On Tuesday, Judith Gerlach sounded a bit as if Bavaria was going into battle: “We are arming ourselves against the federal government’s dangerous cannabis plans,” said a statement from the CSU health minister. “We will ensure that Bavaria does not become a pothead stronghold despite legalization,” she explains at a press conference following the Council of Ministers meeting. The message should be very clear: If you want to consume and grow cannabis, you should do so somewhere else. “Bavaria will definitely not be a cozy place to smoke weed.” State Chancellery Minister Florian Herrmann (CSU) also emphasizes that the police will strictly and “closely” monitor prohibited zones around daycare centers and schools.
The state government apparently considers such threatening gestures towards fans of cannabis consumption to be necessary, after all, according to the federal government’s plans from April 1st, the cultivation and possession of certain amounts of cannabis will be permitted for people of legal age. For State Chancellor Herrmann, this is nothing less than a “political fall from grace”, a “completely wrong drug policy” and a “loss of control with an announcement”. More people would definitely consume cannabis to excess in the future. “In many cases this will get out of hand,” he predicts darkly.
Judith Gerlach has been Bavaria’s health minister since the state elections last year. She wants to stop stoners from consuming cannabis in the Free State.
(Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa)
The Minister of Health has now drawn up plans to make cannabis consumption more difficult for people in Bavaria in the future: for example, the establishment of so-called cultivation associations in Bavaria should be made as difficult as possible. In the future, up to 500 people will be able to grow cannabis together in cultivation clubs and share it with each other for consumption. Gerlach says she sees many opportunities to strictly interpret the numerous documentation requirements or, for example, the checks on the reliability of those authorized to cultivate.
For this purpose, the minister wants to set up 20 new positions for cannabis inspectors at the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) at the Erlangen and Oberschleissheim locations. They should form a “central control unit” that examines applications for the growing associations and issues licenses. They will also inspect the growing associations – regularly once a quarter and whenever they suspect that regulations have not been followed.
The costs for the controls are in the millions
The minister estimates the costs of setting up the new unit at around 4.7 million euros. In addition, Gerlach calculates that there would be ongoing material costs of around 1.2 million euros annually. “This shows the human and financial costs that the federal government imposes on the states with its cannabis madness.”
It is not yet entirely certain that cannabis will actually be released on April 1st. Although the Bundestag has passed the law, it will still come before the Bundesrat on March 22nd. Bavaria has submitted an application there to reject the law completely. However, Minister Gerlach herself rates the chances of success as low, as traffic light parties are involved in the government in all federal states except Bavaria.
The chance of stopping legalization through legal action is also apparently slim. After an examination by her ministry, Gerlach sees no possibility for the Free State to take legal action – neither before the Federal Constitutional Court nor anywhere else, for example at the European level. Only Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) has clearly not given up hope: he announced on Tuesday that he would examine a lawsuit together with his Union counterparts from other countries. “We agreed that the federal law enforcement and regulatory authorities will have to face difficult additional tasks and an immense amount of effort. We definitely don’t want to accept that,” said Herrmann.
But calling the mediation committee would be the minimum, said the Interior Minister, and Gerlach is also counting on that. That would at least delay the law. Several Federal Council committees have criticized details of the law. The Justice Committee, for example, criticizes the planned amnesty for cases that will be legal in the future. The Health Committee is calling for cannabis consumption not to be legalized until the fall. It takes more time to develop prevention offers. In addition, legally grown and dried cannabis in Germany could not be available until autumn at the earliest. A point that Bavaria’s Health Minister also emphasized.
Legalization on April 1st would be an “economic stimulus program for the black market in the next few months,” as only illegal cannabis would be available at that time. According to the plans, the growing associations are only allowed to apply for a permit on July 1st.
In addition to strict interpretation and control, Gerlach also focuses on prevention. “Public trivialization of drugs can lead young people to think that if the state allows it, it can’t be that bad,” she warned. Bavaria will therefore continue to expand prevention work in schools. This had already started under her predecessor Klaus Holetschek. 250 moderators have already been qualified. They informed 550 school classes in grades eight to ten about the risks of cannabis in workshops. A further 200 moderators should be trained in the first half of 2024. The aim is for every school class to be offered this workshop.