As of: February 27, 2024, 4:46 a.m
By: Wolfgang Hauskrecht
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Not satisfied: Jakob Richter and Werner Degenhardt (right) from the Cannabis Social Club Munich.
© Marcus Schlaf
On Friday, the Bundestag passed the cannabis law.
But even before legalization comes into force, supporters of the intoxicating hemp plant are also disillusioned.
Munich – Jakob Richter sits on the first floor of “Alis Superfood” on Marienplatz.
Even if he smoked weed here, you would hardly notice it, the smell of kebab hangs so heavily in the air.
“Has four minus failed yet?” he asks at the other end of the table.
Werner Degenhardt, a co-founder of the Cannabis Social Club Munich (CSC), sits there.
Shake your head.
“Well then a four minus,” says Richter.
That means: The law legalizing cannabis is better than nothing - but no more.
Cannabis friends: tobacco, alcohol and sugar are much more dangerous
Jakob Richter, 47, and Werner Degenhardt, 71, belong to the part of the population who do not see cannabis as a major danger.
They also don't like to talk about drugs, preferring instead to talk about a substance.
Above all, 71-year-old Werner, who says he doesn't consume cannabis at all, gushes when it comes to the female hemp plant from which the drug is extracted.
The fears, he says gesturing, are “as real as the fear of a holidaymaker in Mallorca of being eaten by a shark.” Tobacco, alcohol and sugar are much more dangerous.
It's an eternal debate that the two hoped would cool with legalization.
No more stigmatization and criminalization of cannabis users.
But the “CanG”, as the law is called in short, has sobered them up quite a bit.
The only really positive thing, says Degenhardt, is that cannabis is no longer included in the Narcotics Act.
“This is very important – to protect the personal development of many young people, to end baseless criminal prosecution.” No more burdened biographies because of a bag of cannabis in your pocket.
Traffic light government promised tax in shops
But that was it with praise for the traffic light government.
“We were promised that it would be delivered to shops,” says Richter.
“Just like there are wine shops,” adds Degenhardt.
Dispensing cannabis through controlled channels would have been the sensible approach, he emphasizes.
“Then I know exactly what’s in it because a laboratory has tested it and I get advice.”
Distribution to adults in licensed shops – this was also stated in the coalition agreement.
Adults are now allowed to grow three plants privately, carry 25 grams with them and harvest 50 grams per month.
For adolescents (18 to 21) it is 30 grams with limited THC content.
But none of this may be passed on to others – not even for free.
The black market will probably not be suppressed by law
Or you become a member of a growers' association - which is a real marathon.
Just being a member is not possible.
You have to actively participate and register.
In addition, each association may only have 500 members, make no profit and produce a maximum of what the members are allowed to consume.
The rest must be destroyed.
And so it goes: Minors are not allowed to come closer than 200 meters to the cultivation area, so fences and surveillance are needed.
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And cultivation areas tend to be in the countryside, to which members then have to drive to pick up their cannabis - in order to consume it elsewhere.
Because consumption in the club is prohibited.
Werner Degenhardt puts it this way: “Basically, it is a law that makes cultivation difficult.
Only the black market knows the pleasant side of consumption and cultivation.” One thing is certain for both of them: The black market will not be pushed back to the extent that would have been possible with specialist shops.
Mandatory reporting is a concern
They are also concerned about the reporting requirement that members of growing associations are subject to.
Degenhardt uses the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the fox and the geese: “When there is a change of government, the fox says to the goose: Oh, I got you all nicely together so that I can eat you.”
But the truth is that the club is already looking for acreage – and has found it.
“The property is already there.
We could start tomorrow,” confirms Richter.
Where exactly, he prefers to keep to himself.
A large warehouse in the north of Munich, with connection to water and electricity.
From personal.
“We also had inquiries from farmers in the Augsburg area who said: Hey, I have an old greenhouse – don’t you want to?” Degenhardt smiles and says: “The Bavarian farmer has significantly less reservations about cannabis than the father of the country.”
It is unclear, says Richter, whether the CSC itself can set up a cultivation association or whether a natural person must do so.
Many questions are still unanswered.
“We first need the text of the law and legal advice.
Ultimately, a cultivation association works like a medium-sized company that produces and tests medical technology.” But with volunteers.
The costs and the entrepreneurial risk are high.
Jakob Richter: “Law badly done, but still a start”
The Cannabis Social Club is not hoping for any help from the Free State of Bavaria - on the contrary.
“We expect that bigger obstacles will be put in our way than in other federal states,” says Richter.
Even the founding of the club in March 2023 was a hurdle.
“When we wanted to enter the association register, they read the word cannabis and said: Yes, how?
Cannabis?
That's forbidden!
We went all the way to the Higher Regional Court.
That then allowed us to found the club.”
Finally, one more thing is important to Werner Degenhardt.
“It's not about cultivating cannabis on a mass scale now, but about getting the plant out of the dirty corner.” Jakob Richter also wants to continue to fight for this.
“The law is badly made, but I don't want to completely badmouth it.
Because it is still a beginning.”
(Wolfgang Hauskrecht)