The corona crisis has left its mark on pretty much every political field – including drug policy. That shows the current annual report of the drug commissioner of the federal government, Daniela Ludwig. “This pandemic was an extreme stress test for the local addiction support system,” said the CSU politician on Thursday. For addicts themselves, but also for their families and friends. Personal contact with therapists and counseling centers was almost completely lost.
However, it was possible to switch addiction help to digital offers and to maintain the supply of severely dependent people with replacement medication. The number of those who get such substitutes even increased during the first lockdown, i.e. between March and May 2020: from just under 80,350 to 81,250 Use of hard drugs such as heroin or crack; In 2019 there were 1398, 2018 1276. There are a total of 1300 addiction counseling centers in this country.
The report is about what the federal government has done in drug policy over the past twelve months. For example, the ban on tobacco and e-cigarette advertising in cinema screenings for children and young people, which will be followed by the ban on tobacco advertising on posters at the turn of the year – at the same time as higher taxation of tobacco products and e-cigarettes. According to the report, around a quarter of adults smoke in this country, but only 5.6 percent of twelve to 17-year-olds. A good ten years earlier, the proportion of young people who smoke was almost three times as high. The proportion of smokers is also falling among young adults. However, there is still no other drug that causes as many people to die as from the effects of smoking: in Germany 127,000 per year.
While the consumption of alcohol and tobacco is falling slightly according to the government report, cannabis use is increasing. “By far the most widespread drug among adolescents is cannabis,” the paper says. Reference is made to a study, which, however, is based on a survey from 2018. At that time, 7.1 percent of those surveyed stated that they had consumed cannabis within the past twelve months. In the 18- to 24-year-old age group, it was almost one in four. The proportion of cannabis addicts in this age group is also above average. Dealing with cannabis could soon play a bigger role in federal politics: the Greens and FDP, who are currently negotiating a traffic light coalition with the SPD, want to enforce a controlled clearance.