Cannabis ban on the brink: This is how experts react to possible legalization

Created: 11/29/2022, 5:55 am

By: Jannis Gogolin

The federal government wants to make it possible to legally roll a joint by 2024.

© dpa

The federal government aims to legalize hemp containing THC by 2024.

However, there are “countless unanswered questions” on the part of the police.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – The controversial intoxicant tetrahydrocannabinol, THC for short, has been banned in Germany for almost 100 years.

That could change soon.

On the surprising initiative of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the federal government is working on legalizing psychoactive hemp, better known as cannabis, by 2024.

Cannabis ban on the brink: This is how experts react to possible legalization

Jakob Koch, Greens district councilor, municipal councilor and youth officer in Eurasburg, calls it “a great hit”.

He is confident that the initiative will also hit the target, i.e. get cannabis out of the illegal sphere.

"All government parties want it," says Koch.

The only obstacle could be the approval of the Federal Council.

"There will be compromises.

But objectively, nothing stands in the way of the controlled sale of cannabis.

I trust that.”

Read the latest news from the Wolfratshausen/Geretsried region here

Green district councilor Koch wants an open approach to the intoxicant THC

For Koch, there are many arguments against the rigorous ban on the THC-containing plant: cannabis that is too strong or cut on the black market, the “ineffective control of consumption through bans” and the “criminalization of simple consumers”.

In addition, the Green politician criticizes the insufficient education.

"It's never good to ban something for ideological reasons." As with beer and hard alcohol, one must deal with the topic of cannabis openly and without dogmatic prohibitions, says Koch.

Cannabis in traffic: comparison with alcohol only possible to a limited extent

The direct comparison of alcohol and cannabis lags for Chief Inspector Robert Kremer.

He has been a clerk for narcotics at the Geretsried police force since 2004 and is more critical of legalization.

In the case of THC in road traffic in particular, "there are still countless unanswered questions," says Kremer somewhat resignedly.

In order to prove the psychoactive substance, the police still need a blood sample.

Unlike the breath alcohol test, however, this is an "interference with physical integrity" and is significantly more complex for the police and those affected.

"The driver's license office has already contacted us to advise on how to deal with cannabis users.

But we can't offer a solution yet," says the chief inspector.

Police forecast decreasing “awareness of wrongdoing” among young people

Kremer also sees a need for improvement in the protection of minors.

"The awareness of wrongdoing among minors will most likely decrease if everyone else is allowed to consume it," he suspects.

Therein lies a great danger.

Kremer emphasizes that cannabis has been medically proven to be harmful to the brain of adolescents.

"With the status quo, it's just going to be really difficult.

A lot still has to happen there.”

also read

Clock is adjusted: Reliable S7 every 20 minutes

Corona test fraud in a cell phone shop?

Mobile youth work: Legalization could enable more open dealings with consumption

Patrick Schmook from the Geretsried Association for Youth and Social Work can understand both sides.

His job is the so-called "visiting youth work" - that is, approaching young people and young adults, talking to them and, if necessary, supporting them with problems.

Schmook knows the danger emanating from the psychoactive hemp - especially in young people.

However, it often takes a long time for young people to dare to talk about their cannabis use.

"Then there is a potential criminal prosecution, although I have a duty of confidentiality," says the mobile youth worker.

This "taboo" could decrease with legalization and create "more space for prevention and education".

Because according to Schmook's practical experience, "when the penny drops, I don't rat them out to the police,

By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular Wolfratshausen-Geretsried newsletter.