While France – where a minister [of justice, Eric Dupont-Moretti] once said that anyone who smokes a small joint on a Saturday night must experience the taste of "dried blood on the sidewalk" – has been intensifying its crackdown on cannabis consumers; Germany has just turned its back on prohibition, and started down the road to legal regulation. While this development is to be welcomed, there are doubts about its chances of success; as, at this stage, Germany is still in the middle of the road.

On April 1, it became legal to possess a limited quantity of cannabis; to grow up to three plants individually, or more through "producers' clubs," non-profit associations bringing together small-scale producers and consumers. On the other hand, it remains just as prohibited for farmers to go into cannabis production as for stores, whether specialized or not, to sell it. Admittedly, there has been talk of a forthcoming legislative development, which will define the legal framework within which professional producers and distributors would be authorized. However, pending this development, only self-production is authorized.

This first step has delighted our German neighbors; and in particular garden centers, which have been swamped with thousands of budding growers. They will be able to benefit from better-quality, traceable products, and, by choosing the variety that they grow, know the levels of THC or other active ingredients in their crop. Above all, they will be able to reduce – and in some cases, eliminate – their purchasing from drug dealers. A little less blood on the sidewalk is always a good thing.

The Uruguayan approach

In light of foreign experiences with legal regulation, it is to be feared that this development will not be enough to eradicate the black market. In fact, in places as diverse as Uruguay, Canada and half the states in the US, different forms of legalization have been adopted, with widely differing results. The time has come for debate, not on the advisability of ending prohibition, but on the best way to regulate the cannabis market within a legal framework.

In all the countries that have legalized cannabis, the objectives have been manifold: Improving health, by improving prevention, providing better care for users who have difficulty managing their relationship with the product, and curbing its consumption by the youngest members of society; creating economic benefits, by creating a legal industry, a source of registered employment, and generating tax and social security revenues; and improving security, by drying up the income of criminal networks, and by freeing up time for police and the justice system.

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