German Railways to Ban Cannabis Use at All Stations

According to the German magazine "Bild am Sonntag," on April 20th, Deutsche Bahn will prohibit the use of marijuana at all train stations. Signs indicating the ban will be posted nationwide next week.

A railway spokesperson, in an interview with the newspaper, stated, "This decision is made in order to protect our passengers, especially the needs of children and teenagers, and is in accordance with laws that prohibit marijuana consumption during daytime in pedestrian areas or around schools and playgrounds. Therefore, we will prohibit marijuana consumption at the station. We will soon be updating our company regulations. It is expected that the new company rules will be completed in approximately four weeks and will be legally binding, with about twenty million passengers passing through the station each day."

Starting from June 1st, the railway will enforce laws related to cannabis. On one hand, German railway employees will use "friendly requests and reminders" to ask passengers to stop consuming cannabis. Similar to the smoking ban, DB security staff will be required to conduct corresponding checks during patrols and point out violations of the joint ban when discovered.

Since 2007, train stations have been completely smoke-free. Since then, relying on the Federal Non-Smoking Protection Act, smoking is only allowed in specially designated areas. Smoking is generally not allowed inside the stations, including e-cigarettes. However, approximately 400 train stations (out of a total of 5,400) have designated smoking areas. Additionally, there is a cost associated with disposing of cigarette butts. In 2023, the railway will spend 8.7 million euros on cleaning trash cans and ashtrays.

The only exception to the railway joint prohibition: the consumption of marijuana for medical reasons has been allowed and will continue to be allowed. At the same time, the Augsburg Report states that the German government hopes to tighten marijuana laws to accommodate the needs of individual states. The goal is to prevent multiple clubs from operating cultivation areas in the same location or property. Therefore, authorities should be given more discretion in approving cultivation areas.