In Luxembourg, the cultivation and consumption of Cannabis will soon be allowed

The Luxembourg government has announced changes in cannabis legislation, with plans to legalise the cultivation and consumption of the drug at home. 

As part of a package of measures to combat drug-related crime in this country of 640,000 people, adults will be able to grow up to four cannabis plants per household for personal use. 

The government will also allow the sale of cannabis seeds in stores, as well as their importation from abroad or online purchase. It will also seek to allow domestic production of seed for commercial purposes. 

Consumption and cultivation will only be allowed "within its four walls", although transporting or consuming up to three grams will no longer be considered a criminal offence, but a misdemeanour. Leaders of the Greens - one of the three partners in the governing coalition along with the Democratic Party and the Socialist Workers' Party - said the decision "represents a fundamental reorientation of Luxembourg's drug policy" as the government seeks to tackle drug-related crime with a more "holistic" approach. 

"The war on cannabis has failed," the party said in a statement Friday. "The announcements by Justice Minister Sam Tanson represent a fundamental reorientation of Luxembourg's drug policy. Cannabis consumption is finally regulated and a legal alternative to the black market is created." 

The Greens added that the main objectives of the new cannabis legislation would be to exempt the production, purchase and consumption of a given amount of cannabis from punishment, to keep consumers away from the black market, to reduce the mental and physical dangers associated with it and to combat acquisitive crime.