Germany is mulling over the consequences of soon becoming the world’s largest potential market for legally sold cannabis, as the country’s left-liberal government presses ahead with plans to allow the controlled distribution of the drug among adults.
Olaf Scholz’s coalition government has in recent weeks reiterated its 2021 coalition-deal vow to legalise for recreational use what its Green and liberal party minister have taken to referring to as Bubatz, a slang word for weed popular among German rappers.
A consultation process consisting of five public hearings with health experts, economists and cannabis growers concluded this week, firing the starting gun for a race to clear legal and regulatory hurdles within one to two years. A draft bill is expected within the second half of 2022.
Europe’s largest economy joining Canada and California in legalising cannabis for recreational use could create momentum to change the UN convention that restricts the cultivation of the plant and also puts pressure on neighbouring European states to follow Germany’s lead. » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Friday, July 1, 2022
The world is going stark, staring mad! Governments across the West have been waging a war on tobacco and the smoking of cigarettes—though not, you notice, on cigars, because the one percenters enjoy puffing on those and would not tolerate their luxury habit being curtailed—and the UK Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, and the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, have declared that they want to make England and Wales smoke-free by 2030. Now this crap from Germany!
So, someone please correct me if I am wrong, but the message of this is clear as far as I can tell: It will soon be acceptable to be stoned out of one’s mind and will not only be allowed, but encouraged; but to enjoy a few puffs on a cigarette will not only be discouraged and made so expensive that ordinary folk won’t be able to afford the habit, but it will also be illegal. Go figure! Talk about a topsy-turvy world, this is it! These politicians, wusses all, make me sick!
The official motivation for legalizing cannabis is to break up the illegal cannabis trade. This is tosh! Absolute tosh! Let me tell you the two main motivations as I see them: The authorities have lost control of the illegal cannabis market and are finding it too expensive to police; and then, in addition, the German government sees an opportunity to make the proverbial killing from its legalization. Money aplenty will be made by the German government, especially in the form of taxes. This proposal is cynical, to say the least. This is Geldmacherei if ever I saw it!
The UK government will eventually inevitably follow suit, of course.
So, in the name of fairness, if drug addicts and junkies can get their kicks and fixes, why can’t smokers get some pleasure, too? I trust, therefore, that the high taxes on cigarettes will be brought down soon. If governments are going to let people smoke pot, they should certainly allow them to smoke cigarettes. There will be a domino effect alright! Be sure of that! Oh, and while we are on the subject, can someone in high places contact Philip Morris in Switzerland and demand that they stop sending us their inferior quality cigarettes: their crap. I know this is happening for two reasons: First of all, until early April, I was a smoker of Marlboro Reds (made by Philip Morris). It was clear to me that the quality of these cigarettes, in spite of their very high price, was very inferior to Marlboro Reds in years gone by. Secondly, not so long ago, in a German documentary on Philip Morris on YouTube, one of the directors of Philip Morris stated loud and clear that all the best quality cigarettes these days are exported to the Orient. Ironically, in the Orient, cigarettes are much cheaper than in the Occident. We have to pay the highest of prices for them, yet we are sold the most inferior of cigarettes in exchange.
Make smoking cool again! Make smoking cheaper! Better a whiff than a spliff! – © Mark Alexander
