Enlarge image
Marijuana for medical use in San Francisco (archive image)
Photo: Eric Risberg / AP
If legalized, German pharmacies would be ready to sell cannabis under certain conditions.
"To be very clear: We are not trying to sell cannabis in our pharmacies in the future," said the President of the Federal Association of German Pharmacists' Associations (ABDA), Gabriele Regina Overwiening, the editorial network Germany.
"In the event of legalization, however, we are convinced that only pharmacies can guarantee the highest level of safety for consumers."
If politicians ask pharmacies to sell, it will be "difficult to refuse us," continues Overwiening.
However, she called for a sale only from the age of 18 as well as control mechanisms that only allowed the purchase of a defined amount of cannabis in a certain time.
Overwiening referred to the example of Switzerland, where an electronic reporting system only allows a certain total amount of cannabis to be purchased per month. It will also be crucial to be able to obtain clean cannabis with a defined content of active ingredients from safe sources. “That speaks in favor of state cultivation.” The head of the association also demanded that, due to possible concerns, no pharmacist should be obliged to sell cannabis.
The debate about the legalization of cannabis in Germany has gained momentum again against the background of the possible traffic light coalition.
The FDP and the Greens are in favor of legalization, the SPD had initially advocated a “regulated fee” to adults in model projects that are accompanied by prevention and counseling offers.
The three parties did not provide any information on this in their exploratory paper.
dab / dpa