The Bundestag has voted with a clear majority for the Cannabis Act and thus for the partial legalization of cannabis in Germany. However, before the law comes into effect, it must still be approved by the Bundesrat. Ultimately, there is nothing standing in the way of the law taking effect, the only question is whether the timetable, which plans for legalization from 01.04.2024, can still be adhered to, as some states have filed applications to amend the law or even to prevent it. This will likely result in the Bundesrat involving the mediation committee.

What does this mean?

The justice and health departments of the states recommend calling on the mediation committee to revise the Cannabis Act. They received related proposals from the federal states. However, the legal and health committee of the Bundesrat also presented a number of recommendations dealing with the potential scope in which a mediation committee should deal with the Cannabis Act (CanG). The committees' recommendations will likely be discussed at the next Bundesrat session on March 22nd, and could indicate how the Bundesrat will vote.

What is the Mediation Committee?

The Mediation Committee consists of 16 members each from the Bundesrat and the Bundestag and is consulted if the law passed by the Bundestag does not receive a majority in the Bundesrat. It is a kind of expert panel that operates between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat and is supposed to ensure consensus. If the Bundestag ultimately does not agree with the committee's resolutions or if these diverge too much, the draft will be discussed again in the Bundestag. This does not mean that the law will not come into effect, but the framework conditions could change again and the date of entry into force could be postponed.

So on the 22nd of March, it will be clear whether the Bundesrat will call on the Mediation Committee or not, and therefore whether the law will come into force on 01.04.2024.

The following proposals were submitted to the Bundesrat

The proposals to amend the Cannabis Act were submitted by various states.

Proposals in the Health Committee include:

• Postponement of the entry into force of the Cannabis Act.
• Tightening of the permitted possession quantities and consumption distances to children's and youth facilities.

Proposals in the Legal Committee include:

• Deletion of the retroactive amnesty in the Cannabis Act.
• Delay in the application of the amnesty provision.
• Avoiding the effort to delete cannabis penalties from the Federal Central Register.

It is possible that no proposal will receive the necessary majority (35 votes) in the Bundesrat, especially if states with traffic light parties abstain from the vote. Nevertheless, it seems likely that the Mediation Committee will be called upon and therefore a postponement of the decriminalization by the CanG will take place.