Luxembourg approved a law that legalizes homegrown marijuana and largely ends criminalization of the drug, but the statute stops short of reversing the prohibition-era restriction on marijuana sales.
In passing the bill, Minister of Justice Sam Tanson called prohibition “an absolute failure,” saying “we must dare to take another path.”
The new law allows residents to grow up to four plants per household. The plants must not be visible from the road.
The law also permits consumers to possess up to 3e grams outside their residence.
Exceeding that limit or consuming recreational marijuana products outside a residence could result in fines of up to 500 euros ($480).
Malta passed a similar law in 2021.
However, the Malta law also does not allow for a commercial market.
Luxembourg had been working on legalizing cannabis for years.
The bill ultimately approved this week is fundamentally scaled back from the nation’s original plans.
Though the new law is a big step toward fully ending prohibition, Luxembourg follows a number of other countries in having announced ambitious adult-use cannabis plans, only to either come up short or present significantly scaled-back legislation.
Last week, Colombia failed to approve a legal framework to regulate recreational marijuana sales.
And in April, the German government backpedaled on its promise to implement nationwide legalization.
Luxembourg’s legislation is available here.
