Germany plans to legalise marijuana for recreational purposes. They're bound to make billions!

Until now, the sale of marijuana for medical purposes was permitted in Germany. For several weeks, all three parties of the future coalition - the social democracy of the SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP - have been negotiating in Berlin to establish the status of cannabis for consumption.

The main goal of legalising the plant is, as in other countries, to fight the black market. Quality control is planned to avoid the export of contaminated substances and the protection of minors. According to German politicians, it is also wrong to consider many marijuana users to be criminals.

We will introduce controlled sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed stores, said future coalition partners in a document leaked to the media from a negotiating working group called Health and Care.

After four years, the law is to be reviewed in terms of side effects in society. 'According to a Funkie report, the future coalition also wants to extend the so-called drug control and harm reduction measures,' according to rbb24.de. Thanks to this, consumers will be able to check the chemical composition of illegally purchased drugs and thus, they will be warned against particularly dangerous ingredients.

Alcohol, nicotine and marijuana in the spotlight

The parties also want to tighten the rules on alcohol, nicotine and marijuana marketing and sponsorship. As we read in the report presenting the results of the work of the three-party working group: We are constantly adapting regulations based on new scientific discoveries and on this basis we determine measures to protect health, reports rbb24.de.

4.7 billion euros may flow into the state treasury

According to research, the German state can earn up to EUR 4.7 billion from the legalisation of marijuana. 'The sum consists of additional tax revenues, social security contributions and savings in criminal proceedings and judiciary, the competition economist Justus Haucap calculated in a study presented on Tuesday by the German Cannabis Association,' reports rbb24.de.

According to Der Tagesspiege, the Haucap team has calculated that a cannabis tax of €4.50 per gram will generate €1.8 billion of additional revenue. Furthermore, Haucap expects a trade and sales tax to generate approximately €735 million.

The ban is costly

According to the calculations of the new government, the costs of repression of people who own and sell marijuana will also be eliminated in the future. Haucamp plans to save money in criminal proceedings (there are around 200,000 cannabis criminal cases each year in Germany) costing around €1 billion, reports Der Tagesspiege. An additional positive effect would be the creation in Germany of about 27,000 new jobs in cultivation, transport, sales and all aspects of addiction prevention.

The new government is to be established in early December.