Cannabis legalisation would let German homes produce ‘tons’ of drug, Scholz warned

A POLICE union has urged Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, to abandon plans for a partial legalisation of cannabis, claiming that it would turn private homes into drug farms.

“This law must be stopped,” Dirk Peglow, the chairman of the police union, told the German media group Funke. “It is a regulatory monster that will be difficult to implement and will not achieve the goals it is intended to achieve.”

Under the proposals, which the Bundestag is expected to approve today, anyone over 18 years-old will be allowed to grow up to three cannabis plants in their household and carry up to 25g of the drug on their person. Non-medical use of cannabis is currently illegal in Germany, though those caught with it are not necessarily punished.

Mr Peglow claimed that this would amount to cannabis being “legalised in principle”, which carried the risk of a huge increase in cannabis growing and difficulties for police in confirming whether the drug had been produced legally or illegally.

“The fact that it will be possible to grow up to three cannabis plants privately at home in the future could mean that we allow tonnes of cannabis in German households without any control options,” he said.

It came as the German Association of Judges also said they opposed the reforms, citing concerns over a possible deluge of legal requests from cannabis offenders to have their sentences reduced in light of the new rules.

Excluding a last minute surge in opposition, it is expected the Bill will be passed. The German reforms would be more liberal than the current regime in the UK, where it remains illegal to grow, process, distribute or sell cannabis.