April 29, 2024 |
News Pillar 2 on the way – regional model projects for cannabis distribution in specialist shops For a long time it was a mystery whether the Federal Government would still keep the promise of “Pillar 2” under the Cannabis Act (CanG) to decriminalize consumers and home cultivation - and whether a separate law would be needed for this. Now a draft for a “KCanWV” suggests that the model projects should be implemented within the framework of the existing CanG.
Specifically, we have a draft regulation available for comment. No joke, the thing is called the “Consumer Cannabis Science Jurisdiction Ordinance (KCanWV)”.
The only relevant content of the regulation is the determination of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) as the responsible authority according to Section 2 (4) of the Consumer Cannabis Act ( KCanG ). This paragraph was incorporated into the KCanG before it was passed. It was not yet included in the cabinet draft and can be interpreted as a “research clause”. It also sounds very similar to the research paragraph in the BtMG ( § 3 BtMG
Anyone who wants to possess, cultivate, produce, import, export, acquire, receive, deliver, pass on cannabis for scientific purposes, extract cannabinoids from the cannabis plant or trade cannabis for scientific purposes requires a permit. […] The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture shall determine by ordinance without the consent of the Bundesrat the federal authority responsible for issuing the permit in accordance with sentence 1 and the federal authority responsible for monitoring and implementing the regulations mentioned in sentences 3 to 5.
§ 2 (4) KCanG The fact that this paragraph was added to the KCanG made it seem possible that there could be no further legislative proposal for Pillar 2, but that the planned regional model projects could also run on this research paragraph. Legal purchasing options for cannabis and the displacement of the black market are among the most pressing questions in the public debate. Now the federal government wants to determine the responsible authority relatively quickly according to Section 2 (4) KCanG, while there is no discernible movement regarding a proposed law for Pillar 2. This strongly suggests that things should actually move forward without another law.
BLE vs BfArM We welcomed the designation of the BLE as the responsible authority in our statement. The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices ( BfArM ) is responsible for model projects in accordance with Section 3 BtMG, which has rejected all previous applications for cannabis model projects. Declaring the BLE responsible could be a sign of the necessary pragmatic approach to the model projects. The BLE is also a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and therefore reports to the pro-legalize minister Cem zdemir, while the BfArM is an agency of the Ministry of Health.
The biggest advantage, however, is that there is no need for another complicated legislative proposal that would take a long time and would have to overcome various hurdles. In this way, applications for model projects can potentially be submitted and approved in just a few months. There could be specialist cannabis shops for adults in at least some cities during the current legislative period.
The fact that this approach gives the BLE a great deal of discretion in approving projects and in the detailed requirements for approval is both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on who is in government and who is the Minister of Agriculture. At the moment this is a very simple solution to move forward quickly. However, if a CDU-led government were to come to power after the election, it would be quite easy for it not to approve any (further) model projects without having to reverse a law.
This “move” is also a positive surprise because many people no longer expected anything in this direction to happen during this legislative period. Now the KCanWV could come into force as early as May or June. Interested municipalities and companies can now start formulating their applications!