In response to a university student asking whether he would have to smoke cannabis if he studied in Germany because the drug is not legal in China, Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured Chinese students in Shanghai on Monday, the 15th of April, that they would not necessarily have to smoke cannabis if they studied in Germany, saying that Germany had legalised cannabis in the hope that its use would decrease, reports Reuters.
Germany passed legislation legalising cannabis in February, allowing individuals and associations to grow and possess cannabis in limited quantities.
“We don’t want more people to use cannabis, we want fewer people to use cannabis, we want society to be more educated about it,” Scholz was quoted as saying.
“The answer is very simple – don’t smoke.
I will be 66 this year and I have never smoked cannabis,” Scholz added.
The Chancellor, who is visiting China and will meet its leaders in Beijing on Tuesday, said Germany wanted to bring cannabis “out of the grey area”.
According to the Ministry of Health, around four million people used cannabis in Germany in 2022.
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