When news of a coffee shop a.k.a. ‘cannabis cafe’ opening in Kreuzberg broke in August 2013, arguments for and against legalising marijuana erupted all over Germany. The venue was to be a model to control the sale of weed, said the borough’s mayor, with medical staff and security guards, and it would be located near the notorious Görlitzer Park, where street-dealing was uncontrollable.

A year later, the proposal was mired in drug and youth policy re-examinations, resistance from the federal government and police, and the need for much more public engagement. Meanwhile, pro-legalisation lobbies as the Deutscher Hanf Verband continue their activism; they are pictured above in 2011. ω