Talk about cannabis legalization
Lauterbach near Lanz: “Smoking weed has arrived in society”
By Marko Schlichting
February 9, 2024, 6:28 a.m
In two weeks the Bundestag will vote on the legalization of cannabis. At Lanz, Health Minister Lauterbach explains what he expects from legalizing the drug. Other guests are skeptical.
Bag, joint or bubatz: If the traffic light coalition has its way, stoners will soon no longer have to have a bad feeling when they consume cannabis in public. The federal government wants to legalize the drug. The Bundestag is scheduled to vote on it in two weeks. But not all traffic light politicians agree with legalization.
For example, there is Sebastian Fiedler, ex-criminal officer and now SPD domestic politician. He says, “I’ll vote no.” In Spiegel he explains: “I cannot agree to a law that leads to the decriminalization of dealers and pointless extra work for the police.” Organized crime is laughing up its sleeve, said the politician.
Everyone is allowed to possess 25 grams of cannabis
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach from the SPD explains what the law provides to Markus Lanz on ZDF. Each consumer is allowed to legally possess 25 grams of cannabis. This should apply from April 1st. From July 1st, cannabis can be grown in private clubs. Children and young people are not allowed to smoke weed. Anyone who passes the drug on to young people under the age of 18 and is caught will be punished. Adolescents between 18 and 21 are not allowed to consume quite as much as adults. Smoking weed in public is permitted, except within a hundred meters of schools and daycare centers.
Lauterbach doesn’t say what that means specifically. A few numbers: According to SPD politician Fiedler, you can build around 75 good joints with 25 grams of cannabis. If you regularly smoke around three joints a day, you will vaporize 25 grams in a month. That’s a lot of money. A gram of cannabis currently costs an average of around eight euros. So that’s 200 to 250 euros per month. Like all drugs, the consumption of cannabis can of course also cause health problems. Scientists believe that regular cannabis consumption by young people can have a negative impact on their ability to think.
Of course Lauterbach knows that too. That’s why his ministry has launched an awareness campaign on social networks, he says. But a look at Instagram, which is primarily used by young people, shows something different. There you can find a campaign with the title “Bubatz will soon be legal” on the official account of the federal government, as ZDF shows. There is no sign of a warning against consuming cannabis. Lauterbach, who is asked about this, seems taken aback and stutters a little. This is not his ministry’s campaign, he says, and it needs to be examined.
The meaning of the law
But why does a doctor like Lauterbach want to legalize a drug that can be harmful to health? Lauterbach: “Those who are already consuming are no longer dependent on the black market, on the dealers, on crime, on the additives. That means we recognize that cannabis is consumed in society.” Lauterbach is certain that the ability to grow cannabis yourself would reduce the influence of the black market. He repeats this about five times in the show. Politics focused on petty crime. “We haven’t had success. The truth is, consumption is increasing. We have a black market that is completely out of control. And we have an increase (in consumption) among children and young people because the dealers are targeting precisely this group of customers “Then we have to react to dry up the black market there. This is an important measure.”
The legalization of cannabis will not only reduce the activity of dealers, no, cannabis consumption will decrease. According to Lauterbach, studies in Canada and the US state of Colorado have shown this. But here the minister is wrong. According to the Neuer Züricher Zeitung, cannabis consumption in Canada rose by five percent in the first two years after its release. The black market prices for cannabis have also fallen significantly, but the selection of different products has increased.
There is criticism of the cannabis release not only in the SPD, but also by Markus Lanz. In particular, Spiegel deputy editor-in-chief Melanie Amann is skeptical. The black market won’t disappear because there are still people who don’t want to grow the substance themselves, she says. Anyone found with 25 grams of cannabis in the future could get away legally.
This is different in the Netherlands, which was previously known as a drug paradise: only five grams of cannabis are allowed there. “It doesn’t work with this model,” says Amann – and what he means is the drying up of the black market. And she criticizes another point of the law. According to Lauterbach, it will be evaluated in two years, i.e. its effectiveness will be tested. Amann asks: “If the evaluation in two years shows that it didn’t work, is it realistic that we will say that we put it (cannabis) back on the list of illegal substances?” She immediately gives herself the answer: “That’s probably unrealistic.”
But Lauterbach cannot be dissuaded from the law. Smoking weed has arrived in society, he says time and again. “In Bavaria, 27 percent of 18 to 24 year olds smoke weed,” he says, for example. The immediate answer comes from a pediatrician, namely Tanja Bunnert: “Have you not noticed that 73 percent don’t do it?”