Germans celebrate new cannabis laws as jails race to free offenders

German authorities were racing to release hundreds of cannabis convicts on Sunday ahead of the partial legalisation of the drug.

From April 1, citizens will be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of the drug in their homes as well as grow three cannabis plants.

At midnight, Germans gathered to celebrate the law change by smoking marijuana in public, including at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Cannabis social clubs will be set up from June where marijuana can be sold to members, but the size of these institutions will be limited to 500 members.

The law will apply retroactively so anyone convicted of a cannabis possession offence could have their sentence voided.

State prosecutors in each of the country’s 16 regions have been manually evaluating thousands of cases to see which prisoners should be released ahead of the law coming into force.

In Hamburg, police released 55 prisoners and called off an active manhunt linked to cannabis dealing.

“These cases have top priority,” explained Hamburg prosecutors.

In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia alone 60,000 case files have been analysed, as part of more than 100,000 nationwide.

The partial legalisation almost fell at the final hurdle as conservative states tried to block it over the extra legal work involved, as well as questions about how much cannabis drivers will be allowed to have in their blood-stream.

But the rebellion led by the beer-swilling Bavarian first minister Markus Söder failed to gather enough force and the law passed through the upper chamber.

Mr Söder made it clear that the cannabis social clubs, which are not set to open until July, will be subject to frequent “restrictive” enforcement by state authorities and that weed-smokers “are better off out of Bavaria”.

Some 44 per cent of Germans disagree with the complex legalisation, with only 32 per cent in favour. Karl Lauterbach, the health minister, hailed the law as a “turnaround in drug policy.”