Verdict Permission for Medicinal Cannabis not a license for further consumption

VGH Mannheim: fitness to drive is then generally excluded
The permission for the purchase of medicinal cannabis in the pharmacy is not a license for further cannabis consumption. Thus, "the driving ability is ruled out without further ado" when a motorist also consume considerable quantities of illegally procured cannabis', as the Administrative Court (VGH) Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim in a decision published on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, decided (Az. 10 S 1503/16).

He rejected a Hartz IV receiver. He has been using cannabis since the age of 14, but since 2013 has been allowed to buy cannabis at the pharmacy for medical reasons. However, he could not afford this in the required amount. Therefore, he also continued to illegally self-procured cannabis.

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At the end of 2013, the man applied for a driver's license for the first time. The driving license authority refused this with reference to its long-standing cannabis consumption. His opposition to the Karlsruhe Regional Council remained as unsuccessful as his complaint to the Karlsruhe Administrative Court.

This was followed by the VGH Mannheim. In his decision of 31 January 2017, which was now published in writing, he rejected the man's application for leave to appeal. There are no serious doubts as to the correctness of the Karlsruhe judgment.

The reason given by the Mannheim judges was that only the use of medically prescribed drugs allowed the law to be "a case-by-case assessment of fitness to drive". Among other things, it depends on the cooperation with the doctor, the ability to assess the risks themselves and also the risk of improper ingestion.

On the other hand, "in the case of illicit regular use of cannabis, fitness to drive is readily excluded". The illegal consumption is rarely accompanied by a controlled intake. Neither the person concerned nor his doctor would have control over the active substance content of the drugs taken. Even otherwise, a medical check of the quantities taken is not possible.

On 19 January 2017, the Bundestag passed a law, according to which the health insurance companies from March 2017, the costs of medically prescribed medicinal cannabis. Previous exemptions for self-cultivation are therefore without purpose. mwo / fle