After a new law in Germany has been implemented that should be called the “Bound to End Well for Them” Law, Austrian authorities have announced they are increasing border checks on borders between Austria and Germany.
Why?
Well, when you are located next to a country that just misguidedly legalized cannabis, you’d want to make sure more of those illegal drugs here in Austria don’t make their way into Austria, right?
Germany legalizes cannabis
The new drug law that went into effect in Germany this week means the possession of limited amounts of cannabis for recreational use (up to 25 grams or nearly 1 ounce of marijuana) will now be legal.
The law will also allow people to grow up to grow up to three plants for their personal use.
In other words, meaning the amount of cannabis they will actually be allowed to have in their possession is quite a bit more than 25 grams.
Austria, of course, being more conservative (and smarter?) than Germany has no plans to legalize cannabis (Thanks, Austria!), which means Austrian officials will now do everything they can to make sure there is little or no cross-border trade.
In a statement, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner stressed the increased border security has been put in place to protect people.
The police will conduct intensified checks, particularly in areas near the border, to take addictive substances and drivers under the influence of drugs out of circulation. This is about the protection of all road users.
The increased border security will also include both uniformed personnel and undercover police officers.
Cannabis legalization in Colorado and Oregon hasn’t ended well
Meanwhile, the politicians who legalized cannabis in Germany should have looked closer at the effects that legalization had on cannabis users in Colorado after that state legalized cannabis over a decade ago. (late 2012)
An event that, by the way, hasn’t ended up that well for them.
Recent studies show, in the decade and a bit since cannabis was legalized, Colorado has seen an increase in people suffering from addiction, as well as an increase in visits to hospitals emergency rooms due to drug-related health incidents.
The number of calls to poison control mentioning cannabis exposure have also been more than 6 times higher than they were before the state legalized cannabis.
And, if you prefer to be safe when you’re driving on the roads, according to Colorado State Patrol, the number of DUI arrests increased by 120 percent between the time cannabis was legalized in Colorado (2012) and 2020.
Benefits of the drug’s legalization, however, seem to be few.
Meanwhile, while Oregon de-criminalized the use of many drugs in 2020, including cannabis, the Democrat Governor in that state has just signed a bill re-criminalizing them, after the American state experienced a huge increase in addiction rates and overdose deaths.
The law goes into effect on September 1st.
In other words, it appears Austrian officials are making the right decision to increase border security now cannabis use is legal in Germany.
After all, why willingly import what are likely to be Germany’s increasing drug problems if you don’t have to.