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Nationwide cannabis limit rolls nearer

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Nationwide cannabis limit rolls nearer
Photo: DPA

Germany could in the future have a country-wide “tolerable limit” for cannabis possession, it was reported on Friday. Currently, this amount differs between states.

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North Rhine-Westphalia's (NRW) Interior Minister Ralf Jäger is, along with other states' interior ministers, pushing for all states to have the same exemption limit for the possession of cannabis and hashish, he told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.

Possessing the drug is illegal, but having a small amount is tolerated by the law. This amount varies between parts of the country: whereas in Bavaria police will turn a blind eye to anything under six grams, while in Berlin they'll ignore up to 16 grams of the drug.

Speaking at a conference for Germany's state interior ministers, Jäger said he would be calling on federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger to reconsider the law.

The current hotchpotch makes enforcing the law more difficult than if there were a blanket “tolerable limit,” head of police union GdP Oliver Malchow told the paper.

“If a person goes from Munich to Berlin they have to remember that in one city they would be punished and in another, not,” he added.

NRW's Justice Minister Thomas Kutschaty voiced agreement with Jäger but stressed that they did not want to downplay the possible dangers of smoking cannabis.

It remains a punishable offence to be caught with harder drugs, like cocaine or ecstasy.

The Local/jcw

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