In the outrage at the traffic light government’s backward-looking savings plans for parental benefits and basic child security, the disastrous development in health has been overlooked. In the budget of Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), the health budget is to be reduced by more than a third – from 24.5 billion euros this year to just 16.2 billion in the coming year. No other department has to save so much.
Of course, the pandemic is over, you no longer need extra money for vaccines and corona measures. But the budget has also been sensitively cut in areas where the opposite should be done, namely investing intensively: above all in prevention.
The fact that this is curtailed at all is bitter because a modern health system would have to do much more to prevent diseases from developing in the first place. In the light of the government’s plans to legalize cannabis, cutting prevention funds is even grossly negligent.
Drug counseling centers need to be expanded and addiction support needs to be strengthened
The math is simple: when access to a drug is made easier, there are more users. When there are more consumers, the risk of risky consumption and health damage increases. About ten percent of regular cannabis users develop a mental disorder as a result of their use. This is particularly tragic as it hits young people the hardest. Because brain development is not complete by the age of 25, young stoners are at significant risk.
This development could – and should – be counteracted with clever preventive measures. This includes campaigns, the expansion of drug advice centers and the strengthening of addiction help. Without a well-established addiction and drug prevention system, the legalization of cannabis will end in disaster. For the people affected anyway. But also for the health and social budget, from which the resulting suffering has to be treated. That can already be calculated today and can also be converted into euros – the number will end up in bold red. It should therefore also be obvious to a finance minister. Prevention pays off. Socially, health – and financially.