Newsweed France reports
A little tour, and then comes back. The bill providing for the legalization of cannabis in the Grand Duchy is back on Thursday before the Chamber of Deputies, at the initiative of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV, in Luxembourgish). The 21 members of this centrist party, in the opposition, put the text on the agenda.
“We want a calm debate on the subject before a bill emerges, and what we want above all are answers to the questions we ask ourselves” , says the deputy and president of the CSV, Claude Wiseler , in the columns of the liberal daily Paperjam . The elected official was already asking the government for details in January 2020.
It will therefore be interesting to follow the debates today in the Krautmaart, the Parliament of this country of 600,000 inhabitants bordering the Moselle. The liberal government, led by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel in coalition with the Socialists and the Greens, should therefore specify the contours of its legalization project. Especially since the subject is tense. Luxembourg is located at the heart of the continent. And it would become the first state in the European Union to legalize cannabis on its territory.
Legalization for residents, not tourists
This important reform was a campaign promise , during the legislative elections of 2018. The Grand Duchy will legalize recreational cannabis in the fall of 2021, promised the Prime Minister. “The main objectives will be to decriminalize, or even legalize under conditions to be defined, the production on the national territory as well as the purchase, possession and consumption of recreational cannabis for the personal needs of adult residents” , even specifies the coalition agreement.
In the meantime, the covid-19 epidemic has passed through there, prompting the government to delay legalization . Today, the worst seems to be over. The proof: vaccination is open to all Luxembourgers over 16 years of age. From now on, the political staff of the Grand Duchy are looking to the future.
Especially that we must not delay, the mandate of Xavier Bettel ending at the end of the year 2023. Knowing that the legalization of cannabis has already been delayed, since it was to come into force in the fall of 2021 , there are only two years left for the government to vote on the text.
France should have a watchful eye on the progress of the project. According to the first outlines of the law, the purchase of cannabis will be “reserved exclusively for Luxembourg residents” , declared the former Deputy Prime Minister to the French daily Le Républicain Lorrain . “We don’t want Luxembourg to be the new Amsterdam,” he continued. A desire shared by France, Germany and Belgium.
