Cannabis enthusiasts across Germany took to the streets at midnight early Monday morning to smoke joints and celebrate as the European nation’s legalization of cannabis took effect on April 1. German lawmakers gave final approval to a recreational weed legalization plan known as CanG late last month, making the country the largest in Europe to take the step.

In the German capital of Berlin, weed enthusiasts gathered at the iconic Brandenberg Gate to smoke weed and celebrate their new freedoms. Other events were held throughout Europe’s most populous country, including one in front of the Cologne cathedral and others in the cities of Hamburg, Regensburg and Dortmund.

“We can finally show ourselves, we don’t have to hide anymore,” Henry Plottke, a member of the German Hemp Association (DHV), told the news agency DPA at the celebration in Berlin.

The legalization of cannabis in Germany was supported by the three-party ruling coalition led by Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach extolled the virtues of the beginning of cannabis legalization in a social media post.

“Cannabis use already existed yesterday, but it’s increasing. Now it’s exiting the taboo zone,” he wrote on X on Monday, according to a translation from CNN. “This is better for real addiction help, prevention for children and young people and for combating the black market, for which there will soon be an alternative.”

Weed Is Legal for Adults 18 and Up

Under Germany’s CanG legalization plan, adults aged 18 and up are permitted to possess up to 25 grams of weed and public and up to 50 grams at home. The new law also allows adults to grow cannabis at home, with a cap of three plants. Public consumption of weed including smoking is also allowed, although there are restrictions on using cannabis near children and sports venues.

Beginning on July 1, adults will be allowed to join cannabis clubs, which will each provide access to weed for up to 500 members. For-profit commercial cannabis ventures are not permitted by the plan. Niklas Kouparanis, co-founder and CEO of Germany-based medical cannabis company Bloomwell Group, said that the cannabis club model could eventually lead to broader legalization of adult-use cannabis. 

“The provision allowing for cannabis clubs is an important step towards the de-stigmatization of cannabis use, as adult consumers will no longer be criminalized for simply smoking or ingesting the plant,” Kouparanis said in a statement to High Times. “Of course, our ultimate goal in Germany remains to legalize the entire value chain for a full-fledged adult-use market, going beyond the nonprofit, members-only cannabis clubs and creating a commercial market that can be accessed by all adult consumers.”

Opposition Vows To Repeal Legalization

Although legalizing cannabis was approved by both chambers of Germany’s bicameral parliament, the plan does not have universal support. After the plan was adopted, the conservative opposition vowed to repeal the CanG legislation if they can form a coalition government after next year’s national elections.

“In our view, drugs policy, particularly with respect to protecting young people, is an issue of such central significance that we will revoke the legalization of cannabis in the event we take power,” lawmaker Thorsten Frei told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, Yahoo News reported on Saturday.

“In any possible coalition talks, [the rolling back of the legislation] will be a firm standpoint for us,” added Frei, the parliamentary leader of the alliance of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

The legalization of weed in Germany is also opposed by groups representing police officers, who fear the new legislation will be difficult to enforce. The law includes public consumption exclusion zones and exemptions, which could result in disagreements about where people can freely use cannabis.

“From April 1, our colleagues will find themselves in situations of conflict with citizens, as uncertainty reigns on both sides,” said Alexander Poitz, vice president of the GdP police union, according to a report from the Daily Mail.

The CanG plan also includes provisions to review past cannabis convictions, a process that opponents say will overwhelm the courts. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, however, said it would mean less work for the judiciary and police in the long run.

“The changeover will mean a one-off increase in workload, but in the long term the police and judiciary will be relieved,” Buschmann told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland media group on Monday. “They will then be able to focus on even more relevant crime.”

Neighboring Austria Not On Board

While German weed enthusiasts celebrated cannabis legalization, neighboring countries have taken notice. In Austria, officials said they have no plans to follow Germany’s lead on cannabis policy reform and would implement measures to deter trans-border trade.

“The police will conduct intensified checks, particularly in areas near the border, to take addictive substances and drivers under the influence of drugs out of circulation,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in a statement. “This is about the protection of all road users.”

The Interior Ministry added that plainclothes police officers and specialists trained to recognize signs of impairment would be deployed to the border in an effort to thwart smuggling attempts.

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Legal or not, people are experimenting with psychedelics, and they might as well be informed about their decisions in a logical manner, making situations safer. Colorado-based Unlimited Sciences, a psychedelic research nonprofit, unveiled the Psychedelic Info Line, a hotline that provides callers with data-driven education and informed resources for individuals considering exploring psychedelics.

The core goal of the info line is to improve outcomes and reduce harm by offering the needed tools and information on natural psychedelics. The information provided isn’t just anecdotal evidence based on hearsay. Psychedelic Info Line navigators share knowledge from an extensive research library of peer-reviewed studies with data sourced from thousands of participants worldwide, including the world’s largest naturalistic psilocybin study sponsored and conducted by Unlimited Sciences. 

Organizers say it provides a critical resource that no other organization provides. It offers informed answers to help people with their inquiries and make decisions before psychedelic use.

“The Psychedelic Info Line represents the culmination of years of high-impact research and dedication to advancing our understanding of psychedelics,” said Matthew X. Lowe, PhD, Executive Director at Unlimited Sciences. “We hope the first one-on-one education line of this nature will have a positive impact in helping individuals make more informed decisions about safely using psychedelics.”

In the past, the Cannabis Support Hotline was launched and provided by Unlimited Sciences’ parent nonprofit, Realm of Caring. The Psychedelic Info Line’s education specialists will not provide medical advice or encourage psychedelic consumption, rather they will foster a compassionate and supportive environment, striving to make every caller feel more capable in their quest for healing and self-discovery. Committed to community empowerment and safety, the Psychedelic Info Line is dedicated to educating and empowering the psychedelic community to navigate their journeys safely and responsibly.

“We know psychedelics can be safe and deeply meaningful when those seeking to use them are well-informed and approach them with care. Providing a compassionate source of knowledge for people exploring psychedelics for healing and personal growth is our mission,” said Lynn Marie Morski, MD, JD, Director of Education at Unlimited Sciences. “By helping to distill and distribute evidence-based information, we give callers the knowledge and power to make informed and responsible decisions with their healthcare providers.”

The Psychedelic Info Line is sponsored with support from The Wana Brands Foundation. Individuals who use the line and register through the Unlimited Sciences’ Client Portal receive access to exclusive educational resources including detailed guides on psychedelics, FAQs, and an extensive open-access research library. 

People are encouraged to call toll-free 1 (888) 210-3553 (Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. MST or email.

Set and Setting Matter in Psychedelic Trips

Researchers are examining ways to avoid bad trips. Negative experiences with psychedelics were linked to stressful environments, a September 2023 study suggests.

A study by researchers associated with Imperial College London indicated that stressful environments and other risk factors were associated with negative experiences with psychedelics, reaffirming the notion that “set and setting” play significant roles in positive experiences with psychedelic drugs. The study, which was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, gives new insight into the potential negative outcomes of using psychedelics in a clinical setting to treat serious mental health conditions.

Study author Rebecka Bremler of Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychedelic Research told PsyPost that there was “a lack of research into this topic—at least when we started the project in 2021. There was (is) all of this amazing research on psychedelics’ positive effects on mental health, and some on acute challenging experiences (‘bad trips’) with psychedelics and what may contribute to them, but not so much on long-term negative psychological responses (which is what we focused on here).”

“We wanted to find what may be potential risk factors for having these experiences, but also for people who had had them to be heard,” Bremler added. “The latter was one of the reasons why we included extended participants’ quotes in the article: to tell it in their own words as much as possible.”

In the event of a bad psychedelic trip, you may be better off riding it through than taking additional drugs to extinguish the trip—which can actually be more dangerous. A recent study points out that psychonauts online are turning to benzodiazepines and other potentially dangerous drugs to end a psychedelic trip.

Doctors are warning about so-called “trip-killers,” or drugs used to counteract the effects of a psychedelic trip. What they found is that over half of anecdotal recommendations online call for benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, alcohol, and other remedies, but found that trip-killers are often more dangerous than the psychedelics themselves. 

The study, “Trip-killers: a concerning practice associated with psychedelic drug use,” was published in Emergency Medicine Journal on Dec. 19, 2023. It was announced in a news release the same day.

Things like the aforementioned practices could be avoided if people have someone to talk to before choosing to experiment with psychedelics.

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