Görlitzer Park drug crackdown

Radio Spaetkauf is back after a long break, and there's a lot of news to catch up on. New co-hosts Daniel and Jöran join Joel in our new studio at Donau115, a bar and creative space in Neukölln. On this episode, we discuss the drug crackdown in Görlitzer Park, which is now the most regulated space in all of Germany. Since March 31, it has become completely illegal to possess any amount of marijuana in the formerly anarchic park. This makes Görli the only place in Germany where you cannot carry a small amount of weed for personal use - even conservative Bayern allows up to 5 grams. We talk about the politics behind the crackdown, which has as much to do with gentrification, asylum regulation and power struggle in the Rotes Rathaus as it does about drug policy. Berlin has been spared from the expense and waste of the Olympic Games. The city has lost the bid to bid to host the Olympics, as Hamburg has instead been selected as Germany's nomination for the 2024 and 2028 games. The reason Hamburg won was because of Berliners' apathetic response to the city government's attempts to whip up excitement through a transparently fake pro-Olympic graffiti tagging campaign. Almost 400 of Berlin's 500 poker machine casinos could close in 2016. The casinos are expected to fail new regulations aimed at reducing gambling in the city. In public transport news, the city will get a temporary renumbered U-Bahn line. The U12 will combine sections of the U1 and U2 as trackwork and station renovations at Gleisdreieck cause months-long disruptions. Got a story idea? Want to participate in Radio Spaetkauf? Get in touch! Write to us at [email protected].