Conservative state-level ministers in Germany have criticized what they call a loophole in the country's recently enacted marijuana legalization law.
The new law has created problems for prosecuting people who illegally import narcotics, because certain types of evidence is no longer admissible in German courts, the justice ministers from the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin said in a joint statement.
All are members of the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc, which is the main opposition party in Germany's national parliament.
In early April, a regional court ruled that encrypted chats seized by police could not be used as evidence against a man accused of smuggling a total of 450 kilograms of marijuana into Germany. The court cited provisions in the new Cannabis Act.
Germany's highest appeals court for criminal matters, the Federal Court of Justice, has not yet ruled on the issue.
The German Association of Judges also expressed support for the proposed changes. The group's leader, Sven Rebehn, said the new Cannabis Act is causing considerable legal uncertainty.
"We are now seeing regulatory loopholes that many experts warned about during the legislative process," he said.
The government should not turn a blind eye to the proposed changes, he said: "After all, the declared aim of the Cannabis Act is to curb organized drug crime and dry up the black market, not to make business easier for dealers."
The Justice Ministry has previously defended its position by saying that the methods used by law enforcement had to be proportionate to the crime. A spokeswoman described telecommunications surveillance and online searches as "very intrusive investigative measures" that are only permissible in the case of serious or particularly serious offences.
