Gemini summary:
Germany has become the ninth country in the world to legalize cannabis. The new law allows individuals to grow up to three cannabis plants for personal consumption and to possess up to 25 grams of the drug. Cannabis clubs will also be allowed to grow and sell cannabis to their members. The law is expected to come into effect in April 2024.
Germany doing it will likely set precedent in all of northern Europe. My prediction is Denmark will follow in 2 year time, Norway in 3-4 years and Sweden likely last at 5 years, even though I think we consume more of it per capita… Swedish stance on drug use has been extremely conservative for many, many decades by now and is super rooted in the common Psyche, which is why so many die of overdoses and kill themselves if it comes out they use. The stigma is heavy.
I honestly don’t believe Sweden will come around that quickly. We’re way too deep into prohibition to swing over like that. A majority of people do really hate drugs. This being said I absolutely think it will happen within a decade unless something goes wrong elsewhere.
Hopefully we in the Netherlands will finally legalize it as well instead of it being a gray area. Although that would require us to give up on beating Belgium’s record of not forming a government.
Yeah, I also don’t see it happening in 5 years, the government knows its policy has caused Sweden to have the highest drug related death rate but they just double down on prohibition.
Anyway, if it’s not legalised in the next 3-4 years, I’m moving to Spain, I like who I am when I smoke, I like the control I have over my anxiety and the boos of life and energy I get.
Do many Swedish people treat alcohol like this or only the illegal stuff?
Alcohol is fine. Drugs being bad was just bashed into our cultural collective head so hard that it’s difficult to get out of. A politician cannot speak of decriminalisation without being thrown out of every one of the established parties.
This dude was the root of this war on drugs, here in Sweden and the US
Sweden and Finland will be among the last in Europe to decriminalize/legalize.
“Drugs are bad because drugs are bad” is too deeply ingrained into the older population. It will take years to change this attitude, even if the results of legalization in other countries will be positive.
“It just would not work here” is the eternal argument. And the only one.
Meanwhile both of those country inject caffeine intravenously. I have no idea how one could possibly go through a kg of coffee a month, yet for Finns that’s nearly the average.
While Germany attempts to legalize cannabis, in Lithuania you can buy alcohol Mon-Sat from 10:00 to 20:00, except Sundays, where you have 3 hours window, from 12:00 to 15:00…
If it happens that cannabis is legalized in many Eu countries, I am pretty sure that Lithuania might start considering it in 10-30 years. 🙆
But oh well, I’ll simply travel more. I liked Berlin when I visited it few months back. :)
You are aware they already decriminalized it right?
