Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach expects the Federal Council to pass the planned legalization of cannabis. "I am confident that we will just about make it. But it was a difficult fight," said the SPD politician on Friday morning on ZDF's "Morgenmagazin".
One sticking point could be Saxony, where Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is against it. "I therefore hope that Saxony will abstain today," said Lauterbach. He had included the notes of Saxony's Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD) on improving the protection of minors in the protocol declaration.
The traffic light coalition wants to make the possession and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis exempt from punishment nationwide from 1 April. The law will be passed by the Bundesrat on Friday. The state chamber could send it to the joint mediation committee with parliament and thus put the brakes on it for the time being.
Lauterbach rejected the accusation that the law had not been thought through. The main point of criticism was the so-called amnesty rule, he said. This provides for prison sentences and fines already imposed for cannabis offenses to be waived when the new regulation comes into force. The federal states fear that this will overburden the justice system.
Lauterbach confirmed that the amnesty rule would remain, but: "It can be implemented a little more slowly. There is also no criminal liability for the courts if it is implemented more slowly."
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