Mere hours after the results of the US election became clear, sending North American cannabis stocks into freefall, Germany’s ruling traffic light coalition all but collapsed, throwing the future of Europe’s largest and most promising cannabis market into uncertain territory.
On November 06, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindler (Freie Demokratische Partei, or the Free Democratic Party) in a major escalation of political tensions that had been simmering for months.
This development not only sets the stage for a vote of no confidence in the Bundestag in January and an early election by the end of March, but threatens to undermine the cannabis reforms, which the coalition has worked for years to implement.
With polls pointing to an increasingly familiar swing to the right should an election take place next year, the potential future of Pillar 2 is now more unclear than ever, while efforts are already underway to argue for a repeal of Pillar 1.