The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Legalizing Cannabis: The Pros and Cons of the Big Traffic Light Controversy

2021-11-09T04:25:38.419Z


The traffic light coalition negotiations are ongoing in Berlin. Big topic: the legalization of cannabis. What are the pros and cons? And what do pharmacists say about it?


The traffic light coalition negotiations are ongoing in Berlin.

Big topic: the legalization of cannabis.

What are the pros and cons?

And what do pharmacists say about it?

District - Dr.

Philipp Kircher, spokesman for the pharmacists in the district, sighs audibly when asked about the subject.

“You're early,” he says.

The debate among pharmacists in the county about legalizing cannabis is in full swing.

Nobody can foresee how it will end.

Kircher himself follows them neutrally: "I don't know myself how to decide if the matter should actually be decided."

In particular, the FDP and the Greens are campaigning in the context of the coalition negotiations to legalize cannabis use and distribute it to adults in a controlled manner.

Recently it was repeatedly discussed that the pharmacies should take over this task.

That causes heated discussions among them.

Legalization of cannabis: pharmacists keep their distance

Because, as always with such controversial topics, there are two sides.

On the one hand the pharmacists, who emphasize that they work in a medical profession.

Which means that they do not want to have anything to do with selling to “recreational consumers”.

Cigarettes and schnapps are not for sale in pharmacies either, they argue.

On the other hand, there are those who see a possible sale of cannabis in their pharmacy as an opportunity to dispense the intoxicant at least in a controlled manner, to provide advice and information.

Their argument: they usually know their customers and can point out potentially dangerous interactions between the preparations.

For example, anyone who takes antidepressants should stay away from marijuana, says Kircher.

Video: legalize the pros and cons of the topic

Buying cannabis at the pharmacy: THC-containing flowers are nothing new to most pharmacists

Dealing with the THC-containing flowers themselves is nothing new to most pharmacists, he says.

For some time now, they have been given to patients who have received a prescription from their doctor.

This applies, for example, to people who have multiple sclerosis and for whom cannabis can alleviate the associated spasticity.

Cannabis can also be prescribed for cancer patients who suffer from severe nausea.

The same applies to people who suffer from chronic pain or whose migraines are considered "untreated".

You can all be prescribed medical cannabis by your doctor.

This is dispensed in different ways in pharmacies, explains Kircher.

As a rule, an attempt is first made to provide those affected with capsules or drops that contain the cannabis active ingredient THC (stands for tetrahydrocannabinol).

Cannabis for pain relief: when capsules and drops don't work, flowers are dispensed

If these preparations do not work, cannabis flowers can also be dispensed.

In this context, Kircher points out that the pure flowers have 400 to 500 other ingredients in addition to the said THC, the effects of which have not yet been fully researched.

But you shouldn't imagine that the pharmacist would just roll a joint.

"The health insurance companies attach great importance to the fact that the flowers are not smoked," says Kircher.

Vaporizer instead of joint: This is how medical cannabis distribution works

Instead, patients are given a vaporizer.

This heats the flowers to 180 degrees.

Then the ingredients are activated, the resulting vapors rise and are caught in a balloon.

The patient then inhales this balloon empty, explains the pharmacist's spokesman.

This is not only gentler, the yield is also significantly greater than with the illegal way of simply smoking the intoxicant like a cigarette.

+

Pharmacies are already dispensing cannabis flowers for medical purposes. 

© dpa

In an interview with the local newspaper, Kircher contradicts the popular opinion that cannabis is a “miracle cure” that is guaranteed to help the named patient groups.

"There is currently little solid medical evidence about the effectiveness of cannabis," he says.

In the coming year, the first results of a large study will be presented, then you will know more.

According to his observation, the therapy works very well for some patients, but not at all for others.

Cannabis flowers in the safe: The pharmacies are very expensive

The expense for pharmacies is currently very high when they sell cannabis to patients.

“The flowers are in our safe.

Before we can give them out, we check the THC content of each individual flower, ”reports the pharmacist.

So far, the cannabis has mainly come from Canada and the Netherlands, this year the first German harvest is expected.

Because cannabis can now also be grown in Germany for medical purposes.

With strictly controlled and certified companies.

In Herrsching am Ammersee, "Bavarian Weed" started production in an old bunker, reports Kircher.

But all this only applies to the distribution of cannabis for medical purposes.

He cannot assess whether and how things should really go if the Greens and FDP prevail in the coalition negotiations.

But if you think that the only grass in the Oberland is that on the lush green meadows, you are mistaken, as a call to the police headquarters of Upper Bavaria South quickly makes clear.

Cannabis Legalization: Hundreds of narcotic offenses annually

Last year, a total of 300 “criminal offenses in connection with / of cannabis and preparations” were registered in the Weilheim-Schongau district alone.

According to police chief inspector Martin Emig, the clearance rate was 92.7 percent.

The majority of the registered crimes related to the acquisition or possession of cannabis and preparations - 208 cases in total, 194 of which were cleared up. This is hardly surprising, since the perpetrators are usually caught in the course of controls.

And then you usually have the joint either in your hand or in your pocket.

Cannabis-related offenses: The clearance rate is high

The fact that cannabis cannot currently be acquired or consumed legally means that it is currently only illegally distributed through dealers.

The police headquarters of Upper Bavaria South registered 75 cases of illegal trade and smuggling in the district last year.

Here the clear-up rate at 89.3 percent.

The probability that the perpetrator will be convicted is even higher in the case of illegal distribution, trade and possession in “not small amounts”.

The clearance rate here is 100 percent.

In view of the current situation, concerns are often expressed that young consumers in particular will come into contact not only with cannabis but also with harder drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine through their dealers.

How many of the drug traffickers caught last year had other illegal drugs on offer in addition to cannabis cannot be statistically evaluated, according to Police Chief Inspector Emig.

However, he had an explanation ready that the number of drug offenses in the Weilheim-Schongau district is higher than, for example, in the neighboring Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district.

“The motorway and an important railway line go through the Weilheim-Schongau district.

That is why the border police are often on duty here and often discover drug offenses as part of their controls, ”said Emig in an interview with the local newspaper.

Pros and cons of cannabis legalization: "Nobody knows what they are buying" - "Crimes against young people"

Katharina von Platen, Green Party politician from Penzberg:

“I work in a law firm - it is simply unbelievable how much work and money the countless criminal proceedings for possession of tiny amounts of marijuana cost.

Cannabis is a drug like alcohol or tobacco.

And just like the latter two, cannabis use must be regulated.


It is important to know what you are buying, to be sure that the cannabis is being dispensed in a controlled quality.

This is currently not possible.

Nobody knows how strong the cannabis is at the dealer, whether it has been blended or contains other ingredients.


I therefore advocate the controlled distribution to adults. As with tobacco or alcohol, children and young people must be protected.


I find the idea of ​​dispensing cannabis via pharmacies in the future charming, as it is a proven infrastructure that is available nationwide. It would just have to be clarified whether this task would be affordable for the pharmacists. In this context, it would also be important that the use of cannabis be decriminalized. Nobody can understand that, for example, educators or nurses who are caught drinking a joint lose their job, but it is not a problem if they put a case of beer in their heads during the same period of time. The tax revenues associated with legalization would certainly be the icing on the cake for the federal budget - but that must not be the reason why this debate must finally take place.

Thomas Loy, detective from Weilheim:

“I have been working as a police officer in drug control for 34 years. Legalizing cannabis would be a disaster for youth and society. If adults are all allowed to smoke weed, it is perfectly clear that the children will want to try it out sooner or later. It used to be the same: when your parents smoked and drank a beer in the evening, you wanted to do the same as a teenager.

Even the debate about the release of cannabis is very harmful.

Because it gives the impression that consumption is completely harmless.

It is a crime against our youth.

The billions in tax revenue that the Greens and FDP dream of through the legalization of cannabis will by no means be used for climate protection.


Instead, the money will be spent on the cost of treating a stoned and stupid people.

The cannabis problem cannot be dealt with solely through repression.


Significantly more prevention work is needed than it is today.

But just to say that we have never got the abuse of alcohol and tobacco under control, should the people get another legal drug, is bold.


The argument that the police and public prosecutor's office would be relieved by legalizing the possession and sale of cannabis does not apply either.

With this justification, we could also allow murder and manslaughter, robbery and theft - then we police officers would have even more freedom.

That is just nonsense. "

Background on cannabis legalization:

Cannabis is actually nothing more than the Latin word for hemp.

In Germany and many other countries, however, the term cannabis is often used extensively for hemp plants and THC-containing products of the plant.

The dried flowers of the female hemp plant are called marijuana or grass.

The “resin” of the plant, with its high concentrations of THC, CBD and other cannabinoids, sits on the glandular hairs on these flowers.

Hashish is the collected and mostly pressed "resin" of the hemp plant.

It can be obtained not only from the flowers, but also from leaves covered with resins.

In Germany, the supply and consumption of cannabis has so far only been allowed for medical purposes.


SOURCE: GERMAN HEMP ASSOCIATION

You can

read

more news

from the region here.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-11-09

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-13T13:12:23.145Z
News/Politics 2024-02-05T05:30:44.949Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.