According to Scholz' "Bubatz" information: Holetschek accuses Lauterbach of playing down cannabis
Created: 07/05/2022 14:03
By: Andreas Schmid
Against the legalization of cannabis: the CSU around Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek.
© picture alliance/Tobias Hase/Fabian Sommer (montage)
The CSU firmly rejects cannabis legalization.
Bavaria's Minister of Health is now attacking Scholz and Lauterbach - and is calling for a "rethinking" of the traffic light plans.
Berlin – “Mr. Scholz, when is Bubatz legal?” – ARD journalist Tina Hassel passed this viewer question on to Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the ARD “summer interview”.
She aimed at cannabis legalization.
"Bubatz" is a youth term for a "joint" that is mainly used in the hip-hop scene.
Scholz gave the traffic light promise to legalize cannabis "before the end of this legislative period".
However, the exact date has not yet been set.
The CSU is annoyed by such statements.
Holetschek on cannabis: "Scholz and Lauterbach don't seem to take the dangers seriously"
The Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek now accuses Scholz and Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach of playing down the risks of recreational cannabis use.
"I am watching the course of the cannabis debate with great concern," said Holetschek of the German Press Agency.
“The Chancellor and the Federal Minister of Health do not seem to take the dangers associated with this drug seriously.
But the truth is, consuming cannabis poses a major health risk.”
"In addition to the risk of developing a dependency, the risks include negative effects on memory and on learning and thinking skills," said Holetschek.
The risk of developing a psychotic illness and other psychiatric illnesses is also increased, the minister warned.
In addition, there are currently more important things in health policy than cannabis, such as the preparations for a possible corona wave in autumn.
Cannabis: Ampel wants legalization “for pleasure”
Holetschek called on the federal government to "reconsider the course it has taken".
However, that seems extremely unlikely.
The legalization of cannabis is firmly anchored in the coalition agreement.
"We are introducing the controlled sale of recreational cannabis to adults in licensed outlets," it says under the drug policy section.
In the next sentence, the coalition partners explained the benefits of legalization they expected: "This will control the quality, prevent the transfer of contaminated substances and ensure the protection of minors." In a guest article for Merkur.de
, university professor Justin Haucap
also described the possible economic advantages.
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Cannabis: Union rejects "legalization of illegal drugs".
Like the CDU, the CSU is very critical of legalization.
The term "cannabis" did not appear once in the Union's election program for the federal elections.
Regarding drug policy, however, it said: “We reject the legalization of illegal drugs.
The health consequences for the individual and the effects on the family, environment and society are too great.” Of the parties represented in the Bundestag, only the AfD is pursuing a similar course.
With his statements, Holetschek is close to the position of CSU boss Markus Söder.
He says: "We as the CSU are strictly against the release of cannabis." The last two CSU federal drug commissioners carried this Bavarian line to Berlin: Marlene Mortler (2014 to 2019) and Daniela Ludwig (2019 to 2021) resisted a reform of the drug policy.
SPD successor Burkard Blienert now wants to achieve this.
With the government majority of the traffic light coalition, cannabis legalization is considered very likely.
Despite concerns from Bavaria.
(as with dpa material)
