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BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The controversial legalization of cannabis in Germany will go ahead as planned on 1 April. Representing Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is on vacation, Bundesrat President Manuela Schwesig put her signature under the approved law on Wednesday. The examination revealed that "there are no constitutional objections to promulgation", the Office of the Federal President announced. "The order for promulgation in the Federal Law Gazette has been issued." The law was later finally promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette. The plan of the traffic light coalition, against which protests were voiced until the end, will thus come into force on Easter Monday.

The law, which was passed after decades of debate, represents a turning point in German drug policy. It allows possession and cultivation of the drug for adults with numerous requirements for personal use. On July 1, non-commercial associations for joint cultivation will also be able to get started. The law passed by the Bundestag had only just passed the Bundesrat on Friday.

The CDU/CSU in the Bundestag subsequently hoped that the law could still be stopped by the Federal President not signing it. The head of state essentially checks laws to see whether they have been passed in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law. According to the prevailing legal opinion, he is also entitled to a substantive right of review within narrow limits. According to this, he can refuse to sign a law if its content clearly violates the Basic Law.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach once again defended the partial legalization. If nothing is done now, it is not to be expected that anything will improve, said the SPD politician with a view to a growing black market and more children and young people using drugs. "We really want to tackle the black market head on." In the meantime, attempts are being made to create an addiction more quickly through additives and toxic concentrations. Lauterbach emphasized that the penalties for criminal sales to children and young people would be significantly increased. This means: "If a 21-year-old regularly gives drugs to 17-year-olds, they will be imprisoned for no less than two years."

Lauterbach also countered objections from the federal states that no legally produced cannabis would be available when legalization came into force, as cultivation would only be permitted from then on. If someone consumes cannabis on April 2nd from a plant they have grown themselves, it does not matter when the plant was bought and grown or how much water it had. Instead, the rule is: "Here it is, it is now legal, and consumption is also legal." The minister explained that most consumers were already using it. There will be a few who say: "Oh yes, it's legal now, I'm going to become a consumer."/sk/sam/DP/ngu