According to Bavarian Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU), the federal government’s planned cannabis legalization trivializes the health risks of the drug. If the state “quasi officially” gives permission for consumption, people could get the feeling: “It won’t be that bad and harmful,” Gerlach told the Evangelical Press Service: “But we know that this is especially true for young people and for… “It doesn’t apply to adolescents right now.”
Gerlach emphasized that she believes legalization is wrong: “As a state government, we will exhaust all legal options against it.” She is also against allowing consumption because then there will be virtually no way to reverse such a decision: “It is incredibly difficult to take things back or restrict them once they are allowed,” said the minister with a view to the demand of some experts to restrict alcohol consumption more in Germany. Gerlach demanded that “the legalization of additional addictive substances should not be encouraged at all.”
A few days ago, the Bavarian state government announced that it would “interpret the controls as restrictively as possible” when implementing the law – if it could not be prevented. The traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed on a law to partially legalize cannabis. It is currently being discussed in the Bundestag and is expected to be passed soon.