Germany’s cabinet has passed a controversial bill to legalize recreational marijuana use and cultivation. If passed in parliament, adults will be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of the drug, reports Reuters.

Should the legislation pass parliament, adults would also be allowed to grow up to three plants and buy the drug at so-called cannabis clubs. These clubs would have to have burglar-proof doors and windows, with greenhouses fenced off and associates would not be allowed to smoke weed at the clubs or in the vicinity of schools, nurseries, playgrounds or sports grounds, according to Reuters. Also, it will be up to the regional government of each of Germany’s 16 states to decide whether they will allow cannabis clubs.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government hope the new legislation will combat the black market and remove the stigma around cannabis use. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach plans to raise awareness about the risks of cannabis which he ultimately hopes will curb consumption.
“With the current procedures we could not seriously protect children and young people, the topic has been made a taboo,” Lauterbach told a news conference in Berlin to present the law. We have rising, problematic consumption, we couldn’t simply allow this to go on,” he said. “So, this is an important turning point in our drug policy.”
The opposition, on the other hand, fears that the new legislation will encourage marijuana use and could lead to even more work for authorities.
“This law will be linked to a complete loss of control,” Armin Schuster, conservative interior minister for the state of Saxony, told media group RND.
According to Reuters, even lawmakers from Scholz’s own Social Democrats have expressed scepticism with Interior Minister of Hamburg, Andy Grote, telling broadcaster NDR that experiences in other countries showed consumption would simply rise with legalization.