Lauterbach leaves these crucial points open with his cannabis plan

The traffic light government recalls its claim to be a progressive coalition and presents key points for cannabis legalization. While the FDP and the Greens are happy about the long-awaited start, the project for Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is anything but a heart project. Last year, the SPD politician spoke out against a release, but later changed his mind in view of the supposedly new study situation.

The fact that the key points have already been presented is mainly due to pressure from a few determined budget politicians. In May, the Budget Committee in the Bundestag decided to freeze EUR 1 million for public relations work in the Ministry of Health until a draft law is available later this year.

In fact, the legalization of cannabis is long overdue and the key points presented by the cabinet make sense in principle. At the same time, however, they also leave three crucial questions unanswered.

Firstly, it is still unclear whether and how road traffic regulations are to be adjusted in the course of legalisation. At the moment, people who have minimal THC in their blood are considered unfit to drive during checks. The consumption was then often days or weeks ago, so the driver is completely sober. The traffic light government must ensure that the limit values ​​are increased and that practical controls are made possible, for example using spit tests based on the Canadian model.

Second, in parallel with legislation, it must be ensured that citizens have better access to medical cannabis. Although the levy has been permitted in Germany since 2017, in practice it is associated with high bureaucratic hurdles. Anyone who does not want to or cannot pay the costs privately must first submit an application to their health insurance company.

On average, more than every third application is rejected - often for reasons that are difficult to understand. To ensure that people do not self-medicate after legalization without instructions, the legislature would have to abolish the approval requirement of the health insurers.

Third, the federal government should refrain from imposing a THC content limit for 18- to 21-year-olds, as contemplated in the key points. While keeping younger people away from strong cannabis sounds sensible at first glance.

In practice, however, this will result in some young people again resorting to the black market, which is likely to offer stronger stuff at a lower price. This would reverse the main purpose of the law.

So there is still a lot of work to do for the self-declared progressive coalition.

"Kick-off Politics" is WELT's daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or directly via RSS feed.