Hanfparade2006 | Slogan 2006

Legalize now! Reorient opinion instead of wasting billions!

Germany is near to bankruptcy! Experts from politics and science are still arguing about how much money is missing. But whether it is 35 or 50 billions a year an reorientation of one's opinion and fundamental reforms within all ranges of politics are inevitable.

The only answers politicians have for the problem are cut down social security benefits and tax increases. Without a loud discussion the CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) and the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) decided to raise the value added tax to 19 per cent and cut down Arbeitlosengeld II (unemployment pay) and Entfernungspauschale (distance tax benefit).

On the other side the country affords a law, which control devours millions of Euro, that drives uncountable numbers of jobs into illegality and that made criminals out of millions of harmless citicens.

Therefore Hanfparade claims:

The legalisation of hemp as medicine, natural resource and natural stimulant is overdue! It could rinse much money into the public cashes. How much, a simple calculation is showing:

In Germany are living a minimum of four million consumers of Cannabis. More then nine million Germans have experienced this mostly harmless drug. In 1995 professor Dieter Kleiber from the Berlin institute of prevention and psychosocial health research published a study, in which he describes the consumption patterns of German Cannabis users and their "consumption". If you take the numbers of this study as basis, the "average German Cannabis user" is using approximately two gram per week. Therefore more then 400 tons of hemp are used as natural stimulant in Germany every year.

4 Mio. consumers x 2 gram per week x 52 weeks (one year) = 416 Mio. gram = 416 tons

Selling this amount in legal stores, instead of on the black market like today and tax every gram with two Euro Cannabis tax, would raise a minimum of 800 million Euro.

416 Mio. gram x 2 Euro Cannabis tax per gram = 832 Million Euro

Let us assume a gram taxed Cannabis is not more expansive then six Euro. That way we can asure the price is not higher then on the black market. Also it could raise 350 million Euro value added tax out the sales revenue of the German Cannabis market.

16 per cent value added tax out of 2496 Mio. Euro (416 Mio. gram x 6 Euro) = 344 Million Euro

Without any nonuser paying even one cent, additional revenues of more then a billion Euro a year could be raised!

832 Mio. Euro Cannabis tax + 344 Mio. Euro value added tax = 1,2 billion Euro

Beyond these tax receipts the society would also profit by the omission of the immense costs of control of the hemp prohibition.

In the year 2004 the police accomplished 174.649 successful preliminary investigations because of Cannabis law breaches. All of these investigations are busying police men, state lawyers and typists. We assume an "average investigation" needs only four hours for determination, treatment and paper work. If you now set a price of 20 Euro per hour, nevertheless the time of police men and state laywers is surely more expensive, these investigations cost nearly 14 million euro!

174.649 investigations x 4 hours x 20 Euro per hour = 13.971.920 Euro = 13,9 Million Euro

Not all preliminary investigations lead to a conviction, not every conviction leads to prison. Nevertheless several thousands hemp prisoners are sitting in German jails.

In 1995 a study by the professors Hartwig and Pies from Thübingen counted 3,6 million days of prison for all drug law prisoners in Germany. Cannabis causes more then 60 per cent of all investigated drug law breaches. Even if other drug users would be punished harder, the German Hemp Association estimates that 1995 Cannabis caused at least 1,5 million detention days. At that time each arrested person costs the state at least 75 euro per day (without resocialisation or therapy costs). The numbers of prisoners and the costs raised in the last ten years. But, even if you take the numbers from 1995, the result is Cannabis caused prison costs of more then 100 million Euro.

1,5 Mio. prison days x 75 Euro per day = 112,5 Million Euro

A huge amount of the costs caused by the control of the hemp prohibition is not calculatable that easy. For example, nobody knows how many hours police men are persecuting hemp users without any successful preliminary investigation at the end. Nobody can say how much money is wasted by controlling the uncountable numbers of headshops, growshops or legalize aktivists.

The German Hemp Association assumes annual repression costs at a value of at least a billion Euro!

How quickly such a high sum accrues, that shows us an example. Let us calculate the afford carryed by the city Berlin to asure the Cannabis prohibition at the Hanfparade2004:

On the 14th of August 2004 according to their own data Berlin police escorted the demonstration with 460 officers. Although these police men and women were active a long time before and after the actual Hanfparade we assume 10 hours of service for each officer (12 am start of the demonstration to 10 pm end of final rally). Again we will assume the low hourly fee of 20 Euro. Also the costs of preliminary talks, planning, pre controls, shut-off measures, evaluation, vehicles, food supply and so on do not flow into the computation! Nevertheless police present on the Hanfparade2004 cost at least 92.000 Euro.

460 police officer x 10 hours service x 20 Euro per hour = 92.000 Euro

The bankrupt catipal Berlin has to face the question - was it worth the affords?

Even the enormous police presence could not prevent joints from being smoked at the Hanfparade. As far as we know, only one out of the 48 investigation started at the Hanfparade made it to a court. The rest was made for the paper basket...

The more then 400 tons hashish and marijuanna, German Smokers use every year, would create thousands of jobs after legalisation. Nevertheless this quantity must be cultivated, transported and sold.

In the Netherlands the trading of Cannabis is regulated over so called "Coffeshops". By calculating with the 800 coffeshops of our neighbour contry the German Hemp Association assumes, there would be about 3000 coffeshops in Germany.

If these shops create approximately five jobs like in the Netherlands, this means 15.000 new jobs in retail trade. We assume that in the fields cultivation, wholesale, transport, administration and control at least the same amount of jobs would develop. A legal hemp market would create at least 30.000 jobs. This would relief social insurances at a value of at least 120 million Euro.

30.000 jobs x 12 month x 335 Euro (ALG II) = 120.600.000 Euro = 120 million Euro

Additionally the new workers would deposit into the unemployment and care insurance so they would support the health insurance with their contributions and would pay income taxes.

According to estimation of the DHV this would be at least further 170 million Euro!

Legalisation of Hemp = tax receipts + omitted repression costs + jobs
= at least 2 billion Euro per year

Legalisation mean take the billions!