Traffic
Difficult limit questions when driving with cannabis
The ADAC warns of the mind-altering effects of cannabis for drivers. photo
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
After long debates, the coalition wants to seal the legalization of cannabis. Things aren’t moving so quickly as to what future limits for driving should look like.
Driving with drugs or alcohol? Most people are actually aware that intoxicating substances make road traffic less safe. However, you are often still allowed to drive a car after a beer because there is a legal 0.5 alcohol limit. Now the traffic light coalition wants legalization Making cannabis come true with various requirements. And it should also be determined how a responsible limit value for the active ingredient THC could be set. The ADAC motorists’ club is proposing a differentiated regulation with generally stricter requirements for novice drivers – and is pushing for widespread information about increased accident risks.
“It is clear that we cannot experiment with road safety,” said an ADAC spokesman when asked. The consumption of cannabis can change perception and negatively affect the ability to react. In particular, people who want to try cannabis as part of legalization and have not previously dealt with its mind-altering effects may not be sufficiently aware of this danger. Intensive education of the population about the increased risk of accidents is therefore essential and should be implemented at an early stage.
After long discussions, the Bundestag is expected to vote on the legal plans for the controlled release of cannabis next week. Home cultivation and possession of certain quantities should therefore be permitted for adults for their own consumption from April 1st. From July 1st, clubs for collective cultivation should be possible. However, the difficult questions surrounding cannabis while driving are unlikely to be decided right away. A group of experts from the Ministry of Transport is currently dealing with possible limit value determinations. The results should be available in the spring.
There is currently no limit in the law
The ministry says that a limit value is then set “by the legislature”. Until then, nothing simply applies. On the contrary: According to the current legal situation, anyone who drives a motor vehicle “under the influence” of certain intoxicating substances, which includes cannabis, is committing an administrative offense. And such an effect exists if the substance can be detected in the blood at all. A limit such as 0.5 per mille for alcohol is not yet in the law. However, case law has established a value of 1 nanogram of THC per 100 milliliters of blood – from then on, according to the Ministry of Transport, sanctions are threatened: a fine of up to 3,000 euros, a driving ban of up to three months, two points in the Flensburg file. Cannabis prescribed by a doctor as a medicine is excluded.
There has been discussion for some time about whether this de facto limit should be adjusted. At the traffic court day in 2022, experts spoke out in favor of an “appropriate” increase. The currently applied value of 1 nanogram is so low that it enables the detection of cannabis consumption. However, this leads to many affected people being sanctioned for whom an “effect” in the sense of a possible reduction in driving safety cannot be justified from a scientific perspective.
The Ministry of Transport does not want to commit itself in advance and first waits for the results of the expert group. The ADAC proposes a differentiated regulation with generally stricter requirements for novice drivers – similar to how drunk driving is dealt with during the probationary period after obtaining a driving license and for those under 21. In the case of novice drivers, the mere possibility of an effect of the intoxicating substance at 1.0 nanograms of THC should continue to be sanctioned. Beyond this particularly vulnerable group, the goal must be to define a value “at which a deterioration in road safety is actually to be expected and not just theoretically possible.”
Will there be more cases of cannabis driving in the future? According to the ADAC, this is certainly also related to how well and intensively the population is informed about the increased risk of accidents. “It is also important to provide sufficient information about the fact that driving under drugs remains a criminal offense.”