If you have spent a considerable amount of time in politics then you know that a classic tactic to build public pressure during political negotiations is to leak details to the media. After all, it’s one thing to negotiate a measure out of public view, but often an entirely different matter when the public gets to weigh in.
International cannabis observers already got to see the tactic in action back in October 2022 when an alleged draft of German Minister Karl Lauterbach’s legalization plan was leaked to the media and it resulted in considerable public outcry against certain provisions of the plan. Later in the month when Minister Lauterbach made his historic presentation to Germany’s federal cabinet the plan had evolved for the better, and it’s a safe bet that public outcry had something to do with that.
