Entrepreneurs want a marijuana Amazon – CSU on the other hand: “Speaks even more strongly against legalization”
Created: 07.12.2022, 17:00
By: Andreas Schmid
Cannabis entrepreneur Niklas Kouparanis says: "Online trading is essential for successful legalization." © Bloomwell Group/fkn
Cannabis entrepreneurs are calling for online trading if legalized.
Buying hemp should be “as easy as texting the dealer”.
The CSU criticized the idea.
Munich – If the federal government has its way, not only patients should be allowed to consume cannabis in the future, but all adults.
As stipulated in the coalition agreement, the traffic light plans the “controlled sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops”.
The first cannabis entrepreneurs also want to expand sales to the digital market.
It is unclear whether the plan has a chance: the Ministry of Health is reluctant to react, the Union is completely against it.
Cannabis online shops?
"The purchase should be as easy as shopping for shoes"
There are already a few online pharmacies for medical cannabis.
"But we are miles away from nationwide coverage," says Janett Dalka.
She is President of Breezy Brands, a medical cannabis company.
"Chronically ill patients have so far been expected to make an odyssey from pharmacy to pharmacy." Dalka therefore wants to make redeeming a cannabis prescription "as easy as possible".
A new online marketplace for cannabis pharmacies will be launched on Wednesday, which is intended to trump the previous digital offerings in terms of product selection and service.
"We want to deliver all available cannabis strains to your doorstep in 72 hours," Dalka continues.
The project is considered a field test for a digital cannabis shop for the whole of Germany.
Kind of an Amazon for marijuana.
"Buying cannabis online should be just as easy as shopping for shoes or sporting goods online," says Dalka.
An ambitious project in view of the legal situation and the reservations on the part of politicians.
Traffic light wants to check online trade – CSU man sees “insubstantial debate”
The Ministry of Health has so far expressed reluctance to sell marijuana online.
A request from
IPPEN.MEDIA
initially went unanswered.
The Federal Government's key issues paper states that digital trade will be examined.
It is also about the protection of minors.
Dalka sees no obstacle in this.
There are already identification procedures that consumers can use to prove that they are of legal age without any doubt.
The ID must not only be shown when purchasing, but also when the mail is handed over.
Whether and to what extent online or mail-order sales to private individuals should be allowed by officially authorized shops requires further examination at the latest in the context of the evaluation.
Key issues paper of the federal government on cannabis legalization, page 12
The Union, meanwhile, remains critical.
The political spokesman for the CSU state group for health policy, Stephan Pilsinger, speaks at
IPPEN.MEDIA
of an "insubstantial legalization debate" due to the previously uncertain legal situation.
The online trade in cannabis "argues even more strongly against legalization," says the CSU man from Munich.
"This would accelerate the dynamics of the uncontrolled circulation of cannabis through much heavier surveillance at the Schengen borders."
Munich CSU politician Stephan Pilsinger has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2017.
The physician is a member of the health committee.
© Christoph Hardt/Imago
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Cannabis in the online shop?
“As easy as texting the dealer”
The entrepreneurs, who expect massive sales gains in the event of legalization, see it differently.
Niklas Kouparanis, head of the Bloomwell Group, to which Breezy Brands belongs, says: "Online trading is essential for successful legalisation".
The cannabis entrepreneur refers, for example, to curbing the black market in rural areas.
Digital shipping is needed in places where fewer licensed specialist shops are opened.
Otherwise, private consumers would continue to purchase cannabis illegally.
"It must be just as easy for consumers to order online as it is to send an SMS to the dealer around the corner," says Kouparanis.
Similar prices are also needed to prevent scenarios like those in Canada or California.
Despite legalization, it is significantly cheaper there to buy on the black market.
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