Jan 2023 Greenleaf Magazine

pot, but North America has largely surpassed
the Netherlands as far as public accessibility
to recreational marijuana. While
Dutch law recognizes a “tolerance policy”
toward marijuana, it is still not legal, and
the gray areas between a licensed cannabis
coffee shop and legacy market has brought
the industry to be dominated by organized
crime. Amsterdam’s mayor is also dedicated
to outlawing use of cannabis coffee
shops to tourists to curtail crime.
Marijuana is decriminalized in Spain,
where medical access is regulated and recreational
users can join a Cannabis Social
Club. Luxemburg has legalized growing
and using cannabis, though not commerce.
France is piloting a free medical cannabis
program for cancer patients, while Switzerland
conducts scientific and economic
studies about the market and recreational
use. Italy and Malta continue to work on
decriminalization policies to combat the
black market. Still, can we really expect the
Old World to “catch up” to ours in today’s
volatile climate of invasion and war?
It’s 2022, and you still can’t legally purchase recreational marijuana
anywhere in Europe. While global medical measures
steadily expand following North America’s example, recreational
legislation continues to lag, leaving Europeans with a
growing grab-bag of “quasi-legalization” measures.
We all used to think of Amsterdam as the global hot spot for
According to Germany, yes. The coalition
that replaced Chancellor Angela Merkel
in December 2021 announced a plan to
legalize cannabis in November 2021. Since
medical cannabis was legalized in Germany
in 2017, the nation secured the largest
cannabis market in Europe. It is unclear
whether recreational legislation will permit
domestic cultivation, or that all use will
continue to be regulated by the government.
The University of Düsseldorf projects
over a $5.3 billion increase for annual
tax revenue with the recreationalization
of cannabis, as well as an estimated 27,000
jobs to manage the industry.
With Germany set to become the first European
country with a legal and regulated
market, could North America have a cutting
edge on exports? We have seen what
happens to states like Maine where canna-
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