la droga entre adultos. A finales de junio terminó el proceso de consulta de cinco sesiones con expertos en salud, economistas y productores de cannabis, lo que supone el disparo de salida de una carrera que pretende despejar el camino de obstáculos legales y regulatorios en los próximos dos años. Se espera un proyecto de ley para la segunda mitad de 2022. La decisión de la mayor economía de Europa de legalizar el cannabis para uso recreativo podría generar un impulso para cambiar la convención de Naciones Unidas que restringe el cultivo de la planta.

España es el país de Europa donde más se sanciona, y con diferencia, el uso del cannabis, pese a que ocupa el tercer puesto en consumo, según los datos del informe de 2022 del Observatorio Europeo de las Drogas. Tal es la diferencia que en España se han impuesto el 43% de las infracciones administrativas o penales -según sea la legislación del país- cometidas en Europa por consumo o tenencia de marihuana. Y la Ley de Seguridad Ciudadana, más conocida como Ley Mordaza, tiene bastante que ver en ello. La estadística del Observatorio Europeo, que recoge datos de 2020 aportados por cada país, es demoledora. 

Prohibiting imports of cannabidiol oil (CBD) from other member states is contrary to EU law since there is no scientific evidence that hemp-based products have psychotropic effects, according to a non-binding opinion from the advocate general of the EU’s top court. On 14 May, an adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a legal opinion that  the import of  CBD cannot be banned under the bloc’s free movement of goods. CBD is a lighter chemical compound extracted from hemp plants but containing less than 0.2% of the active substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The legal case concerns the marketing in France of Kanavape, an e-cigarette using CBD oil imported from the Czech Republic, where organic hemp plants were processed.

Health Minister Lauterbach's prestige project is one of the few issues on which the traffic light parties in Germany agree. But they are meeting with resistance in Brussels. In order to implement his legalisation plans, however, Lauterbach needs the approval of the EU Commission, because they affect European law. "It is up to the member states to decide how they deal with the personal use of drugs, including cannabis," says the EU Commission. This sounds positive but in reverse it means: as soon as it comes to production and trade in the commercial sector, the restrictive EU law applies. In order to find a way out of this, Lauterbach actually wants to convince the EU Commission with an "interpretation declaration". (See also: German cannabis regulation on thin ice)

The European Union's highest court ruled today that cannabidiol (CBD) isn't a narcotic drug. The decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is a setback for EU countries that are cracking down on CBD products, arguing they are harmful to people's health. At issue was a French case against a Czech company that sold CBD extracted from the whole cannabis plant to use in electronic cigarette cartridges. France only allows extraction from cannabis seeds and fiber — not the whole plant. The court ruled the law that prompted this legal action against the Czech producers was an unnecessary restriction of the free movement of goods because the substance doesn't pose a threat to human health. 

Malta’s new cannabis rules should serve as a model for other European states of how to end the unnecessary prosecution of low-level drug users and strike a blow against organised crime, according to the minister responsible for the law, Owen Bonnici. The new law, passed by the Maltese parliament in December 2021, prevented recreational users from being dragged through the courts or tribunal process for possession of small amounts of cannabis. But it also allows for users and, eventually, non-profit organisations to grow cannabis plants and distribute it to other smokers via cannabis associations, meaning they no longer have to source the drug via the black market and put money into the pockets of international criminal gangs.

Albania has become the largest producer of outdoor-grown cannabis in Europe. The potent plant has been described as "green gold" for struggling farmers. In a poor nation, it's a billion-euro industry. In Albania, a kilo of this illegal drug sells for between 100 and 200 euros. In Italy it will fetch about 1,500 euros. And most of the country's cannabis crop is trafficked out - north through Montenegro, south to Greece, or west across the Adriatic to Italy. There is no significant home market. One source estimates the illicit industry may be worth five billion euros per year - about half of Albania's GDP. (See also: An Albanian war on drugs)