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Beer garden in Munich: Will there soon be joints for beer here?
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Michaela Rehle/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The planned release of weed threatens to create new conflicts of use in public spaces. Cannabis will soon be consumed at tables in beer gardens, in street cafés or in smoking bars. After all, legal bans only apply near playgrounds or schools.
In Berlin, pubs and beer gardens should now regulate the handling of cannabis themselves from April 1st. Smoking marijuana is then comparable to smoking cigarettes, said a spokesman for the Dehoga hotel and restaurant association.
Can clubs allow tobacco but ban weed?
In other words, wherever smoking is permitted, weed could also be permitted in the future. Although smoking is prohibited in most pubs in Berlin, smoking is accepted in certain pubs and is also common outside pubs, pubs, restaurants and in beer gardens in summer.
So whether cannabis will spread on the benches and chairs in front of the Kreuzberg Spätis, the Friedrichshain restaurants, the Neukölln snack bars or in the beer gardens in Mitte and Charlottenburg is now up to the respective guests and innkeepers. The Dehoga spokesman quoted a landlady from western Berlin who said: "No, of course I don't allow that, I want to sell my beer." But in the well-known party districts it could look completely different.
The legal smoking ban also applies in clubs, but many operators do not adhere to it and tolerate smokers with cigarettes. According to Dehoga, it remains to be seen whether this also applies to joints. Clubs could accept cigarettes, but ban cannabis or send users outdoors.
It is still unclear whether Berlin pubs, restaurants and clubs will develop special instructions for their indoor and outdoor areas, hang signs or order stickers, and how the intoxication effect in a crowded bar with four stoners will affect the surrounding area.
apr/dpa