Exberliner Issue 138, May 2015

RASA URNIEZIUTE
ticket. Tempel also suggests another small measure
that could easily be taken in Germany, but isn’t:
allowing the use of screening equipment, especially
in nightclubs, so you can check whether the drugs
you bought have been cut with toxic chemicals.
Legalise?
While there is a debate to be had about incremental
liberalisation, the big question is: how far
do we want to go? What would it actually mean
to legalise all drugs? Schäffer imagines special
pharmacy-type shops, which only those over 18
would be allowed to enter. “There would be specialists
working there who would guarantee purity
and offer advice on health risks and different types
of consumption,” he says. “Either customers would
have a prescription, or they would simply be able
to buy them.”
But surely some substances are too toxic to sell?
Even Tempel says he would draw the line at crystal
meth – though he thinks it would be banned under
regular consumer protection laws anyway. “We
need more research in this field in order to develop
a less harmful substitute for crystal meth in the
long run, which could be then legally available under
certain medical conditions,” he says. Schäffer,
though, thinks that crystal meth could be safe if
its production were controlled. “Crystal meth is
so dangerous because it’s produced in people’s garages,
kitchens and cellars, completely disregarding
any safety or quality standards.” If the manufacture
were regulated, consumer protection laws could
be enforced. Similarly, regulated drug retail would
reduce the risk of overdoses, because users would
know exactly what they were taking.
The problem with total legalisation, of course, is
that no one has ever tried it. Many people fear that
it would lead to an explosion in use. Schäffer disagrees.
“The experience of the Netherlands shows
that more people don’t take drugs than before,” he
says. “The people who never had anything to do
with drugs before don’t have anything to do with
them afterwards, because it’s just not their world.”
The liberalisation of drug laws could well have
public health and safety benefits, and legislators in
countries like Portugal and Netherlands have clearly
decided that some measure of decriminalisation is
worth a try, if only because criminalisation hasn’t
worked. Then again, it could be that Tempel (a
former cop), Schäffer (a former addict), and Müller
(a judge) are all naïve utopians who don't know what
they are unleashing. The German Government’s
drug commissioner, Marlene Mortler of the Christian
Social Union, does not share their views. She
maintains that people need to be protected from
themselves. She actually makes little distinction
between legal and illegal drug consumers, and is also
in favour of tighter controls on alcohol and tobacco.
For her, the big question, as formulated in a recent
interview with The European, is this: “What can and
must we do to reduce consumption to the goal of
absolute abstinence?” How's that for a utopia? n
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