Smoking marijuana on German train stations to become illegal

The initial legislation didn’t include these public areas as restricted places for smoking pot

Deutsche Bahn, the German railway operator, announced that it’s decided to ban the use of cannabis on platforms and train stations throughout the country. This comes only weeks after recreational consumption of the soft drug was partially legalized in Germany.

The federal law stipulated that although owning marijuana became legal (to a certain extent), there would be some restrictions on the places where it could be consumed. As such, smoking it within 250 metres of schools, kindergartens, playground areas, youth clubs and sports facilities between the hours of 7:00 and 20:00 remains forbidden.

"Based on the legal ban on cannabis consumption during the day in pedestrian zones and in the vicinity of schools and playgrounds, we would like to safeguard all our passengers at our stations, especially children and young people," a Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman told the mass-circulation Bild tabloid.

Germany carefully adjusts to cannabis use

Deutsche Bahn made an announcement on 21 April stating that posters will be displayed in train stations in the coming weeks, reminding passengers that “smoking cannabis is forbidden in the entire station area”. However, tobacco smoking is already banned anyway in all stations, save for certain designated areas, so the ban on cannabis consumption will also apply to the areas where cigarette smoking and vaping is permitted.

The staff of the railway operator will request passengers not to consume marijuana in a friendly way. The new regulations in the code of conduct will enter into force four weeks from now although it hasn’t been specified whether any penalties will be applied to offenders.

Germany’s federal state system means that states retain some powers to introduce their own rules around where and when cannabis can be consumed. The only state to announce that it plans further restrictions on cannabis consumption is Bavaria.