SMOKING cannabis in public places will be legal in Germany in a matter of weeks after possession for personal use was decriminalised.
The German parliament today approved controversial plans to allow people over 18 to grow, buy, and smoke the drug.
From April 1, it will be legal for adults to buy up to 25 grams of cannabis a day, or up to 50 grams per month, for recreational use.
Adults will also be able to grow up to three plants each for private consumption - and can join non-profit "cannabis clubs" from July 1.
Members will be allowed to grow cannabis plants and distribute the drug to other members of their own club.
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There can be a maximum of 500 members in each club.
The changes were passed today by Germany's lower house, the Bundestag - 407 votes to 226 votes - and involve some limitations.
Adults will not be allowed to smoke cannabis within 100 metres of schools, daycare centres, playgrounds, and sportsfields - or in pedestrian zones between 7am and 8am.
Advertising and sponsorships featuring cannabis will be banned and dealers caught selling to children could be jailed for up to two years.
But many other elements of the new law remain unclear.
The Ministry of Transport has not yet set a limit on how much cannabis a person can have in their system while driving.
A team of experts are working on a maximum THC limit to impose after smoking is legalised.
The maximum is currently one nanogram per millilitre of blood.
Possession of the drug for recreational use is currently illegal in Germany and can be prosecuted.
Health minister Karl Lauterbach, who is instigating the reforms, said cannabis use has been on the rise among young people for years.
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He argued this rise in usage and an increase in problems from contaminated or overly-concentrated batches of cannabis indicated Germany's current laws had failed and needed to be changed.
Speaking at a news conference last year, Mr Lauterbach said: "With the current procedures we could not seriously protect children and young people, the topic has been made a taboo.
"We have rising, problematic consumption, we couldn't simply allow this to go on."
He said the plan was "an important turning point in our drug policy".
Where is weed legal?
Malta became the first European country to legalise marijuana for recreational use in 2021, after decriminalising it in 2018.
Weed has been decriminalised for personal use in a number of countries, including the Netherlands and Portugal, which decriminalised the use of all drugs in 2001.
Canada legalised cannabis for medicinal purposes in 2001.
But in October 2018, it became the first G7 nation to legalise recreational use of the drug.
Other countries that have legalised recreational use include Georgia, Malta, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay.
There are 47 countries worldwide that allow the medical use of marijuana, such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, and New Zealand.
Some US states have legalised recreational marijuana while many allow it for medicinal use only.
Missouri decriminalised cannabis use in February 2023.
