From Monday the traffic light coalition will be explored in Berlin, as the negotiators will drill thick boards. One issue that many expect to be decided and checked off quickly is cannabis legalization. The Greens and FDP have been calling for this step for a long time, the SPD is now also open to it. But would that be good news? Tobias Rüther is a board member of the German Society for Addiction Medicine and Psychiatrists and Addiction Medicine at the LMU Munich Clinic. He hopes the prosecution of drug addicts will end. But from his point of view, legalization also harbors risks.
ntv.de: After decades of discussion, cannabis could soon be legalized by the new government. At the same time, hashish seems much more dangerous today than it did 30 or 40 years ago. Does that go together?
The addiction physician Tobias Rüther is director of the German Society for Addiction Medicine and Psychiatrists at the LMU Munich Clinic.
Tobias Rüther: One thing I learned in addiction medicine: If you want drugs, you will get them too. Today it’s easier than ever, you can order your hashish via Telegram, it will be delivered to your home like pizza. Although drug sales and possession are prohibited. So criminalization is the wrong approach and needs to stop.
Why do you think criminalization is so harmful?
Studies have shown that around 30 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 19 have tried hashish. So these 30 percent have all already committed offenses. A lot of my patients who use drugs and then at some point become addicted have the following problem: They are physically ill, they may lose their jobs, their relationships break down. And then they also have a criminal record, possibly a prison sentence, because it is illegal to use drugs. From my medical experience I can say: It doesn’t do anybody any good. That costs society a lot of money, makes criminal judges an incredible amount of work and is of no use at all.
The criminalization should act as a deterrent.
But it does not lead to a decrease in consumption, the deterrent does not work. In Iran, people inject heroin even though it carries the death penalty. But people are not stupid, they are mostly drug addicts and often not well informed. We need informed consumers.
What do you most urgently want to educate about?
20 years ago people thought: smoking weed is harmless. That’s not true. The scientific opinion has clearly changed: In adults, but especially in the immature brain, i.e. in adolescents up to 23 years of age, cannabis can cause massive damage. It hinders cell growth, it damages areas that are necessary for decisions, for example, for planning and evaluation, and emotionality can also be disturbed. Such deficits in the maturing brain, you will not be able to get rid of them in life.
Do you see this damage in the clinic?
Yes, a big problem with adolescents who smoke cannabis more often is, for example, the “amotivational syndrome”, the classic. Not in the mood for anything. Normal would be: In order to achieve something good, I make an effort, I also do unpleasant things. For example: I want to get a good grade, so I study for class work. I want to meet my friends outside so I get dressed, get dressed. A young stoner can no longer do that.
How is it with adults?
It used to be said: You don’t get addicted to smoking weed. But we see it on our wards: there is psychological and physical dependence, also with withdrawal symptoms, even if they are less severe than, for example, with alcohol or smoking. The drug causes serious mental illness in some users. Every year in Germany over 120,000 people die from smoking. That’s a jumbo jet that crashes every day, full of smokers. In comparison, the number of drug deaths is much lower at 6,000 per year. But still: cannabis is not a drug that should be consumed every day, I would not advise anyone.
Even so, you support legalization.
Yes, but not to make cannabis socially acceptable. That would be very dangerous. There should be no public consumption in restaurants. It shouldn’t be easy to get hold of, no hashish on every street corner, but preferably with a warning on the packaging, information when buying, maybe even a consultation and of course only from the age of 18. It should be expensive and shouldn’t be advertised. The attitude should be: if you absolutely need it, then you can buy it and you will not be punished. But drugs are dangerous, they can destroy your life.
They are also more dangerous today than they were 30 years ago, is it said?
The doses are often much stronger, so the plant itself is bred to contain more tetrahydrocannabiol (THC), the psychoactive substance. Accordingly, the effect is then many times stronger than it was 30 years ago. Or else: The plant has no THC at all, because it can be grown in this way and sold anywhere. The drug dealer buys the cheap hemp plant without THC and sprays synthetically produced THC on top. This can be up to ten times stronger than conventional cannabis.
Can you somehow tell the dosage?
No, and that is what makes the status quo so dangerous: you cannot distinguish yourself between ordinary weed and one with synthetic THC sprayed on it. That is only possible in the laboratory. But because everything takes place illegally, there is no regulation and no control. The consumer buys weed from the dealer and has no idea what he is getting, how strong it is. But if consumption were allowed and trade regulated, then that would be easier to assess.
Drug checking has recently been tested in Thuringia – mobile laboratories that stand in front of clubs and offer a quick analysis of purchased party drugs. Sensible?
Wonderful thing, I’m totally in favor of it, and for two reasons: As a consumer, this is how I find out what I have bought, it reduces my risk of damage to my health from too high a dosage or the wrong substance. And: I get advice on what I’m getting into and how dangerous it is. I know colleagues in Zurich who have been doing this for a long time. During drug checking, they get into conversation with people they would otherwise never reach. They chat together and can tell the youngsters: Beware of crystal meth. You take that once and your brain changes instantly. Forever.
We summarize your recommendation: Do you legalize, but with clear restrictions and a smart, offensive policy of education?
Yes, tobacco is a very good example of how effective the right policy can be. There are warnings on the packaging, no smoking in restaurants and many bars. Advertising is only possible to a very limited extent. The result: only nine percent of young people smoke these days. In my day it was 30 percent. We have to do the same with alcohol and cannabis.
Frauke Niemeyer spoke to Tobias Rüther