Lawmakers in Slovenia have introduced new legislation to legalize recreational cannabis—allowing possession, home cultivation and sharing among adults in the country.
The measure on adult use comes at a time when lawmakers have continued to promote a separate legalization of medical marijuana despite the recent resistance from National Council.
We have it now! Almost,” Sara Žibrat, a member of the National Assembly, Slovenia’s lawmaking body, said in a translated social media post earlier this month when announcing the new bill.
Žibrat, a member of the country’s Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda) party, said the proposal is also backed by the political party The Left (Levica).
According to the lawmaker, first legislative presentations for the new legislation are planned to take place this autumn. The measure will then receive “three public hearings, three chances to amend proposals, and three voting opportunities” to be passed.
In June of last year, voters in Slovenia approved a pair of advisory ballot measures in favor of home cultivation for medical patients as well as non-commercial recreational legalization.
Voters supported a question that asked whether or not patients should have the right to grow cannabis for their own personal use. A question asking whether voters should have the right to grow cannabis for their own personal use was supported by 67 percent of voters. The following are some of the most effective ways to improve your own personal effectiveness. Support for the idea that adults can legally possess and grow marijuana was 52 percent.
However, the results are not legally binding.
Slovenian media reported that the new measure will allow adults to have up to four marijuana plants grown at home, and no more.
In public areas, adults could possess up to 7 grams of cured marijuana flower. At home, they were allowed to have up to 15 grams. A household could not possess more than 300 grams.
Although payment is prohibited, adults can share marijuana with each other within the possession limit proposed. Commercial sale of marijuana would remain prohibited.
This legislation will set the limit of THC per se for drivers at three nanograms in milliliters of blood. Penalties increase for blood levels between three and five nanograms, as well as above five nanograms.
The lowest level of offense would be 300 Euros, and the maximum penalty would be 600 euros (three to five nanograms) or 1,200 euro for more than five nanograms. Drivers can also accrue driving penalties points that could result in the suspension of their driver’s license.
According to reports, a driver who has the lowest level of THC – three nanograms – but does not display any sign of psychomotor impairment will not face any penalties.
The bill would prohibit employers from testing their workers routinely for THC, said the International Cannabis Business Conference which studied the legislation.
“Analysis shows that cannabis is no more dangerous than other already legalized drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol,” Žibrat said in a media statement, according to the news outlet 24UR. She said that the reform will lead to safer cannabis usage by eliminating the stigma surrounding the drug.
She added that “we are carrying out the wishes of the electorate”, according to Austrian paper Salzburger Nachrichten.
Local reports state that the medical marijuana bill was also introduced by the two parties in April who are supporting the adult-use legislation. The measure legalizes cannabis extracts and plants by taking them off Slovenia’s drug list. THC will remain illegal unless specifically used to treat medical conditions or for scientific research.
The Freedom Movement made a public statement at that time about its proposal. “Our aim is to protect cannabis users and patients from uncertified products sold on the black markets, to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical cannabis to patients and to address the current legal deficiencies in the area of medical cannabis use.”
Earlier this month, Slovenia’s National Council vetoed that legislation in a 20–9 vote, 24UR reported, but shortly thereafter lawmakers in the National Assembly reaffirmed the measure in a 49–11 vote.
“It is certainly a step in the right direction,” Žibrat said at the time, according to a translation, “and I am convinced that we can continue to improve it, already in the next mandate, when our institutions also realize that cannabis is not nonsense, but a right of patients.”
According to the proposed proposal, it would be the Public Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices that is responsible for licensing and regulation of the production and sale of medical marijuana. The Ministry of Health will issue licenses for the use of marijuana specifically to support scientific research.
According to reports, the new legislation will require marijuana to meet the same production regulations and distribution standards as conventional medicine. This means that cannabis can be prescribed just like other prescription drugs.
Left lawmaker Nataša Sukić said at the time that patients with multiple sclerosis, severe forms of epilepsy and various forms of cancer would be among those who would qualify for the program.
In Slovenia it is currently legal to use some cannabinoid substances, but not medical marijuana.
The introduction of Slovenian marijuana legalization is one of the most recent examples of reforms in Europe.
Following a crucial national election in Germany, the parties who formed a coalition to form a government said they would conduct an open-ended assessment of Germany’s newly legalized marijuana law.
Reformers had closely watched how the center-right coalition handled the Legalization Law, which was officially implemented in April. Conservative legislators who received the highest number of votes expressed their wish to repeal the legalization law. However, they could not convince another party as a member of the coalition to accept this plan.
Beginning in April of last year, the legalization of possession and home cultivation for adults took effect in Germany. Cannabis social clubs also began to open, providing members with legal access to marijuana products.
German officials last year also convened an international conference where leaders were invited to share their experiences with legalizing and regulating marijuana, with a focus on public health and mitigating the illicit market.
Burkhard Blienert, German commissioner for addiction and drug issues, invited representatives from Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands as well as Switzerland and the Czech Republic to Berlin.
Those countries who participated in the Ministerial had varying policies on cannabis. Malta, for example, became the first European country to enact cannabis legalization in 2021. Luxembourg followed suit, with the reform officially taking effect in 2023.
Government officials from several countries, including the U.S., also met in Germany in 2023 to discuss international marijuana policy issues as the host nation worked to enact legalization.
A group of German lawmakers, as well as Blienert, separately visited the U.S. and toured California cannabis businesses in 2022 to inform their country’s approach to legalization.
The visit came after top officials from Germany, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands held their first-of-its-kind meeting to discuss plans and challenges associated with recreational marijuana legalization in 2022.
Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.