European countries led by Germany meet to discuss legalizing marijuana

Last week, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands met to discuss legalizing marijuana. This is the first time European countries have come together to discuss the issue and shows just how far legalization has come in recent years.

Marijuana Moment reports that this is the first of many planned meetings expected in the future and could be expanded to other European Union countries.

The context here is a wave of EU countries following the trend of cannabis regulation across America (and elsewhere).

These governments face a number of practical challenges (how to regulate responsibly), as well as political obstacles, tensions with neighbors and EU/UN laws).
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— Steve Rolles 🇺🇦 (@SteveTransform) July 16, 2022

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“This week’s Luxembourg gathering is historic,” wrote Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, in a tweet. “While these issues have already been discussed informally in various high-level fora, this is the first-ever multilateral ministerial-level meeting to regulate non-medical cannabis.”

According to a joint statement released after the meeting, these summits were held to develop a “common understanding” of marijuana while confronting the fact that current laws are outdated.

“Structured multilateral exchanges across the broad spectrum of cannabis-related issues contribute to the exchange of knowledge, best practices and experiences, and encourage the search for solutions,” the statement said. “This first structured multilateral exchange is intended to facilitate further consultations on the regulation of cannabis for non-medical and non-scientific purposes.”

Of all the countries that joined forces, Malta is the only one to have legalized marijuana, becoming the first in all of Europe. Despite the Netherlands’ track record with marijuana, the country has a complicated history with it that criminalizes its use, possession, and trafficking. Currently, Germany is in talks about legalizing cannabis, a decision that would heavily influence Europe and pave the way for other major countries.

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“There will definitely be a domino effect,” Justin Haucap, director of the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics, told The Guardian. “European countries that have a much bigger problem with illegal cannabis use, like France, are watching very closely what Germany is doing right now.”