BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Drugs Commissioner Burkhard Blienert has called on the federal states to clear the way for the controversial legalization of cannabis. "We must dare to make a new start," emphasized the SPD politician in a letter to the state premiers, which was first reported by the "Spiegel" (Friday). "We need a cannabis policy that finally focuses on the protection of health and minors, and we need this now in view of the enormous risks of the black market." He therefore appealed to all state governments to refrain from appealing to the mediation committee in the Bundesrat on March 22.

According to the law passed by the Bundestag, possession and cultivation of the drug with numerous requirements for adults for personal consumption will be permitted from April 1. The law is still to be finalized in the Bundesrat. It does not require approval there, but the chamber of the federal states could call on the mediation committee and thus slow down the process. Concerns have been raised from the federal states about, among other things, a planned amnesty for cases that will be legal in the future.

In the letter, Blienert points out that, in his opinion, the amnesty regulation for convictions for mere possession of cannabis - not for trafficking - "will by no means lead to the judiciary being overburdened". With a maximum of 7500 proceedings to be expected nationwide, which would have to be reviewed, the effort for the judiciary "does not appear to be small, but at the same time quite affordable."

Green Party health expert Janosch Dahmen told Handelsblatt: "There is much to suggest that if the law goes to a mediation committee, it will not come out of there. The law would then have failed." Criticism is legitimate and the implementation will foreseeably mean a lot of work. In the meantime, however, there is no time to amend the law in the Bundestag and Bundesrat again without the consent of the CDU/CSU. "Essentially, it will come down to either the legalization passed by the Bundestag or no legalization at all." Dahmen said: "The Greens are involved in ten state governments, we should use the opportunity to put this concern for improving youth protection and ending the failed prohibition policy into practice now."/sam/DP/mis