As many Americans start the day making plans for Halloween 2017, the folks here in Germany have the day off of work to celebrate the 500-year anniversary of Martin Luther’s project to reform German society.

Surprisingly, the newspapers today also announced Chancellor Angela Merkel’s intentions, along with her new coalition partners called the “Jamaican coalition”, to consider legalizing marijuana.

Seems an unintended benefit of the AfD’s (Germany’s far right political party) victories in the last elections, is that the CDU (Germany’s liberal conservative political party) ruling party is now more receptive to working with those with divergent views in order to maintain their leadership position.

Could this really be the start of the reformation of the 20^th century drug laws in Germany and beyond?

Has the work of the DHV (the German Hemp Association) in Berlin and their partners finally started to pay dividends?

Was the signing of the Berlin Peace Accords (www.berlinpeaceaccords.de), which begins with  “We the people of the Year 2017 do hereby declare that it is our inalienable basic human right to have the freedom to grow, medicate and enjoy the plant we call cannabis, without any governmental limitations. We demand our plant has no more regulations or limitations than a tomato plant…..”

Could this really have been the precursor to this historic moment?

Good questions – time will tell. But for sure, our collective efforts as cannabis business executives are starting to pay dividends.

The month of October had started off with over 350 doctors, scientists, investors and industry professionals waking up in view of the massive Cologne Cathedral, which is truly an amazing sight to see in person. The International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines’ (IACM) conference was held in downtown Cologne, bringing together experts from Canada, Australia, Germany, and other countries throughout the world.

Their website is www.cannabis-med.org. The take-aways? The idea that marijuana has no medicinal value was pretty much fully debunked, and the breath and quantity of existing clinical trials on our plant is amazing.

Meeting Josh Stanley, whose company has arguably helped more medical marijuana patients than anyone, was a privilege.  CW Hemp’s team continues to lead the industry in many ways.. and, additionally, they are simply very cool people.

Later in the month, the folks from the regulatory and compliance organization ASTM came to Berlin for a two day intensive session for their new “Technical Committee D37 on Cannabis” section.

You know we are becoming a real industry when two days are spent talking only about compliance-related issues. Half the group was from Germany, including executives from the first licensed marijuana testing facility located within Germany, and scientists from the University of Berlin currently working on marijuana clinical trials.

Also in attendance were a few of the leading homegrown companies on the front lines including ABCann Germany, MH Hemp, Pedanois, and two guys who reminded me of what a young Ed Rosenthal would be like.

So as November, 2017, begins, many of us will meet in Berlin this weekend for the first annual DHV Convention. Their website is https://hanfverband.de and they are unequivocally the leading organization for marijuana reform in Germany today.

This convention will probably confirm these four truths of the marijuana landscape in Germany today:

1. Canadian firms are kicking butt! They understand the requirement of GMP certification, their government is supportive of providing qualified companies an export license for their THC-based products, and their executives are damn smart.
2. German firms are coming of age, and they are intelligent and committed. The first DHV convention will be highlighting the work of patient advocates, industry professionals, knowledgeable physicians and forward-looking politicians involved in building this new industry within the German borders.
3. The European, South American, African, Israeli and Australian firms are all actively making plans to succeed. Governments, investors, and executives from throughout the world are looking at Germany and making their plans to enter the European market with its 750+ million potential customers.  They are forming strategic partnerships, investing in commercial facilities, and making Europe a priority for 2018.
4. The USA is an abysmal no-show in the game. America started the war on marijuana last century, and somehow tries to keep the war alive today. Scientist, stoners and society have evolved quite a bit since the 1930s. The Germans have taken note, and have changed course in their direction. Their people will be better off as a result.

Is it now time for President Trump to get religion and start his own marijuana reformation project?