legalization
Cannabis club boss: “For us it’s not a drug”
Heinrich Wieker from the Cannabis Socialclub Hannover eV on his garden fence at a shack. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Heinrich Wieker has been campaigning for the release of cannabis for years. After a press conference by Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach, his club is suddenly in focus.
After the presentation of the federal government’s cannabis plans, a club in Hanover is in greater demand than ever. “During the Corona period we had shrunk to five members, now almost a hundred applications for admission came within a short time,” said club boss Heinrich Wieker of the German Press Agency.
The 57-year-old from Burgdorf near Hanover founded the club seven years ago as a “political activist group” campaigning for the legalization of cannabis and cannabis products. “For us it is not a drug, but a medicinal plant with an intoxicating effect,” he emphasized. “We’re fighting Prohibition.”
As Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) explained on Wednesday, “non-profit” associations with a maximum of 500 members should jointly cultivate cannabis for recreational purposes and only be allowed to sell it to members for their own consumption. The minimum age is 18. The clubs must appoint youth protection, addiction and prevention officers. In addition, the self-cultivation of a maximum of three plants should be exempt from punishment.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, 8.8 percent of all adults between the ages of 18 and 64 have used cannabis at least once in the last twelve months, that is around 4.5 million people.
“Finally no more criminals”
Cannabis Club boss Wieker is pleased that the federal government has finally made a “clear statement”, although many questions are still unanswered. “We assume that there are at least ten million consumers in Germany. They would then finally no longer be criminals,” said the entrepreneur, who started his own business with a hemp harvester.
The traffic light plans are also met with criticism. According to the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Minister Lauterbach downplayed the dangerous consequences that consumption could have, especially for young people. The President of the Medical Association of Lower Saxony, Martina Wenker, fears that cannabis consumption will increase if there is impunity. The lung specialist therefore expects increased physical and psychological damage. “These will put additional strain on the already tense supply situation in the German health system,” said Wenker on Friday.