Pro and con
Cannabis legalization – useful or dangerous?
Close-up of a medicinal cannabis plant containing THC in a cultivation facility. photo
© David Pichler/dpa
Cannabis legalization legislation is expected to be introduced tomorrow. Opinions differ on the traffic light project. A review of pros and cons.
Proponents and the federal government argue as follows:
The previous prohibition policy has failed. Although the drug is currently illegal, it is still being used more and more. On the black market, however, consumers have no security: the active ingredient content of drugs bought from dealers is unclear, and dangerous substances may also be added. With the planned partial release in the form of community cultivation in cannabis associations or by legal self-cultivation of a maximum of three plants, health protection could be improved through strict requirements and the black market and organized crime curbed, it is argued.
The German Head Office for Addiction Questions as a Germany-wide association of clubs and associations for addiction help and addiction self-help welcomes the decriminalization of consumers. “So far it has not been possible to establish that a criminal ban effectively reduces consumption and the associated health and social consequences,” says their statement on the law.
The federal government brings another argument in its draft law: Law enforcement authorities, courts and prisons could be relieved by a good one billion euros annually if cultivation, possession and consumption for adults become legal.
But the project also has many opponents:
German Medical Association, paediatricians, police union (GdP), German Association of Judges, to name just a few. The Association of Judges and GdP do not see the law as a relief for the judiciary and the police – on the contrary. They argue that the many special rules for cannabis clubs and the cultivation and sale of the drug that come with legalization should also be checked again and violations punished. It is also doubted that the black market will dry up. For example, if 25 grams of cannabis become legal for personal use, as planned, dealers could only carry that amount at a time and hardly be prosecuted unless they are caught handing it over.
A serious argument against legalization comes from medical associations. The German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatic Medicine and Neurology e. V. points out that brain maturation is not complete until around the mid-20s and that earlier cannabis consumption can increase the risk of psychosis. From a psychiatric and neurobiological point of view, the association believes that the age limit for access should not be less than 21 years. The law provides for a release from the age of 18.
Associations of children’s and youth medicine “resolutely” reject the draft law in their statement. From their point of view, the legalization plans “endanger the mental health and development opportunities of young people in Germany”. The German Medical Association argues similarly.
The Federal Ministry of Health itself had asked experts from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Addiction and Drug Research in Hamburg for an assessment. In a paper in May, they came to the conclusion that an increase in cannabis use among young people “could be favored by increasing normalization of use among adults” and that legalization would increase “the subjective availability” of the drug among young people. They pointed to a greater increase in cannabis use among youth in US states where the drug has already been legalized.
Both pros and cons:
As always, there is not only black and white with this topic, but also grey. The Association of German Criminal Investigators (BdK), for example, welcomes the basic intention of the bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis. But the BdK also criticizes the law in detail: According to the plans, cannabis, if it is then legal for adults, should not be allowed to be consumed within a radius of 200 meters from schools or playgrounds. The BdK asks who is supposed to control this and suggests that it be better to ban smoking joints in public altogether. The association also does not see the protection of children and young people as fulfilled. In his opinion, the “only sensible measure” would be to make the sale of cannabis to minors a criminal offense with a prison sentence of no less than three years.