Primar Philipp Kloimstein warns to proceed cautiously when it comes to legalization.
The number of drug reports in traffic has increased significantly. In contrast to alcohol, Austria is one of the few countries in Europe where there are no limit values for the active ingredient in cannabis, THC. For Philipp Kloimstein, chief physician of the Maria Ebene hospital foundation, this would make sense. Because the substance can sometimes be detected for months. “If there are no more effects, you can very well drive,” he said on Tuesday on the Vorarlberg LIVE show. With regard to limit values, one could, in his opinion, orientate oneself well on the neighboring countries.
Cautious legalization
As far as the subject of legalization is concerned, the advantage for him as an addiction expert would be that people who are ill are no longer punished. “But you would have to do it carefully,” he noted with regard to the protection of minors. Nor should one fall prey to the fantasy that illegal machinations are done with it and all problems are solved.
The chief physician also referred to the health risks associated with both alcohol and cannabis. With cannabis, the risk of psychosis has been increasing for years due to the ever-increasing THC content. “This isn’t the hippie-era cannabis anymore. It’s been bred to be taller, which makes it dangerous.”
