It’s a big call…
Business of Cannabis
Written for Business of Cannabis by Prohibition Partners Senior Analyst Lawrence Purkiss
A series of proposed amendments to the Cannabis Act (CanG) which would further constrain cultivation associations could be brought in before July 1st. According to a neutral assessment from law firm Witzel Erb Backu & Partner, these amendments may be in violation of the German constitution.
The proposed amendments are to be discussed this week, with the first reading due to take place on Thursday, May 16, 2024, which will be broadcast live. After a 30-minute debate, they will be referred to the lead health committee for further discussion.
In the days and weeks leading up to the crucial German Federal Council (Bundesrat) vote on the Cannabis Act (CanG), which took place on 22 March 2024, there was widespread apprehension that the result would be the convening of a Mediation Committee. The Mediation Committee procedure would have delayed the new legislation by at least several months, and in a worst-case scenario would have ended the proposed legislation completely.
In order to avert the Mediation Committee procedure, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach introduced a set of proposed amendments to the Cannabis Act intended to address some concerns of key opponents of the bill. This set of amendments was put forward by way of a ‘protocol statement’, released ahead of the vote, which served as a declaration of intent by the federal government to re-examine (and potentially amend) a number of elements of the new legislation before July 1st, when cultivation associations are permitted to begin operations.
The amendments contained in the protocol statement, which would further tighten the already stringent constraints under which cultivation associations would operate, have predictably received wide criticism from cannabis industry stakeholders. More significantly however, the legal foundations of some of the amendments have also been questioned – with some aspects of the amendments seen as unconstitutional.
The most potent criticism is contained in a legal report by the Munich-based administrative law firm Witzel Erb Backu & Partner. The firm was commissioned by a member company of the German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) to carry out a review of the protocol statement, with a request for a neutral assessment.
The report contains detailed analysis of the problematic legal implications of two key proposed amendments. The following is a summary of this analysis. The full report can be found here – https://240254.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/94594741/48e966e4410-scutel
Read more
Kurzgutachten_zu_CanG_AendG-v.-26.4.2024
