A new law legalizing the possession and personal cultivation of marijuana for adults in Luxembourg officially entered into force on Friday 21 July.
The Department of Justice published a statement on the policy change in the Official Gazette last Tuesday, a procedural step that means the legislation will come into force four days later.
The announcement comes about a month after the Luxembourg Parliament passed a legalization bill, which makes Luxembourg the second country in the European Union to end cannabis prohibition, following Malta’s vote in favor of legalization in 2021.
Luxembourg’s law, first proposed by justice and homeland security ministers in 2021, will allow adults to possess up to three grams of cannabis and grow up to four plants in a secure location within their private residence.
Here is the full statement from the Department of Justice:
“On July 17, 2023, the law of July 10, 2023 amending the amended law of February 19, 1973 concerning the sale of medicinal substances and the fight against drug addiction, providing for the legalization of the domestic cultivation of cannabis under certain conditions, was published in the Official Journal. It will enter into force on the fourth day following that of its publication, i.e. Friday, July 21, 2023”.
The legislation provides penalties for possession and cultivation of more than the authorized amount. Purchasing and possessing more than three grams of cannabis, a relatively low limit, could result in a prison sentence of up to six months. Public consumption will also remain prohibited.
At the end of last month’s debate, Justice Minister Sam Tanson said the criminalization of cannabis had been an “absolute failure”. That is why, she added, “we must dare to take another path” and “seek solutions”.
This development has been a long time coming, as a coalition of Luxembourg’s main parties agreed in 2018 to enact legislation allowing “the exemption from punishment, or even the legalization” of cannabis.
Meanwhile, the government of neighboring Germany remains committed to enacting cannabis legalization under a tiered regulatory model.
