Not originally intended to become a series, our "It's the little things" (It's the little laws) postings are beginning to look like a self-sustaining series about oddities of German daily life.
The first two in the series were: Having to pay double the cost for a replacement driver's license versus a stolen one, and being denied medical care in non-life threatening situations if you do not have the chip card on you (even if the doctor has had you as a patient for a decade).
The title of today's posting comes straight from a report in German weekly Die Zeit. We came across the article when we checked the newest German sobriety debate about alcohol locks in cars.
During our time here in Germany, we have discovered the magic behind many new German political proposals: read up on what other countries do, present it as your own idea - done.
Breathalyzers combined with an ignition lock are the latest one.
But this debate is boring, the "See also" link to the administrative persecution of suspected marijuana users is more revealing. One such absurd story is that of a young woman who took the train and then a taxi to a music festival.
At one of the "all traffic gets inspected" checkpoints German police routinely set up on the way to and from large festivals, the young woman was found to have 1.2 g of pot and 1.5 g of hash. Apparently not enough to even warrant a fine, the charges were dropped.
A couple of weeks later, she received a letter from the DMV asking for a urine drug test to be taken within three days. If not, her driver's license would be revoked.
Compare this to how German bureaucrats treat drunk passengers, in a car, a taxi, on a train: nothing happens. You get a pat on the back for not driving.
According to the article, a highly profitable drug testing industry has sprung up in Germany because of the administrative punishment of suspected drug users.
But you do not need to use illegal drugs to run into trouble with a German DMV.
Perfectly legal medication can lead to the same, or even harsher, treatment. Pretty much any medication that says "do not drive or operate machinery" can put your driver's license at risk, although enforcement of these provisions for medication has apparently become more lenient because so many German citizens are on anti-depressants and other mind altering medication that strict enforcement would cripple the auto industry.
We know that even a couple of decades ago, it was common for German DMVs to pull the driver's license of someone who was prescribed simple anti-depressants.
Why hunting depressed people was abandoned is not clear to the blogster. The most logical explanation might be that working at a German DMV makes a lot of people very depressive, which in turn results in a doctor's visit and a prescription of anti-depressants.
You cannot expect DMV employees to revoke their own drivers' licenses, can you?
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