MJBizMag January 2023 - 18

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS National & International
Cannabis News
Germany's Plan to Legalize
Recreational Marijuana
Hits Potential Hurdle
The health minister of Germany's
largest state is asking a key
European Union official to block
that country's plan to regulate
recreational marijuana production
and sales.
Bavaria's health minister, Klaus
Holetschek, met in Brussels with
Monique Pariat, the EU's directorgeneral
for migration and home
affairs, to make the request,
according to the Associated Press.
other European Union countries,
even though that would breach
international drug-control treaties.
As part of that outline, Germany's
blueprint of the law is being sent to
the European Commission, the EU's
executive branch, for approval to
ensure it is compatible with EU and
global drug laws.
Germany's government said the
legislative process, including actually
drafting a law, will continue only if
the plan is approved by the EU.
Biden Signs Landmark
Marijuana Research
Bill Into Law
U.S. President Joe Biden made
history by signing the bipartisan
Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol
Research Expansion Act on
Dec. 2. The move made Biden
the first American president to
sign marijuana-specific reform
legislation into law.
The landmark legislation is
Monique
Pariat
Holetschek is a member of
the center-right Union bloc, an
opposition party that strongly
opposes the blueprint by German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz to legalize
cannabis in Europe's largest
economy.
In October, the German
government published key
details of its plan to legalize and
regulate recreational cannabis,
including what Health Minister Karl
Lauterbach described as " complete "
cultivation within the country.
Some international businesses
had been hoping Germany would
allow imports, possibly from
18 January 2023 | MJBizMagazine
intended to make it easier for
scientific researchers to study the
plant and also calls on the federal
government to look into potential
therapeutic benefits of marijuana.
The bill allows research universities-including
those that
receive federal funding-as well
as private companies to acquire
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
licenses to grow and handle
cannabis for research purposes.
Currently only seven institutions
have DEA permits to grow cannabis
for research.
The bill potentially opens
up a new line of business
for firms pursuing cannabisbased
treatments, including
pharmaceutical giants.
The historic moment comes on
the heels of Biden's requested
review of marijuana rescheduling.
Both the U.S. Department of Justice
and the Department of Health and
Human Services are on notice to
review whether their stances on
cannabis are consistent with current
science and the law.
The new law also allows doctors
to discuss the " potential harms and
benefits " of cannabis with their
patients.
First Nations Fight 'Systemic
Exclusion' in Canadian
Cannabis Industry
Indigenous leaders who believe
they've been largely excluded from
Canada's multibillion-dollar legal
cannabis retail and cultivation
industry delivered that message
to a Canadian Senate committee
studying the implementation of the
country's federal cannabis law.
At the Senate hearings held by
the Committee on Indigenous
Peoples, some Indigenous leaders
called for the federal and provincial
governments to implement a carveout
allowing Indigenous groups to
regulate cannabis in accordance
with their own principles.
Darcy Gray, chief of Listuguj
Mi'gmaq First Nation, said
economic opportunities arising from
cannabis legalization didn't seem
to be part of the conversations
between the federal government
and First Nations.
" Essentially, we seem to be an
afterthought and something to be
dealt with once things were set up
and the market secured by others.
So, we recognize familiar patterns
of systemic exclusion, " Gray told the
committee.
Provinces, which are responsible
for retail regulation, have
sanctioned only a handful of stores
in Indigenous communities across
the country.

https://mjbizdaily.com/germany-might-rely-on-domestic-cannabis-cultivation-cap-thc-potency/ https://mjbizdaily.com/germany-might-rely-on-domestic-cannabis-cultivation-cap-thc-potency/ https://mjbizdaily.com/germanys-proposed-adult-use-cannabis-legalization-plan-excludes-imports/ https://mjbizdaily.com/germanys-proposed-adult-use-cannabis-legalization-plan-excludes-imports/

MJBizMag January 2023

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