Legal cannabis plans breach international law – State Council
Luxembourg has already had to scale back plans to fully legalise cannabis
Luxembourg's plans to allow residents to grow four cannabis plants at their home have been thrown into question after the country's de-facto upper chamber stated the proposals would breach international law.
Lawmakers who put forward the draft law "risk exposing themselves to criticism on the international level of non-conformity with international law," the State Council said in a legal opinion released on Wednesday.
Luxembourg has signed three UN treaties which state that countries must pursue repressive policies to fight drug consumption and trafficking, which includes cannabis.
Adult residents would be allowed to grow four cannabis plants per household if the government proposals are adopted into law. The moves to decriminalise the mind-altering drug also would sharply lower fines punishing people who carry three grams or less from the current €250 to €2,500 to between €25 and €500. But consuming cannabis in public would remain illegal.
The plans, to which the State Council objected in Wednesday's opinion, still fall short of the complete legalisation the government set out to pursue under the 2018 coalition agreement.
While Luxembourg's plans would breach international law, they would conform with existing EU law, the state council found, given the country would not completely legalise cannabis but allow it to be consumed at home under strict conditions.
Luxembourg's three neighbouring countries have already voiced their discontent about the government's earlier legalisation plans, fearing the easier rules could cause people to buy the drug in Luxembourg and carry it over the border illegally. But Germany's new government is now pushing ahead with its own law and Malta two years ago became the first EU country to legalise cannabis.
