The police combat road traffic offenses and violent crimes caused by alcohol and drug abuse, as well as drug-related crimes such as import smuggling, trafficking and drug possession, not only in a repressive manner. The aim of police measures to prevent addiction is to support the original responsible bodies for addiction prevention in order to prevent the development of addiction careers. It also makes an important preventative contribution to addiction prevention by educating young people in particular about the legal aspects, health risks and social consequences of consuming legal and illegal addictive substances and thus encouraging them to behave in accordance with standards.
Prevention can help to prevent harmful consumption or addiction from occurring in the first place, especially among children and young people. The earlier it is possible to reach them with prevention and health promotion measures, the more likely it is that problematic consumption behavior (possibly with criminal relevance) can be prevented.
Alcohol
- The per capita consumption of pure alcohol has decreased over the last 40 years. In an international comparison, however, Germany is still one of the high-consumption countries. Men continue to consume more alcohol than women.
- Risky consumption among men has fallen slightly over the last 20 years, while it has remained largely unchanged among women. Risky alcohol consumption among young people has fallen by around two thirds since 2007 and is roughly the same for both genders.
- The number of deaths caused solely by alcohol consumption has fallen over the past 20 years, much more significantly for men than for women.
Cannabis
- In recent years, the THC content of cannabis available on the drug market has risen sharply worldwide The THC content (median value) of hashish seized by the police was 4.9 percent in 1996 and had more than tripled to 16.7 percent by 2018.
- In adults, there is a wave-like increase in the prevalence of cannabis use.
New psychoactive substances (NPS)
- New psychoactive substances are substances that are similar in their effects to known substances such as cannabis, ecstasy or amphetamines, but in some cases have a significantly higher potency.Some have a significantly higher potency (dosage forms: powder, tablets, herbal mixtures, capsules).
- Of adults (18 to 64-year-olds), 2.8 percent had used NPS at least once in 2015 and 2.6 percent in 2018.
Alcohol
- The proportion of young people who regularly drink alcohol has fallen in the last ten years and is around twice as high among boys as among girls.
Cannabis
- Cannabis continues to be the most prominent illicit drug among both adolescents and adults.
- After a high prevalence among adolescents and young adults in the early 2000s, the use of cannabis has declined. Since 2011, a slight increase has been observed again (450,000 12-17 year olds have used cannabis in the past 12 months).
NPS
- Of 12 to 17 year olds, 0.1 percent have used NPS at least once, compared to 2.2 percent of 18 to 25 year olds.
The Youth Protection Act is intended to strengthen and protect children and young people by regulating, among other things, the access of children and young people to products that are harmful to their health, such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
The Youth Protection Act and regulations on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products can be found here:
https://www.jugendschutz-aktiv.de/de/gesetzestext
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drugcom.de
The "drugcom.de" project of the Federal Centre for Health Education provides information about legal and illegal drugs on its website and offers interested parties and those seeking advice the opportunity to exchange information or seek professional advice.
Polizei für dich
The website of the state and federal police crime prevention service for children and young people aged between 12 and 15, "Polizei für dich" provides information on illegal and legal drugs as well as information on help services in language suitable for the target group.
Alcohol? Know your limit
The independent information portal www.kenn-dein-limit.de of the Federal Centre for Health Education provides comprehensive information and advice on alcohol for parents and professionals, among others.
