EEarlier today, MPs in Luxembourg voted by a majority (38 MPs voted in favour, 22 against) in favor of a bill legalizing cannabis home cultivation and possession for recreational purposes, albeit with strict regulations.
Luxembourg legalizes home cultivation of four cannabis plants per household and possession of up to 3 grams on the street
What remains now is for the law to be published in the Official Gazette. After that, adult residents of Luxembourg will probably be allowed to grow legally as early as July. Although there is also talk about this weekend or early next week. In any case, the ministry speaks of ‘in July’. “Seeds for home cultivation are not yet available in shops in Luxembourg, people will have to buy the seeds online or abroad,” noted the Ministry of Justice, which specifies that “it checks whether the seeds are legally available in the country in question” .
Adult residents of Luxembourg are allowed to keep four plants per household. Criminal penalties for possession of small amounts – less than three grams of weed – will also be eased. Public use, however, remains prohibited under the new law. Luxembourg is the second country in the European Union to legalize cannabis. Malta had the scoop in December 2021.
A few months before the last parliamentary elections in 2018, the use of medicinal cannabis was regulated and officially allowed.
Regulation of cultivation and sale is also still in the works
So, while the legislative process was significantly delayed by the ongoing pandemic, it has been done just in time today. For a long time it was unclear whether the legislative text could even be adopted before the end of July – before the summer recess. But it is just in time for parliamentary elections in October and a possible change of government in the Grand Duchy.
The opening of outlets where locally produced cannabis will be sold to adult residents of Luxembourg will not be realized immediately after approval. The legal basis for this has not yet been fully worked out. So it is still in the plans.