As of: February 5, 2024, 4:44 p.m
By: Nils Hinsberger
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The traffic light government agrees on cannabis legalization.
The president of the medical association criticizes the project - and accuses Lauterbach of negligence.
Berlin – It has been decided that cannabis legalization will come into force on April 1st.
What is a reason for joy for some is a great annoyance for others. The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, together with representatives from medicine, education and the police, signed a letter that showed all supporters of the release of cannabis the risks that could arise as a result.
The signatories of the letter contradict the arguments of legalization supporters and the traffic light coalition.
Contrary to their arguments, legalization is said to cause significantly more problems than solutions.
The signatories want to refute pro-arguments, such as the possibility of better protection of minors or decreasing drug crime.
In an interview with the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
(
FAZ
), Reinhardt explains the arguments of opponents of legalization.
Will the protection of minors fall by the wayside with cannabis legalization?
The traffic light coalition is well aware of the allegations that legalization poses particular risks for young people.
The Ministry of Health website deals in detail with the question of how young people should be protected if cannabis is legalized.
To this end, they want to further criminalize passing on information to minors.
In addition, the active ingredient content in cannabis will be reduced for young people between 18 and 21 years of age and the permitted amount will be limited to 30 grams per month.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach at the federal press conference on the cannabis law in August.
The SPD minister presented a campaign that educates young people about the risks of consumption.
© IMAGO/Frederic Kern
Reinhardt seems unconvinced and assumes that Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is ignoring the knowledge that “cannabis use before brain maturation is complete in the middle of the third decade can cause permanent damage.”
Reinhardt considers this approach to be “extremely negligent”.
In addition, Lauterbach would have warned about the “health risks caused by cannabis use” before taking up his ministerial post.
On the subject of youth protection, the joint letter to the federal government states that the proposed prevention measures for young people are too small-scale to be implemented.
Releasing marijuana for recreational purposes would also “lead to a normalization of cannabis consumption in the perception of children and young people”.
Observations in other countries also show that consumption among young people increases after legalization.
Reinhardt calls traffic light cannabis legalization “unworldly”
Reinhardt also doesn't see that legalization will counteract drug crime.
He told the
FAZ
that there was still a “significant black market” in Canada, for example, where cannabis is already legally available.
“How unworldly and stubborn do you have to be to not want to believe all this?” said Reinhardt in an interview.
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Burkhard Blienert (SPD), the federal government's drug commissioner, clearly sees it differently.
“It doesn’t help anyone at all to stigmatize something because it’s undesirable.
The problem won’t go away,” he said in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
According to the drug commissioner, critics have to admit that “cannabis in Germany is not only consumed by a few people, but by several million people.”
According to the medical president, alcohol is not an argument for cannabis legalization
The often-made comparison that alcohol is a much more dangerous drug than cannabis is not an argument for Reinhardt. He recognizes that alcohol carries a very high risk, but that is “no reason for it to be another drug with the potential for harm to legalize it,” said Reinhardt.
In the majority of cases, people would not consume alcohol with the aim of becoming intoxicated anyway.
According to the President of the Medical Association, this represents a “qualitative difference to the use of drugs such as cannabis”.
But alcohol consumption in Germany doesn't seem to be that harmless.
Blienert considers the everyday nature of alcohol to be a major problem, “especially for young people”.
The assumption that Germany does not have an alcohol problem is reflected in the fact that drinking is permitted at the age of 14 in the presence of parents.
Blienert is therefore calling for uniform rules for all addictive substances.
This means: cannabis, tobacco and alcohol from 18.
In the letter to the federal government, the signatories call for more prevention work instead of approval.
“The Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) can make a valuable contribution to prevention with its digital behavioral prevention offering,” the letter says.
Blienert also advocates more protection and preventive measures.
According to the drug commissioner, this would be even better if the drug was decriminalized.
“Especially with young people who have already tried it, you can hardly talk openly about the drug at school or in youth work because criminal law is always involved,” says Blienert.
(nhi)