Stoners need patience - skepticism from the ranks of the police

Created: 12/19/2021 Updated: 12/19/2021, 10:57 AM

Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in Germany.

© Fabian Sommer / dpa

Before the weekend, go to the store to buy some weed.

It will be a while before this becomes a reality in Germany.

Many practical questions are still open - also from the point of view of the police.

Berlin - Before he moved into the Bundestag in 2013, Uli Grötsch was a Bavarian police officer.

It was there that today's SPD politician experienced how young people who were caught with cannabis were blocked from entering the civil service, he says.

That felt wrong to him.

"We have been working on legalizing cannabis for years, that was overdue," says Grötsch.

Grötsch is convinced that the new government of the SPD, Greens and FDP plans to sell cannabis in licensed sales outlets and to decriminalize consumers.

Resources that could be used to step up action against the trafficking of hard drugs like heroin and crystal meth.

Grötsch also expects that the cultivation of hemp plants, which was previously only allowed for medical purposes, "will also be of interest to German farmers".

The most widely consumed illegal drug

Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in Germany. “We take into account the reality of life for millions of Germans,” says Grötsch. The traffic light coalition is in agreement. She plans a “controlled supply of cannabis to adults for consumption in licensed shops”. This would "control the quality, prevent the transfer of contaminated substances and ensure the protection of minors," says the coalition agreement. On the plus side of this controversial issue in society are the expected tax revenues in the billions.

Stephan Thomae, domestic politician of the FDP, emphasizes that the coalition parties are in agreement on the goal.

A “quick shot” is not to be expected here.

Rather, the aim is “thorough, well thought-out legislation”, also to exclude possible undesirable side effects and long-term consequences.

Netherlands no role model

A look at the Netherlands shows that the concept that has been practiced there for decades of allowing sales in so-called coffee shops, but prohibiting cultivation and wholesaling, cannot serve as a model, says Thomae.

Because that plays into the hands of drug gangs.

For the FDP politician it is therefore important: "We also have to create a legal supply chain."

So will there soon be hashish made in Germany, possibly in organic quality?

The coalition will certainly have to talk about the details.

However, the Greens can at least claim that they have already thought about the small print in depth and have made several unsuccessful attempts at it in the Bundestag.

Your draft of a “cannabis control law” from 2018 has 72 pages.

"There will still be dealers"

The police union (GdP) remains skeptical. According to its federal chairman Oliver Malchow, the fact that the black market can be dried up by the controlled sale of cannabis to adults belongs to the realm of the imagination. He is convinced: "There will still be dealers because young people are not allowed to shop in the licensed shops and because cannabis will be more expensive where shop rent is paid and taxes are paid."

Since street sales remain illegal, he does not believe that the planned law will relieve the police, says Malchow.

But what bothers him most is that legalization sends the wrong signal to young people in particular, namely "that cannabis is not that dangerous".

Anyone who counts on success through prevention is unrealistic, because education about drugs is already available in schools today.

How dangerous is cannabis?

"Cannabis use increases the risk of physical and, above all, psychological disorders, can at least temporarily impair brain performance and leads to dependence in every tenth case," says a brochure from the Federal Ministry of Health.

Cannabis can be dangerous, especially for children and adolescents.

Peter Pytlik, state chairman of the GdP in Bavaria, does not want to accept the argument of the traffic light coalitionists that the quality of the drug can be checked if the drug is dispensed in a controlled manner.

He thinks that if you find the effect of the legally offered substance not intoxicating enough, you might end up on the black market after all, where hashish can be had with a higher active ingredient content.

He also sees a problem in schools, "where the 18-year-old then goes shopping for cannabis for the 15- or 16-year-old in the store".

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The German Police Union warns in a position paper: "If cannabis were easily available to everyone, more people would in all probability use the drug - and more people would become dependent." The Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter, on the other hand, can gain something from the legalization plans.

Union faction strictly against cannabis

The Union faction is strictly against cannabis over the counter.

Your domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm (CDU), said: "The hope of relieving the police by legalizing cannabis should turn out to be a fallacy." After all, the cannabis release in the Netherlands "led to a sharp increase in organized crime ".

Since legalization of the drug would presumably also result in more consumption, a decline in black market trade is hardly to be expected.

One of the questions that still have to be clarified before the planned legalization is the ability to drive.

SPD politician Grötsch sees no hurdle there.

He says, analogous to the per mille limit for alcohol, THC limit values ​​in the nanogram range would have to be set here.

In the last electoral term, the left-wing parliamentary group had stated in a motion that the “most commonly used limit of 1.0 ng THC per ml of blood serum” was so low that it was often exceeded days after cannabis consumption, if the ability to drive was no longer noticeable .

The three parties are well aware that the traffic light coalition is breaking new ground with its legalization plans and also taking risks.

After all, it says in the coalition agreement: "We will evaluate the law after four years for social impact." Dpa