Legalization of cannabis: no consensus yet in Belgium

2023-08-16 16:27:44

The debate on decriminalization should resume in Belgium in a few months, when an information report from the Senate is published.

On the other side of the Atlantic, several American states have also decriminalized the use of cannabis including Colorado, California or Massachusetts. Canada had already taken this turn in 2018. Since 2013, Uruguay has introduced the most permissive legislation that authorizes the consumption, sale and transport of cannabis. It should be noted that while the Netherlands has implemented a policy of tolerance with regard to this trade, the substance remains illegal there.


“Our purely prohibitionist system has the same effects as the prohibition of alcohol, the status quo is no longer possible.”

Julien Uyttendaele

PS Senator

In Belgium, on the other hand, we are still far from consensus. The PS, at the forefront of the debate, has tabled a bill aimed at decriminalizing cannabis, while the Senate is working on an information report to be published by the end of 2023 beginning of 2024, recalls Julien Uyttendaele, a Brussels deputy campaigning for decriminalization. The result of hearings from many experts and politicians at the international level, “its conclusions promise to be positive”, indicates the socialist who believes that decriminalization could put an end to street selling and give guarantees to consumers as to the quality and the THC content of the product.

“Our purely prohibitionist system has the same effects as banning alcoholthe status quo is no longer possible,” he added.

Julien Uyttendaele specifies that an agreement has almost been reached on the principle of decriminalization at the French-speaking level. PS, Ecolo, DéFI and MR have all opened the door to legalization and Les Engagés are less restive than a few years ago, adds the MP. However, not everyone is on the same line as to the legal framework that should be developed.. Between a distribution controlled and ensured by the public force and a takeover by the private sector, several options are under debate.

It is in Flanders that we find the parties most allergic to the end of prohibition, namely the N-VA and the CD&V.

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#Legalization #cannabis #consensus #Belgium

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