Following German Elections, Green, Yellow and Even Red All Mean Go for Cannabis

Home | Canna Law Blog | Following German Elections, Green, Yellow and Even Red All Mean Go for Cannabis Germans have delightful ways of describing political coalitions. My favorite is the Jamaica coalition, called this way because the colors of the political parties involved are those of the Jamaican flag: green, yellow and black. Following Germany's elections on September 26, the most likely outcome is a traffic light coalition, made up by the Social Democrats (red), Free Democrats (yellow) and Greens. And such an Ampelkoalition is likely to be good news for cannabis legalization. A few weeks ago, we discussed the likely implications for cannabis if the pro-legalization Greens joined the new German government. At the time, a coalition between the Greens and the then-ruling Christian Democrats appeared to be a likely outcome. Given that the Christian Democrats were "the last of the major political parties in Germany to maintain a strictly prohibitive stance on drug policy," we wondered if they could compromise with the Greens on cannabis. The prospects for cannabis legalization under an Ampelkoalition are completely different. In addition to the Greens, the government would feature a second pro-legalization party, the Free Democratic Party (FDP). According to the FDP's leader, Christian Lindner, legalizing cannabis "is about the only thing [the FDP] could easily agree with" the Social Democrats and Greens. As for the Social Democrats, who won the most seats in the election, they are described as being "mildly" for cannabis (H/T Kai-Friedrich Niermann for the article). According to the Social Democrats' platform: Like alcohol, cannabis is a social reality that we have to deal with adequately politically. Bans and criminalization have not reduced consumption, they stand in the way of effective addiction prevention and protection of minors and tie up enormous resources in the judiciary and the police. A regulated supply of cannabis to adults should be able to be tested in model projects by federal states and municipalities, accompanied by measures by prevention, counseling and treatment in the youth sector. In addition, we will be uniform across the country regulate that the possession of small amounts of cannabis is no longer prosecuted. The tough job of forming a coalition is not done yet, as highlighted by the fact that cannabis is only easy topic in the eyes of the Free Democrats' leader when it comes to reaching agreement with the reds and greens. However, to the extent an agreement is reached, it is hard to imagine it not being positive for cannabis legalization. When it comes to this traffic light, red, yellow, and green all mean go for Germany. Check Out Our Cannabis Law Services Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn E-mail Comment Fred Rocafort Fred leads Harris Sliwoski’s intellectual property practice and is the coordinator of the firm’s international team. Much of Fred’s practice consists of helping cannabis businesses protect their brands. He also works with entrepreneurs and companies entering the Web3 space, a new frontier for IP law. Prior to joining Harris Sliwoski, Fred worked overseas for more than a decade, in both government and private sector roles. Fred is a regular contributor to the award-winning China Law Blog and Canna Law Blog. Fred began his career overseas as a U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, China, where he advocated for fairer treatment of American companies and citizens in China and for stronger intellectual property rights enforcement. After entering the private sector, Fred worked at a Shanghai law firm as a foreign legal advisor and later joined one of the oldest American law firms in China, helping foreign companies navigate the Chinese legal environment. He also led the legal team at a Hong Kong-based brand protection consultancy, spending most of his time out in the field, protecting clients against counterfeiters and fraudsters in Greater China, Southeast Asia and Latin America. In addition to his IP work, as a native Spanish speaker, Fred works closely with different Harris Sliwoski teams on Latin America and Spain matters. Fred also provides advice to cannabis industry participants and other businesses on import and export transactions. Fred is an ardent supporter of FC Barcelona—and would be even in the absence of Catalan forebears who immigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s. 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