Cultivation associations can only cover 0.1% of demand. If you look at how many of these clubs are rejected based on completely absurd pretexts, that is not surprising. Cultivation associations are currently one of the enemy images of the authorities. Several clubs in Germany have already had to surrender due to harassment. Now there is a new case from Hamburg that almost sounds like satire. The Cannahaus Hamburg e. V. was too clean for its location and was therefore rejected.
No approval by the building authority
Cultivation clubs must meet high legal standards: clubs must be at least 200 meters from playgrounds and must not bother residents with their smell. The Cannahaus Hamburg e. V. wanted to do everything right and, by choosing his location, comply with these regulations beyond doubt. An industrial area was chosen as the site. Two storage rooms and a container facility for growing cannabis were planned there. In an industrial area, another production facility shouldn’t bother anyone, you might think.
But the responsible office for building inspection in Hamburg-Mitte saw things differently: the application was rejected on the grounds that a cultivation association would not fit into an industrial area. The development plan is reserved for companies that cannot be built in other regions due to their potential for disruption –e.g. due to smell–. A point that, from the building authority’s point of view, did not apply to the cultivation association. The association was too „clean“ for an industrial area.
A lack of reference to port proximity was cited as a further argument for rejection. At the same time, however, several establishments are located in the immediate vicinity of the intended premises, for which a connection to the port is also not relevant. A spokeswoman for the responsible office pointed out that there was no leeway here and that the application had been rejected.
Sören Moje from Cannahaus Hamburg e. V. spoke of arbitrariness and emphasized that everything was done to develop a closed and completely odorless cultivation container. In this way, efforts were made to avoid problems that other clubs had already failed to address. While cultivation associations in other areas are rejected because they cause disruption, approval in an industrial area is apparently also not possible because they cause too little disruption there.
Financial damage caused by high investments
The club had already made large investments to be able to implement the project. Several tens of thousands of euros were needed to develop a professional plant with appropriate emissions control.
„Without a permit, the project is dead“, said spokesman Sören Moje. The current case is another example of a prevention policy. You don’t want this law to work so you have a reason to take it back.
Regarding the petition: openpetition.de/petition/online/hamburg
Petition started
Cannahaus Hamburg e. V. has now launched a petition to prevent such sabotage in the future. Other clubs in Hamburg have also already been rejected with incomprehensible reasons. The petition is addressed to Senator Karen Pein for Urban Development and Housing. The demand is clear: right-wing clubs must not be prevented by arbitrary harassment while the black market continues unchecked.
