Holzkirchner member of the Bundestag Karl Bär (Greens) explains why it is still unclear how the planned cannabis release in the Miesbach district can be implemented.
Holzkirchen – Member of the Bundestag Karl Bär (Greens) can well imagine Holzkirchen and the district of Miesbach as model regions for the cannabis trade: “Our area is rural, but very prosperous,” said Bär when asked.
If you want to draw scientific knowledge from the model projects, regions with different characteristics would have to be selected in order to be able to compare them.
However, Bär assumes that there are many applicants for model region status: "I think there is a lot of demand."
Bär cannot yet say what the model project could look like and where the cannabis clubs that the federal government's key issues paper on the legalization of cannabis envisages (we reported) could open.
You will only know more details when the draft laws for the clubs and the model projects are available.
Bär expects the former to be available before the summer break, the latter after.
For example, it is still unclear how many clubs may be founded in Holzkirchen.
According to Bär, the permissible number should depend on the population density – the ratio has not yet been defined.
It is also still unclear who is authorized to lead a club.
According to Baer, it is intended that interested parties must submit a reliability check.
The clubs will probably also have to register in a kind of population register.
"There will definitely be some form of regulation," says Bär.
According to the key issues paper, the state authorities should be responsible for the control.
It is also questionable what cannabis will cost in the clubs.
The clubs are not allowed to work for profit, but only to cover costs, which excludes expensive prices.
On the other hand, Bär points out that pricing affects accessibility, especially for young people: "The increase in the price of tobacco has demonstrably led to fewer young people smoking," says Bär.
For this reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns Germany again and again because schnapps is far too cheap in this country.
"You can buy really hard alcohol from us for a few euros," says Bär.
He assumes that the clubs are financed by a basic fee for their members and a variable amount depending on the amount of cannabis sold.
According to Bär, the maximum permissible amount of 50 grams per month is not small.
"Anyone who consumes a gram a day is already one of the hard stoners."
Overall, Bär is satisfied with the key issues paper - even if he would have liked a clearer increase in the THC limit for industrial hemp - for example for the production of clothing, oil and spreads.
This does not serve consumer protection, but prevents hemp farmers from declaring recreational hemp as industrial hemp.
However, this is also guaranteed with higher THC levels, after all, in the case of industrial hemp, only the non-THC-containing parts of the plant are used anyway.
Currently, a hemp harvest is lost if it exceeds a certain value - to the detriment of the farmers.
However, in the district of Miesbach, with its large proportion of grassland, the cultivation of industrial hemp does not play a major role, says Bär.
The advantage of legalization is, on the one hand, the dismantling of existing criminal structures in the drug trade and, on the other hand, the decriminalization of potheads who have been convicted of small amounts.
"This also relieves the judiciary, which has to deal with a large number of such procedures," Bär is convinced.
Our Holzkirchen newsletter keeps you regularly informed about all the important stories from your region.
Sign up here.