Germany: legalization of medical cannabis in 2017

Germany will legalize cannabis for therapeutic purposes from early 2017, according to a statement by German Health Minister Hermann Gröhe.

This announcement comes at a time when a patient has just been win the right to grow his own cannabis after proving that only cannabis could relieve his pain.

«Our aim is to ensure that seriously ill people are treated as well as possible,» said Hermann Gröhe, who will present the bill to the German cabinet today.

This bill comes at a time when more and more countries are relaxing their laws on the use of cannabis, and medical cannabis is gaining in popularity, notably to ease the suffering associated with cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, hepatitis C or Parkinson's disease.

However, recreational and medical use remains controversial in many countries, including France. Opponents generally fear an increase in addictions or a switch to harder drugs, arguments that are widely held. questioned by the many studies on the subject.

Hermann Gröehe acknowledges that cannabis is not a harmless substance and stresses that cannabis will only be available in pharmacies with a prescription.

Until supervised plantations are set up to grow cannabis, Germany will be importing its medical cannabis, probably from the Netherlands, which will have increasingly difficult to supply all of Europe with medicinal cannabis. And if the judgment of the patient authorized to cultivate is to be respected, self-production should also be regulated at the same time.

«Without wishing to prejudge the work of the Bundestag, it is likely that the law will come into force in spring 2017,» Gröhe announced to the daily Die Welt.