204 samples taken

Alarming results of raids in hemp stores

Since the consumption of cannabis has been legal in Germany, Austrian police have been carrying out strict checks at the border.

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel/Daniel Scharinger)

The health agency took 204 samples throughout Austria, 20 in Upper Austria. The result is shocking. There was a complaint for every hand flower.

The inspectors from AGES, the Agency for Health and Food Safety, did not have an easy job: there are no records of where so-called hemp stores are located, so the experts had to search the internet in order to do their job.

THC was detected in six samples
A total of 204 samples were taken nationwide in the past few months, and 20 stores were visited anonymously in Upper Austria - with alarming results, as Health Minister and Deputy Governor Christine Haberlander reports: "The current checks have revealed alarming figures: six out of 20 samples of hemp flowers had elevated THC levels, and in 14 cases there were violations of the Non-Smoker Protection Act. This result shows that we urgently need increased monitoring, more product testing and legal adjustments," says the ÖVP politician.

The result shows that we urgently need increased monitoring, more product testing and legal adjustments. I call on the Federal Minister to act now to protect the health of our consumers.

Gesundheitslandesrätin Christina Haberlander, ÖVP

Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel

In recent weeks, your party has looked with concern to Germany, where cannabis consumption is now permitted. Since then, the police have been carrying out repeated checks in border areas, for example to take drug drivers out of circulation.

Haberlander is calling on Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) to "act now to protect the health of our consumers." The background to this is that if cannabis flowers contain THC, it is officially a narcotic drug - and is therefore prohibited.