Why is CBD flower illegal in Germany?
Why is CBD flower a narcotic in Germany, when it’s sold in shops and cafes in most EU countries? Germany has violently prosecuted CBD flower and hemp products for the last five or six years. What happens now if Germany sudddenly says- oh we made a mistake, CBD is harmless.
If a court now decides CBD flower is legal, and that the German state has been illegaly prosecuting innocent people for selling CBD flower, then the German state will have to pay compensation for the damage it has caused. Could this be why German prosecuters continue to claim hemp products are narcotics, to avoid liabilty?
This situation was made noticeable in a magazine article in Grunderszene. The police prosecutor seemed concerned that if Bunte Blüte were found innocent by the courts and not guilty, procedural costs and compensation would need to be paid by the prosecutors office. Bunte Blüte are a CBD startup that sells CBD flower and hash in kiosks, lateshops and other venues in Berlin.
‘The Berlin public prosecutor’s office has already lodged a complaint against the court’s decision, as Senior Public Prosecutor …… confirmed to Gründerszene. If the complaint is rejected, the state of Berlin would have to cover the previous procedural costs and also the expenses of the Bunte-Blüte founders.’ (2)
https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/perspektive/bunte-bluete-rauschgifthandel-berliner-justiz-streitet-um-cbd-startup.
If the Berlin prosecutors office prosecutes the right person there won’t be any problems. If the Berlin prosecutors office has prosecuted the wrong person, then of course they must pay:
- The procedural costs;
- Damages and compensation to the injured party, Bunte Blüte.
Why should the Bunte Blüte founders pay for the Berlin prosecutors mistake?
What is the price to be paid for the shutting down profitable businesses ? What is the price to be paid by the prosecutors department for breaking down doors, pointing guns and confiscating the property of Bunte Blüte: intimidating and harassing them. No one really knows yet. Sounds expensive though!
Imagine how much it costs to repay Lidl supermarkets, who were forced to remove CBD and hemp products from stores across Germany. The thought of repaying this amount of money must be a consideration for prosecutors. Lidl had planned to put CBD products in over 3000 stores … their loss of income is significant.
https://businessofcannabis.com/lidl-signs-million-dollar-deal-to-sell-cannabis-products/https://cannabishealthnews.co.uk/2021/08/20/police-raid-lidl-in-bavaria-over-cbd-cookies/
Repaying Lidl must be a Kings ransome. What about the thousands of other shops that have also suffered loss due to the police prosecutors activity, they will need to be compensated. No one really knows how much the final figure will be to compensate the stores; what will it cost the Berlin prosecutors office and the Hamburg prosecuters office and the Munich prosecutors office and the Frankfurt prosecutors office, to repay the loss of income suffered by CBD startups if its shown the prosecutors departments have behaved incorrectly … it sounds expensive.
Is it possible the prosecutors also have to continue to find CBD startups guilty because they don’t want to admit they have made a mistake and discredit the prosecutors office? Perhaps this affects CBD trials being held currently, prosecutors do not want to acknowledge they have interpreted the law incorrectly.
Would it be more convenient if CBD flower is called a narcotic and remains forever illegal and the prosecutors reputation remains forever intact? The Berlin Court originally dismissed the Bunte Blüte case as insignificant. The Berlin police prosecutor was forced to appeal two times in the case until he found a court which eventually agreed with him and convicted. But the prosecutor had to push and push hard until he got this conviction – a conviction which is wierd and very questionable. Should prosecutors need to work so hard to get a guilty conviction or should the court processes be allowed to slowly work themselves, without pressure to provide the best outcome?
Eventually a CBD flower case will be judged at EU level and the truth will come out about the legality of CBD flower in Germany. Until then German citizens are forced to endure the outdated German law, and denied the freedoms offered under European Union law.
How long can German courts prevent a CBD flower case reaching the European Union Court.
Let the European Court of Justice decide if the German prosecutors are right or wrong because the truth will not be made clear otherwise.
(2) Ibid.
EN 
DE 
FR