How A "Dumb Scare" About Heroin Could Lead to Legal Cannabis in Germany

Germany, Europe’s most populous country with more than 83 million people, may soon introduce legal cannabis. The push for legal weed in Germany is being helped by a “dumb scare” story about heroin-laced cannabis. 

According to a report from Vice, Karl Lauterbach, a Social Democrat (SDP) politician, has said he believes that illegal weed in Germany is being laced with heroin in order to get users addicted. 

Lauterbach, who is a professor of public health, has previously been against the legalization of cannabis. But, because he believes that street cannabis often contains heroin, he now thinks that legalizing weed and regulating it outweighs the harmful effects of laced cannabis. 

"More and more often, the illegally sold street cannabis is being mixed with a new type of heroin that can be smoked,” Lauterbach said. “This quickly drives cannabis users into a heroin addiction." 

Does Illegal Cannabis in Germany Really Have Heroin In It? 

Here’s the problem with Lauterbach’s theory: there is no evidence to back it up.  Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said it had not found any weed laced with heroin. 

Mindzone.info, a non-government organization, tracks drug trends in Germany. Sonia Nunes of Mindzone.info said that it’s possible Lauterbach mixed up heroin with synthetic cannabinoids, which have been found in some street cannabis in Germany. 

The story of cannabis being laced with heroin, or other hard drugs, has been around for decades but has never had strong evidence to indicate that the drug-lacing actually occurs on a large scale. Either way, many Germans will be happy if legal marijuana does come to the country, even if it is by unconventional means.