A Czech native wants to grow cannabis in Bavaria. The authorities fear a drug den

Wenzel Václav Červený, whom the German media has dubbed the king of cannabis, started selling cannabis seeds and seedlings containing THC in his shop in Aschheim, Bavaria, on Tuesday. He also wants to open a grower’s club there in July, which will produce up to 25 kilograms of cannabis per month for its members. Červený thus became a thorn in the side of the local town hall, which fears that the village will turn into a drug den.

“The municipal council has expressed its concern about the creation of a drug scene here,” Christian Schürer from the municipality’s management told ZDF public television. The municipality has now built a small children’s playground near the town hall, which is only a few tens of meters away from the Červené shop. He wants to prevent a grower’s club from forming here.

According to the law that comes into effect this month, Červený does not have to get a permit in the end. Because his club thus came within a protective radius of 200 meters from facilities for children and youth, such as schools, leisure clubs or playgrounds.

“If it wasn’t sad, you’d laugh at it, but it’s a sad thing,” said Červený. Červený rejects the fact that Aschheim could become Haschheim, loosely translated as a kind of hashish base, as critics fear. “They are afraid of it because they don’t know it. It’s a new thing, they have to learn it,” he said about the partial legalization of cannabis, which applies in Germany from this Monday.

“You can’t be against just on principle, that’s audacity,” said Červený, who has been striving for legalization for many years. If his breeding club does not get permission from the Bavarian authorities, he is ready to defend himself. “I’m here half a year earlier than the pitch. It will be a big scandal if they don’t allow me. I would go to court,” he said.

Run with dog house

The German media are keenly interested in the new children’s playground in Aschheim, and several reports were made on the topic. In this context, the ZDF station reported on the town hall’s trick. The playground is also hotly debated on the Internet, where some users compare the small place with two swings and a children’s playhouse to an enclosure with a dog house. “It’s such a playground, just not to say,” says Červený.

Červený, who runs a chain of shops in Bavaria with THC-free cannabis products and has now started selling seeds and seedlings containing the intoxicating substance, is preparing a back-up plan in case the club cannot operate from July. “Americans who grow cannabis in containers in the US have applied to me. You can even make a laboratory in them,” he said.

It is ready for several variants. When it will finally be possible to grow cannabis in Aschheim, but he will not be allowed to dispense it to members, Červený is considering opening a dispensary in Munich. And if he doesn’t get a permit for cultivation in Aschheim, he wants to set up a grow plant in containers.

Červený is now studying the legalization bill to know exactly what its options are. “I have to read it so I don’t make a mistake,” he stated. He noted that the approved law has fifty pages and differs in details from previous proposals.

Thanks to the new law, adults in Germany can keep 25 grams of cannabis on their person with impunity, and they can keep a total of 50 grams at home. They can grow up to three plants to get cannabis. From July, grower clubs will start operating, and the number of members will be limited to 500. The clubs will serve as distribution points for members, who can thus obtain up to 50 grams per month.