German police unions on Tuesday came out against plans to legalize cannabis in the nation, Politico reports. The remarks come following the electoral victories of the Social Democrats—which won last month’s elections—the Greens and the Free Democrats, all of which support the reforms.
In its election program, the Free Democrats estimated that were cannabis taxed similarly to cigarettes, Germany could raise up to €1 billion annually. The Greens said that a cannabis control law would “drain the black market for cannabis and reduce organized crime,” while the Social Democrats have called for cannabis to be distributed to adults in so-called “field projects” to assess the impact of legalization for adults, the report says.
Rainer Wendt, head of the German Police Union, opposed the reforms, saying that allowing legalized cannabis “would be the beginning of a stoned future instead of the launch of a modern Germany.”
Oliver Malchow, the head of Germany’s police union GdP, told Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that he wouldn’t back the reforms as “legal but dangerous” alcohol is “already causing enough trouble.” He added that it doesn’t make sense to “open the door to another dangerous and often trivialized drug.”
“There must finally be an end to trivializing the joint.” — Malchow to Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung via Politico
The reforms are also opposed by the conservative Christian Social Union. CSU member Daniela Ludwig, who has served as the government’s drugs minister since 2019, has said that “legalization doesn’t solve any problems, it creates new ones,” and has called for possession limits up to 6 grams, calling the 15-gram limit in Berlin “clearly too high.”
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