Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/03/22/germany-legalizes-weed.html
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In a half-assed way and the usual suspects are trying to figure out how to roll it back.
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When the Germans do something you know its serious
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And smoke it?
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Ooooooohhh… Do Ireland next!!!
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They should not be allowed to fan the usual dumpster fire if in a 200 m radius of a school, a kindergarten, a playground or anything other child-related.
If we could get the usual suspects to stay away from children, that would be very helpful for mental health. Mine, and in general.
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Legalization isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. I personally don’t mind it, but the people on my local subreddit are very vocal about the smell of weed. It’s legal to do everything but sell it where I live, but don’t try smoking it anywhere at all around some of these zealots.
Even in your own backyard.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to get the law rescinded or try to insist that potheads get limited to vapes and edibles.
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I feel that way about vehicle exhaust, but there doesn’t seem to be much headway on that front either.
I’ve lived on the west coast for >30 years , the smell of weed is one of the natural aromas around here. People need to chill out about stuff like that.
It wasn’t long ago that most restaurants had a ‘non-smoking’ section, which (vis Seinfeld) was about as effective as a non-peeing section in the pool.
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Interesting about their approach using cannabis clubs. The article timed out for me, but the summary suggests there won’t be rigorous centralized testing or quality control.
Canada’s approach is that all cannabis has to be grown domestically, and tested regularly for potency and harmful contaminants like pesticides and mold. It is sold through licensed retailers, and each province sets more specific rules and end-user distribution setups, and they tax it accordingly.
Where I am, you can basically only smoke or vape it in your own home (if you own your home, or your lease allows smoking in general), or in your own backyard. This isn’t a big issue because we have access to a wide variety of oils, topicals and edibles. I use it primarily for pain control, but the medical cannabis system was and is restrictive and limited. I like knowing the potency as well as having some assurance that contaminants are minimal.
I hope this system works out for Germans, but some quality control or testing would be a good idea.
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The primary benefit of legalization isn’t that it instantly changes social norms about where it’s acceptable to smoke or makes weed that much easier to get. The primary benefit is that it means prohibition won’t be used as a legal cudgel to lock up poor people and waste billions of dollars on ineffective enforcement.
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Every time I’ve been in Germany over the past 7 years, usually in Berlin or Frankfurt areas, there’s always signs around about legalizing it, or some about parties. Glad this made it through.
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Except maybe The Scorpions. Tough to take “Rock You Like A Hurricane” seriously.
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This is needed because EU law prohibits commercial for-profit sales of recreational drugs, including cannabis. In a variety of ways, the new German law tries to skirt around the fact that the EU makes most drugs illegal – with the usual exceptions for alcohol and nicotine –, and that legalising cannabis is currently not a popular idea on the EU level even if parts of the German federal government are fervently in favour. The individual German states, on the whole, are a lot more skeptical.
(Everybody has heard about the “coffee shops” in the Netherlands that famously sell cannabis products to the discerning public. These are technically illegal under EU drug laws, but the EU leaves the implementation of these laws to the individual member countries, and the public prosecutor in the Netherlands traditionally turns a blind eye as long as the “coffee shops” stick to regulations. They must also be licensed by the municipality and most municipalities in the Netherlands don’t in fact allow them.)
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Sadly not a chance in the current government. Just because they are limping along to term.
Harris would almost certainly back it, unlike Varadkar who had to be dragged to any socially progressive policy by overwhelming majorities.
The FFSF coalition that will follow won’t. FF are currently being forgiven for their housing and health polycrises by the electorate by adopting a side of ethnonationalistic racism. SF are desperately tacking right. Left parties had a good showing last time out but it looks like a collapse this time and a big showing for the fascists, sorry “rural independents, Ireland doesn’t have fascists” who will shoot their own constituents rather than allow weed.
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yep. mein spruch dazu war;
Germany legalizes weed
sort of.
but its a lot better than nothing, at least its delisted from the btm.
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Well if that’s what they wanted, they could have just gone with decriminalization, but most governments realize how much money they can generate by legalization in sin taxes.
Everyone but the current governor of Virginia has realized that, that is.
delusion, dysfunction and political paralysis.
Not going to be happening in the UK in my lifetime, then.
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See also, Mr Dirkschneider and friends:
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