As of: March 6, 2024, 6:19 p.m
By: Sabina Brosch
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The JU Haar invited people to the small theater for a cannabis information evening.
The discussion included (from left) Dr.
Marc Weidenbusch, internist and emergency medicine specialist, Nevio Zuber, chairman of the Munich-Land Student Union, Anna Haller from JU Haar, Werner Degenhardt, Cannabis Social Club Munich, and Dr.
Ulrich Zimmermann, chief physician for psychiatry and psychotherapy with a focus on addiction medicine at the kbo.
© sab
Doctors see the legalization of cannabis as an opportunity to reach consumers with smart and sensible rules.
A student representative, however, warns of uncertain consequences.
Hair – From April 1st, possession of cannabis could go unpunished.
Who wants that?
And does that make sense?
The Haarer JU invited doctors, addiction specialists, a representative of the student union and a cannabis cultivation club to a fact check.
Around 70 interested people came.
It was a constructive event.
“Finally free from populist exchanges,” said Volker Merz.
The man from Haar sat as a listener in the small theater and admits to occasionally smoking weed among young people, “nothing excessive”.
Even now, four decades later, “I allow myself a bag now and then.”
He is there because he is interested in the opinions of doctors, and he himself is “extremely ambivalent about this topic.”
“Only then will they change their behavior”
Neither Ulrich Zimmermann, chief physician for psychiatry and psychotherapy with a focus on addiction medicine at the kbo, nor Marc Weidenbusch, an internist and emergency physician, gave a clear “yes” or “no” to the legalization of cannabis.
“Both have advantages but also disadvantages,” said Zimmermann.
In any case, the ban has shown that “it does not stop young people from smoking weed”.
So how to prevent as much damage as possible, “because that’s what it’s all about”.
Legalization could be an opportunity to reach those affected with smart and sensible rules and to use educational work to encourage them to “do something differently, change their perspective,” said Zimmermann.
“People have to want that, only then will they change their behavior.”
THC, for example, is not as addictive as nicotine, cannabis is not the gateway drug, "it's nicotine and alcohol," said internist Weidenbusch.
International comparisons have shown that not much changes with legalization.
“Young people don’t start smoking weed just because it’s legalized.
Those who smoke early often end up consuming something else later,” said Zimmermann.
Rather, young people should learn how to handle cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis.
If cannabis is a criminal offense, young people don't dare to talk about it.
“If there are no legal consequences, there is a greater chance that he will seek help,” says the addiction doctor.
Weidenbusch sees the advantage of approved sales outlets in that dealers who sell cannabis out of the left pocket and coke out of the right pocket become superfluous.
Munich is the transshipment point for diluted, especially synthetic cannabis, which becomes addictive much more quickly.
Dispensaries could be an alternative for “good” cannabis.
It's about personal responsibility
Zimmermann was critical of the positive effect cited by Werner Degenhardt from the Cannabis Social Club Munich that the state would no longer have to spend money on criminal prosecutions and could regulate the market and benefit from it.
“The economic aspect should not be a consideration.
It is important that no new industry is created that advertises with large advertising campaigns. Instead, every cent saved must be used to “educate people about the responsible use of addictive substances,” says Weidenbusch.
The drop-off points could do valuable work here.
“The planned law is tough on what a cultivation club has to do.
If they can manage that, I’m sure they can manage the consultation too.”
Nevio Zuber (20), chairman of the student union, is “worried about tomorrow’s society and state, the unforeseeable consequences and effects on young people.”
Because legalization would suggest to them that grass is not dangerous.
“It’s about personal responsibility,” Weidenbusch countered.
It is possible that nerve-active substances such as cannabis can interfere with development and be harmful, especially during puberty.
According to Zimmermann, however, this cannot be proven by clear “findings on humans”.
They only exist for rats.
Studies that you can smoke away some IQ points as a teenager were based on 15 people, “it is questionable what conclusions this allows”.
There are arguments for the new law and against it.
But “the decades-long ban policy was not successful,” says Zimmermann.
“I see an opportunity now, why not take advantage of it?
You don’t have to do it like that again for 100 years.”
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