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Germany legalises cannabis, but makes it hard to buy (www.bbc.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The German parliament has backed a new law to allow the recreational use of cannabis.

Under the law, over-18s in Germany will be allowed to possess substantial amounts of cannabis, but strict rules will make it difficult to buy the drug.

Smoking cannabis in many public spaces will become legal from 1 April.

Possession of up to 25g, equivalent to dozens of strong joints, is to be allowed in public spaces. In private homes the legal limit will be 50g.

Already police in some parts of Germany, such as Berlin, often turn a blind eye to smoking in public, although possession of the drug for recreational use is illegal and can be prosecuted.   Use of the drug among young people has been soaring for years despite the existing law, says Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who is instigating the reforms.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

The last time I was in Berlin, the year before Covid, they had set ups in some of the parks which were like painted lines and 'boxes' on the floor

Weed dealers were allowed to sell within these lines (probably not actually legally, but with an understanding that the police would leave them be? Not sure of the specific rules) but not outside of them

This meant that people who weren't interested wouldnt have their park time marred by shady people coming up and trying to sell them drugs, and people who were interested could just go to one of the dealers in the lines

It was just a better, safer way of doing things. Everybody won.

Actual legalisation is the next step of course. Criminalisation of something as minor of weed just creates crime and danger, it doesnt reduce it. So this is good news

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I hope that they get around to legalizing common shops. My logic says that the situation would lead to a surge of acquiring substances from shady dealers, which could in turn lead to increased narcotics use.

I'm probably wrong - at least I hope so.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The initial drafts proposed canabis shops and licenses. But the EU declined it. So we get the max that is currently possible. Yes that law has some strange parts, but nothing too concerning.

And if everything goes as planned, we will get shop's in the future

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Huh? What are these plans and who is going to implement them?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

The coalition wants to implement model regions, where commercial delivery chains, from farming to the counter, should be tested for 5 years.

This will require another law of course.

The goal is to show the EU that legalizing helps better to archive the goals of the prohibition then the prohibition.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Germany: We will not be bullshitting with any of you Low Effort fucks. If you need it, you come get it

—if you just want it— yeah, no. Unless you reallly want it— then come get it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

This is the best they could do after the EU said no to commercial sales and shops.

[+] [email protected] -7 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I'm all for legalization and partake on a monthly basis or so, but I'm kind of down for keeping it more difficult to obtain. Four or five dispensaries per mid-size city should be plenty as long as competition still exists. I work at a school and access to cannabis has become a rising issue. Outside of school, the greater availability has led to "burnouts" being more common.

I think parallels can be drawn to the opioid epidemic and alcohol. Where availability is high, reliance and addiction rises. There's no reason to flood low-income neighborhoods with convenience stores where half or more of the inventory is alcohol.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

On the other hand, there are places, where it's so easy to get weed and other drugs even today and delivered directly to your doorstep. In those places it may be easier to stick with your dealer for procurement and enjoy the benefit of decriminalization of possession and consumption than going through the hassle of joining a cannabis club. This in turn would negate some.of the discussed benefits of legalization.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Sigh . No. Access to cannabis hasn’t led to more burnouts.

[+] [email protected] -12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

I'm speaking from a position of direct evidence. It's caused issues in my region. More children are being caught with THC than before legalization and the proliferation of dispensaries in my state. And its not even close. We've called the ambulance to the school this year once already for a 7th grader getting too high and having a panic attack from their THC laced vape pen. Academic ineligiblity lists have increased year over year for a decade as well. There's other factors at play too like their family's finances, social media, covid, etc. but well over half of the list I know have been caught getting high in and out of school.

And again, I want to reiterate. I support legalization and also use marijuana. But its proven that marijuana use before the brain is fully developed can disrupt proper development. And that can be as late as 25 years old though I support a legal age of 21.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You made a claim about “more burnouts”, and when challenged decided to list every problem you could think of with weed instead of admitting you have no evidence for more burnouts.

You also appear to be conflating consequences associated with prohibition, such as academic ineligibility, with the effects of the actual drug. The point of decriminalizing is to stop ruining people’s lives over a drug.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What do you think happens to students that are failing their classes semester after semester? They eventually drop out of school and go for a GED. And of course im not going to provide "evidence". I cited regional issues with the advent of greater availability. In order to provide direct evidence, I would need to link a very specific study (which wouldn't exist) or I would need to break FERPA laws and provide access to the academic ineligiblity lists. So no. That's not an option.

You also appear to be conflating consequences associated with prohibition, such as academic ineligibility, with the effects of the actual drug.

I'm not sure what you mean? These students are ineligible to participate in after school activities like sports because they're failing their classes, not because they're being punished for cannabis use. There's correlation between behavioral issues, academic performance, and regular cannabis use. Correlation ≠ causation but it is still a discussion worth having.

Now for about the 3rd time, I have no problem with weed. I support recreational legalization and further study for it's use in medicine. It would make my life a whole hell of a lot easier and reduce the amount of opioids flowing through pharmacies, but there's aspects of control that I think we should analyze and address.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

How do you know any of these issues are attributed solely to weed? Kids could be failing their classes and smoking weed because their parents beat the shit out of them on a regular basis. I'm sure these kids also drink water so there is definitely some correlation between water usage and kids failing their classes.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago

I never attributed their failing grades solely to weed. I actually did the opposite and mentioned a few other environmental factors that may also be at play. If you can't zoom out for just a fucking second and come to the conclusion that increased consumption of cannabis amung teens (which is fact) MAY have something to do with falling grades in teens, then in my opinion you're being just as naive as politicians and civilians that want to keep weed as a schedule I drug.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You’re speaking from anecdotal evidence at best.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Again, with many things, Germany is ahead of the curve.

The ingredients laws for beer should be translated directly into aerosolizer laws (nic, vg, pg, heavily vetted and approved flavors), and the controls on marijuana sales seem to be going the same way. Good on them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Already police in some parts of Germany, such as Berlin, often turn a blind eye to smoking in public, although possession of the drug for recreational use is illegal and can be prosecuted.

He wants to undermine the black market, protect smokers from contaminated cannabis and cut revenue streams for organised crime gangs.

A ferocious debate about decriminalising cannabis has been raging for years in Germany, with doctors' groups expressing concerns for young people and conservatives saying that liberalisation will fuel drug use.

Simone Borchardt of the opposition conservative CDU told MPs that the government had gone ahead with its "completely unnecessary, confused law" regardless of warnings from doctors, police and psychotherapists.

Original plans to allow licensed shops and pharmacies to sell cannabis have been scrapped over EU concerns that this could lead to a surge in drug exports.

This means that Germany could be in the paradoxical position of allowing possession of rather large amounts of the drug, while at the same time making it difficult to purchase.

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