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Soft Drugs With Hard Consequences
Golrokh Esmaili | dw-world.de | 15.05.2006

For many young marihuana smokers, first comes euphoria, then addiction
Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Germany. But the consequences of its use are underestimated, particularly by teenagers, who are starting to consume it at an ever younger age.

Sebastian is a 36-year-old sitting down to lunch in a popular restaurant in Cologne. He lights up a joint, as he puts it, "to relax from work." The restaurant is in a hip part of town, so he says no one even notices his pot-smoking. "I don't look like a junkie hanging around the train station," he says.

Erkan is 24 years old, tall and athletic. He is a car salesman, loves to play soccer and has been a regular marihuana-smoker for years. He does not believe he is addicted: "You can't get addicted to smoking pot as long as you exercise enough. Having a proper job keeps you from getting addicted, too." He believes only people who do not make the most out of their lives become addicted to drugs.

Pot-smoking is permitted

Cannabis is one of the most frequently consumed drugs in Germany. According to the Federal Statistics Office, 26 percent of the 18-to-59 year-old Germans surveyed admitted to having consumed cannabis at least once in their lives. The biggest group to use the drug were young adults: nearly 50 percent of 18-to-24 year-olds have consumed the substance at least once.

Federal Drug Commissioner Sabine Bätzing recently presented a national report on drugs and addiction which stated that young people are starting to smoke marijuana at an increasingly younger age. "The younger they begin to consume, the greater the risk of psychological addiction," the report said. The age at which most young people start to smoke pot is 16. The report said that around 400,000 people in Germany are addicted to or consume too much marijuana.

Actually, smoking pot has never even been legally banned in Germany. According to the law governing narcotics, the "BtMG," those who "cultivate, manufacture, trade or import, export, divest, distribute or otherwise bring narcotics (i.e. cannabis) into circulation without trading them or those who buy or otherwise acquire them" can be punished. Possession and transportation of the drug are also illegal. The BtMG does not address consumption, thereby making it legal.

Pot prompts panic attacks

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC -- cannabis's active ingredient -- is used in medicine to deal with pain, to alleviate the suffering of AIDS and cancer patients, but also to fight skin allergies and to treat neurodermatitis. These methods of treatment, however, are very controversial. While some people debate the pros and cons of cannabis use in the area of medicine, more and more long-time marijuana smokers have been contacting drug outreach clinics with complaints of burn-out and depression.

Christian Stasik, a neurologist based in a small town near Cologne, spoke of young people who had said they were overcome by anxiety or panic attacks, constant outbreaks of sweat or racing of the heart.

"Many of my patients think that people can become mentally ill only by taking hard drugs," he said.

That has been proven wrong. Smoking pot can provoke particular symptoms. A study by the Mannheim-based Central Institute of Mental Health showed that consuming cannabis can prompt schizophrenia.

One of the reasons for this development is the progress of technology. Modern machinery, automated watering systems and computer-controlled lighting enable cannabis cultivators to breed plants with greater concentrations of THC. The pot so popular among hippies in the 1960s normally had a maximal THC content of 8 percent. Nowadays, it is not unusual for marihuana to have a THC-content of 20 percent.

While many people consume marijuana because they say it relaxes them, makes them feel euphoric, less anxious or more sexually aroused, studies at the Brain Research Institute at the University of Bremen showed that consumption of cannabis during puberty can lead to long-term damage such as memory disturbances and a lack of motivation.

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dedbr

this one needs to be proofread and edited before we can comment.


Huh?

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Buzzby

I think it'll be more readable now...

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dedbr

please see this thread.

It deals with the same thing, only in greater detail. I also think this article breaks down all the studies for what they really are, maybe, probably's and could be's.

Just another bunch of crap from prohibitionist's. But hey, if they feel that way, we can play......


Somewhere in Ded land......


Thanks for all the hard work, Buzz. I know that one was a beast.....

reggie_the_dog

Cannabis is decriminalized in all of the German federation. The German version of the supreme court declared in 1994 that due to a clause in the European Union Treaty of Maastrich that said European citizens/residents could not be considered criminals if they did nothing that harmed others German cannabis laws were null and void, cannabis users can still be given fines though, as just the threat of a small fine (100 euros) does not indicate "criminality", sort of like with parking tickets. Anyway in the southern states they will likely fine you have 5 grams or less, in the northwes they will at worst just take your stash if you have less than 30 grams, in Berlin (the state of Berlin, which I think includes some suburbs of the city of Berlin, you can have 10 grams and the police CANNOT take them from you(it would be considered theft),(sorry I forgot the names of the states, but I did this research for a vacation I took their in February).

just propagandist bullshit form guess what, a government ran by CONSERVATIVES (I know they have no majority, but neither does Harper in Canada, and he is doing so b.S.ing about cannabis too).

 

weed.is.a.deed

too bad that i'm in a southern state and i'll get fined

vladimir

from my experience with german cops, unless you are being a complete asshole to them or toking up right in front of them, they won't even bother looking for pot on you. even when i was walking around with a hat that had a pot leaf on it, talking to the cops, they didnt care at all. i used to live in bonn and have smoked a joint in the middle of the city around 8 pm and no one cared. germans are pretty lax about it.

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