Responsibility ping-pong in the German capital

Since 1 July 2024, cultivation associations in Germany have been able to apply for permission to cultivate cannabis to supply their members in accordance with the Consumer Cannabis Act. Over 300 applications have now been submitted to the relevant authorities across Germany, and around 25 of these have been granted a licence. The state of Lower Saxony is the front-runner when it comes to granting licences.

Number one in the ranking of federal states that delay or openly refuse to grant licences is the capital of the stoners: Berlin.

The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder of the CSU has publicly announced that he will hunt down cannabis users wherever possible, that they are not welcome in his state and is massively delaying the granting of licences. A special authority has been set up, at a cost of 36 million euros, and they are pretending to comply with a federal law, although no licence has yet been issued. A lawsuit against the federal state is in preparation, initiated by an alliance of the SPD, Die Linke and DHV.

In Berlin, the health senator Dr Czyborra claims in a statement from July* that she has been negotiating with the districts since 2023 about the granting of permits for cultivation communities and says that the districts have refused. The districts, in turn, say that the Senate did not want to provide them with any resources for the task, which makes the refusal understandable in view of the tight budgets and staff shortages.

Added to this are the local addiction support centres, which, together with the youth care organisations, allow themselves to be driven by conservative doctors and put the protection of minors first. They are not responsible for ‘the regulation of addictive substances’. Discussions usually follow the same pattern: as soon as it comes to making cultivation associations possible in concrete terms, the medical profession is cited as a reason to hide behind the protection of minors (we can already see how harmful cannabis is for young people), and all attempts at constructive cooperation are blocked.

‘We are waiting for the Senate and are not responsible,’ is the unanimous opinion of the mayors from 12 districts. Everyone is afraid of doing something wrong, the funding remains unclear and the necessary resources are not available.

There has been talk in the media of transferring the authorisation procedure to the State Office for Health and Social Affairs, starting with the Senate. In an early statement, the LaGeSo announced that it was not willing to take on this task and was not responsible for it as it does not fall within its area of competence. The acceptance of applications was still rejected in August, and we have received emails to this effect. 

So it was a positive surprise when LaGeSo invited Olli Waack-Jürgensen, representing the umbrella organisation German Cannabis Social Clubs, together with Georg Wurth from the German Hemp Association to a meeting at short notice. Olli was welcomed by the prevention officer of the CSC High Ground Berlin e. V., Georg came with his press officer. Our interlocutors were the head of LaGeSo, Dr Merx, the head of the department in which the authority responsible for permission procedures is to be set up, Dr Pelz, as well as the head of the LaGeSo press department and the future head of the permission authority department.

The discussion lasted over 90 minutes and was factual, pragmatic and open. The LaGeSo would like to ‘implement a federal law’ and has received questions and catalogues from other federal states in preparation. ‘We want harmonious applications’ was said, which presumably means not as disproportionate as in Hamburg or Bavaria, for example, but orientated towards the requirements of Section 11 KCanG. They want to work with us, which we do not reject, on the contrary. We welcome this step and will seize the opportunity.

In order to be able to process the authorisation procedure with legal certainty, the authority needs a statutory order from the Senate. The Senate had claimed that this would require an amendment to the law. In Berlin, this change means that it can take a long time. Legislative procedures take an average of 40 months here, and although an amendment to the law takes less time, it is significantly longer than a statutory order. Frustrated, clubs have already turned away and are trying their luck in the federal state of Brandenburg. Now we have learnt that a statutory instrument is sufficient, and that is good news, because the statutory instrument is significantly quicker than the amendment to the law and is more favourable to the clubs.

LaGeSo expects to be able to start work on 1 January 2025, and the job advertisements for the four positions in the future licensing authority are already public. The districts will be responsible for monitoring the AVs.

The clubs can be job engines for those without opportunities on the regular labour market; the sooner they can start working, the sooner the social security funds will be relieved. Most AVs are already in the starting blocks and want to get started. 

The blockade strengthens the illegal market, hinders evaluation and stigmatises adult cannabis users, which should end with the KCanG.

It is now up to the Senate to decide when the authorisation procedure can finally start in Berlin. The boards of the AVs are not prepared to wait just one day longer than necessary and are demanding precise information on when the authority can begin its work. The legal decree must be issued immediately; any further delay is an affront to dozens of clubs, their members and boards.

The monkey dance around cannabis, it really must be said, must end. The KCanG, which was passed in the Bundestag by over 60%, must be implemented across the board without delay. 

It’s not up to us, we are ready.

OWaack

*Press release Senate:

https://www.berlin.de/sen/wgp/presse/2024/pressemitteilung.1476859.php