Hemp friends celebrate:

Smoking weed at midnight at the Brandenburg Gate

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

Just in time for the start of the liberalization of cannabis in Germany on Monday, supporters want to welcome the new regulation at midnight with a so-called smoke-in at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

"A new era is dawning: Cannabis Normal", announced the hemp association. From 11.30 p.m. on Sunday evening, people will gather at the Brandenburg Gate to be allowed to smoke marijuana in public at midnight when the law comes into force on April 1.

"At midnight, you can light up," the hemp association announced and asked all participants to "observe the night's rest and, of course, the cannabis ban that is still in force until midnight". The event is officially registered with the police as a demonstration.

Reefer Easter Monday in smaller cities
Smaller events are then planned for Easter Monday in other cities "with which the cannabis community will welcome and celebrate the coming into force of the Cannabis Act", according to the association. Leipzig, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Heidelberg, Regensburg, Dortmund, Cologne, Mönchengladbach and Suhl have been named.

In Cologne, a "Kiff-Inn" at the cathedral was announced. The association wrote about the demonstration in Hamburg: "Many of us have been fighting for this day for decades and have given our all again in the last two years or so." They now want to show "that we are part of this society". In consultation with the police, care will be taken "to ensure that consumption does not take place in the presence of children and young people".

No smoking weed near minors
From April 1, the consumption of cannabis will be permitted for adults in Germany. However, a distance of 100 meters from children's and youth facilities must be maintained in public, and smoking pot in the immediate vicinity of minors is also prohibited. From Monday, people will be allowed to grow marijuana themselves in small quantities, and from July, special clubs will be allowed to grow for their members. However, the sale and purchase of marijuana is not permitted, meaning that no legal marijuana will actually be available for the time being.