Cannabis legalization splits the county

Created: 03/11/2022, 08:00

By: Uta Künkler

Pleasure from a bag: If the traffic light parties have their way, the consumption of cannabis will soon be legal.

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Not only praise can be heard in the district of Erding for the plans of the traffic light coalition to legalize cannabis.

Critics fear that the drug will be played down.

We asked experts for their assessment.

Erding

– Cannabis was approved for medicinal purposes five years ago.

Now the traffic light coalition in Berlin are planning legalization as a luxury food for adults.

The sale is not legal yet.

Cannabis plays the leading role in drug statistics.

Is it time to stop punishing drug use and trafficking?

We asked experts from the district for their opinion.

The Hemp Seller

I've been fighting for cannabis legalization since 2013.

It has been scientifically proven that of all the drugs known to us - including alcohol, nicotine and sugar - it causes the least damage to the body.

The biggest dangers posed by cannabis are the black market and illegality - both consequences of current legislation.

Artificial fertilizers are used in illegal cultivation.

To gain weight, the goods are sprayed with hairspray.

These impurities are harmful to health.

Legalization could bring more control.

With the officially cultivated crops, the situation is quite different, since a quality standard can be maintained.

Buying recreational cannabis legally from licensed specialty stores gives us comprehensive advice and minimizes the risk of mis-dosing or over-dosing.

The dealer, on the other hand, does not give me reasonable advice.

One problem is the criminalization of consumers.

Of course, as with alcohol, there are people who consume too much.

The junkies are locked up in prison, but actually need doctors and psychologists to help them.

As do the alcoholics in rehab.

(Jerry Cerveny, owner of "Hanf - Bioladen" in Erding with legal hemp products)

The police

A release unfolds a fatal signal effect from adults to young people.

It may seem as if the drug isn't all that dangerous because it's legal to purchase.

A sinking inhibition threshold can be assumed.

Obtaining alcohol over the age of 18, for example, is made easier for young people.

also read

Minister of Education Piwarz warns against cannabis legalization

Minister of Education Christian Piwarz has spoken out strictly against the planned release of cannabis.

"God knows we have other problems in schools than triggering additional pressure on schools to act with the legalization of another drug," said the CDU politician to the German Press Agency on Tuesday.

Educational work and drug prevention are already taking up a lot of space in schools.

Minister of Education Piwarz warns against cannabis legalization

Cannabis clearance yes or no?

"Hash is smoked in all classes"

The traffic light coalition wants to legalize cannabis.

In Bavaria, too, there would then be freely sold marijuana.

However, many questions remain unanswered.

Cannabis clearance yes or no?

"Hash is smoked in all classes"

There is a risk that certified cannabis sales outlets and their surroundings could develop as contact points for drug addicts.

Cannabis use can also have a negative impact on traffic.

The number of drug-related accidents has risen by almost 70 percent in the past ten years.

(Rainer Kroschwald, Chief Police Officer and Head of the Erding Police Inspectorate)

The partial legalization of cannabis is absolutely the wrong way.

I caution against "soft-talking" about cannabis, as the health hazards and social strife that drug use poses is an unmanageable risk.

Cannabis is addictive and a gateway drug.

The tasks of the police will not be reduced by the legalization of cannabis, even if this is wrongly stated again and again in this context.

Rather, an increase in consumers can be assumed, with all the associated health and social consequences.

The assumption that this is fighting the black market is simply wrong, because drugs such as cannabis continue to be sold to minors.

In addition, an increased consumption of cannabis and thus also an increase in criminal offenses and traffic accidents under the influence of drugs are to be expected as a result of the release.

Attacks on police officers under the influence of alcohol and drugs are already increasing.

(Florian Leitner, deputy state chairman of the police union and chief inspector in Erding)

The medic

As an addiction doctor, I consider the legalization of cannabis to be a mistake, as well as the restricted approval as a drug by the Bundestag in 2017. The legalization sends the wrong signal in the direction of trivialization.

Cannabis is not healthy.

Cannabis use promotes many more diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, addiction and suicidality and is embryotoxic.

In states that have legalized cannabis, the incidence of adolescents with problem cannabis use is a quarter higher than in states without legalization.

The legalization of cannabis endangers the youth and contributes to impoverishment.

Legalization will not dry up the illegal cannabis market either.

Rather, the legal and illegal markets continue to exist side by side, so the range is expanded.

I could envision decriminalizing cannabis possession to reduce the cost of law enforcement.

However, this does not correspond to legalization and is done for regulatory, not medical, reasons.

And to put it bluntly: Alcohol is also a dangerous drug.

But even that is not an argument for legalization.

(Dr. Bertram Schneeweiß, Chief Physician kbo-Klinik Taufkirchen)

The pharmacist

The law on the medical use of cannabis of 2017 created the legal requirements for prescribing and dispensing medicinal products containing cannabinoids.

However, dispensing requires specialist knowledge and individual advice and support for the patient in the pharmacy.

In our three pharmacies in Erding, Ebersberg and Munich, we advise more than 100 patients every month on the subject of medical cannabis and the aspects of indication, use, dosage, product selection, storage and side effects.

If the politicians in this country now ask the pharmacies to take over the delivery, since they are represented nationwide, have laboratories and safes for problematic substances, have experience in the delivery of cannabis and advise people accordingly, then it will be difficult for pharmacies to do this withdraw request.

The legalized sale of cannabis through licensed and interested pharmacies would be advocated.

However, since there are also legitimate concerns, no pharmacy should be obliged to sell.

(Dr. Bernd Grünberg, owner of the pharmacy in West Erding Park)

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