Recipes for 120 euros!

Munich doctor prescribed cannabis to more than 500 patients - now he has to go to jail

Created: 2022-02-09 21:35

By: Andreas Thieme

A police officer holds small bags of marijuana in her hands.

© Christophe Gateau/dpa/symbol image

These recipes didn't pay off!

Because a Munich doctor illegally prescribed cannabis to his patients for money, he has to go behind bars.

The district court sentenced him to three and a half years.

Munich – Hard consequences for a Munich doctor!

The 19th Criminal Chamber of the Munich I District Court sentenced the accused Rolf M. (68) to a total of three years and six months in prison.

He was charged with 539 counts of illegal commercial prescription of narcotics and possession of a pistol.

The court also imposed a professional ban on the defendant, prohibiting him from practicing medicine insofar as this involves the prescription of narcotics.

Proceeds of the crime amounting to 47,700 euros were also confiscated.

The Chamber saw it as proven that the defendant, who last had a medical practice in Munich as a registered doctor, prescribed marijuana to patients in 539 cases in the period from March 1, 2017 to October 4, 2018, although no therapeutic marijuana was used in these patients there was a need for this.

Since an amendment to the Narcotics Act, which went into effect on March 10, 2017, physicians can prescribe cannabis to their patients if their use is justified, without the intended purpose being able to be achieved in any other way.

Prescribing cannabis is therefore only permissible if the doctor has determined on the basis of his own examination that the use of the respective narcotic is suitable and necessary from a medical point of view in order to achieve a therapy goal that is within the scope of the doctor's healing mandate.

Munich: The doctor presented his patients with the drug without their own examination

During the hearing of evidence, the court found that the defendant prescribed cannabis to his patients without his own examination and diagnosis.

On the basis of the evidence taken, the chamber came to the conclusion that the practice rooms maintained by the accused were not equipped in such a way that he was able to carry out an examination and make a proper diagnosis.

The court was convinced that it was important for the accused to obtain a permanent source of income.

According to the findings, the accused agreed with his patients for a payment of €120 for the first prescription of cannabis or €150 from 2018 and a payment of €60 for each subsequent prescription.

According to the results of the hearing of evidence, the accused met his patients in various restaurants and cafés in Munich for prescriptions.

He achieved total proceeds of €47,740.

Judgment in Munich: The drug doctor was even in possession of a pistol

The Trial Chamber further considered it proven that the defendant owned a pistol for which he did not have a gun license.

When sentencing, the defendant was assessed against the fact that he grossly violated his duties as a doctor when prescribing the prescriptions.

The court assumed that the uncontrolled prescription of cannabis is generally capable of causing significant health risks for the recipient of the prescription.

In favor of the defendant, who had no criminal record, the chamber evaluated the voluntary waiver of the license to practice medicine and his confession, which was based on an understanding of guilt and remorse.

The court also took into account the fact that the accused had agreed to the informal confiscation of the weapon seized.