I had recently passed my medical-psychological examination (MPU), finally got my driver's license back in early August and would like to share some insights and experiences.
My story
First I have to tell you about my case so that you can better understand how my MPU came about and what consequences/consequences an MPU brings with it.
In 2015 I was driving under the influence of cannabis and was stopped at a police checkpoint and asked to take a drug test. A blood test found 2 ng/ml THC and 15 ng/ml COOH. The THC value indicates current consumption (how much cannabis I have consumed per day), the COOH value indicates the passive value, which allows conclusions to be drawn about past cannabis consumption.
Why cannabis?
Why people can use cannabis or other drugs various reasons have and what is considered normal in one culture may be violated and totally unacceptable in another culture.
In Germany and other cultures of the world alcohol consumption seems to be recognized as normal, even downright to be celebrated, not to mention the significant health risks of consumption27. January 2022
“According to a study carried out in 2010 on the re-evaluation of various psychotropic substances, alcohol is the fourth most harmful drug among intoxicants for the individual, after crack, heroin and methamphetamine, measured in terms of addictive potential and health-damaging effects. Measured by the harm to others and thus also in the overall assessment, alcohol is rated as the most harmful substance.”
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I realized early on that if 5-6 bottles of beer were drunk the night before, the consequences the next day could be quite unpleasant (headache, nausea + malaise), so it became more or less clear that my friends and I would rather consume cannabis than a lot of beer and that's how it happened.
Now, in hindsight, I can't condone the alcohol fetishism propelled by our culture (and indeed the alcohol industry), nor my reckless and very reckless use of cannabis, but I can safely say that current prohibition policies have not contributed at all to my Changing behavior rather, quite the opposite, has reinforced it because it's "cool" to break the law when you're young.
Studies confirm this thesis
"that the pursuit of a strict drug policy has little to no impact on consumption behavior". Rather, “Some of the countries with the strictest legislation had some of the highest drug use prevalence rates, while liberalizing countries had some of the lowest prevalence rates”
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If there is no thoughtful handling of drugs, sex, morals + ethics, science + mathematics, social media + the Internet at school or in other living spaces, then young people will have a very hard time finding a way to responsibly To face problems and difficulties in life and to learn to solve conflicts and to take responsibility.
I didn't learn that in school, nor do other people who shape current world politics seem to have learned it.
Blaming a young person for their bad deeds (using cannabis) seems easy. It seems much more difficult to condemn a society that puts consumption-oriented values above everything else, celebrates alcohol consumption and negates a considered use of the earth's resources.
So I would rather like to make it clear that my cannabis use, with my current insight, was a reaction to my reality/living conditions at the time. As we discussed it in the MPU preparation course, the reasons for me were as follows:
- Need: belonging and recognition
- escape from reality
- Boredom (monotony in the small village I grew up in)
- Recognition of people (at school)
- to suppress negative thoughts and feelings
- Loneliness – desire for a girlfriend remained unfulfilled
- to increase self-confidence
- My father's Parkinson's disease
- counteract stress
As we also discussed, I solved these problems with cannabis and not otherwise because I
- was introverted (shy/reserved).
- I was afraid to talk about my feelings
- was dishonest with my parents
- had a lack of self-confidence (because of blemishes, body)
- and couldn't keep myself busy
But what really annoys me about this analysis is that it always shifts the blame onto the individual. It's your fault that you were afraid to talk about your feelings and therefore consumed cannabis, it's your fault that you couldn't occupy yourself and therefore wanted to kill your boredom with cannabis, it's your fault that you had a lack of body awareness and Confident because of your blemishes, so you were too shy to approach a girl and have your first experience.
But society is fine. The society in which the ideal of beauty is mirrored to you in advertising every day, with a perfect body and smooth skin, is normal. The society in which films show you how relationships work and which always end with a happy ending. The society in which you are taught to get a good school diploma, get a job and make a career is "success". The society in which everyone is busy, has no time and is always under stress. And the society that doesn't have deep conversations, that negates their problems and superficially fights their problems with alcohol - that's normal and accepted.
Yes, exactly…
The medical-psychological examination
So to get my driver's license back I had to do this MPU preparation course which was 3 sessions with other people who also lost their driver's license. There we discussed our crimes, consumer behavior and the motives behind them. We dealt with stress management strategies, discussed dangerous situations and created an emergency plan for them.
For this we were allowed to design posters in order to have a summary for ourselves, which we can then present to the psychologist, although I was not supposed to show it to the assessor from whom I had the MPU:
We also created a consumption curve, which I was also not supposed to show:
Basically, I put a lot of time and energy into something that was ultimately irrelevant to the examiner...
Well, it's also about reflecting on the phase, recognizing that you made mistakes and then (hopefully) no longer falling into old patterns.
Finally, we went through the questions that can be asked in an MPU and learned what to answer:
Question 1: Why are you here today?
Because I became conspicuous with cannabis behind the wheel and now I want to show that I have changed.
Question 2: Did you prepare yourself today?
Yes, I prepared myself with an MPU preparation course, which consisted of 3 sessions of 8 hours each.
Question 3: What did you learn in this course? taken away? What knowledge do you have
withdrawn from the preparation course?
I have dealt with the offense and my consumer behavior. I have recognized my motives. I discussed coping strategies, recognized my dangerous situations and created an emergency plan for them.
Question 4: What would speak for you today? Why do you think that today you have a positive
get appraisals?
Because I dealt with the whole thing and realized that my behavior was wrong. Because I consciously sought help. Because I've been abstinent since 2016. Because I've changed a lot in my life. I am prepared for dangerous situations and have sufficient motivation to stay abstinent in the future.
Why are you staying abstinent now? Consumption is not good for me, I meet my needs in a different way, consumption takes me away from my goals, etc.
Question 5: Now explain your case
Now explain my crime, when did I consume, why, how much, etc.
Question 6: Have you already used other drugs?
No.
Question 7: How did you feel before you started driving?
Tell the truth: fit to drive? Yes, that's what I thought at the moment, but today I know that I wasn't and that I was a danger to myself and others.
Question 8: How often have you driven a car under the influence of drugs without noticing it?
Telling the truth (in my case about 1-2 times a month from my 19th birthday)
Question 9: How did you evaluate the crime for yourself at the time?
What was I thinking? I was ashamed, embarrassed because I could never hurt anyone
Question 10: Have you already made any resolutions?
Yes, I had: No longer drive under the influence of drugs
Question 11: Consumption history
Show consumption history
Question 12: Motives What did you expect from consumption?
Motives + Vulnerabilities
I used because I wanted approval, belonging, to increase self-confidence, to forget things, to escape from my reality, etc.
And why did I solve this with drugs?
Because I was introspective, had low self-esteem, etc.
Question 13: Were there any negative consequences of consumption?
Yes, there was: for family, friends, for myself. My intellectual development suffered as a result, as did my relationships with other people.
Question 14: Was there criticism from other people?
no
Question 15: What is your consumption like today? Why am I sober now?
No more consumption. I'm abstinent because I can meet my needs in other ways, because I have goals in life and a lot of hobbies that I'm passionate about.
Question 16: How did one experience the cessation or end of use?
Change since consumption changed (best change I've had)
Question 17: Is there a risk of relapse?
Yes, there are always, but because I have changed so much in my life and have understood my dangerous situations, the probability is very small
Question 18: How would you deal with a risk of recidivism?
Stress management strategies and contingency plan:
- Remove from the situation
- Do breathing exercises, do stretching exercises
- Analyzing the problem on a meta level, trying to find solutions, setting limits, getting help, etc.
Question 19: Have you endangered others with your behavior?
Yes definitely.
Question 20: How would you rate your own consumption?
abuse
Recognized stress management strategies:
recognized strategies:
- autogenic training: power of imagination: body scan + mental journey e.g. to the beach
- Affirmations (stand in front of the mirror and strengthen/discard beliefs)
- progressive muscle relaxation (certain muscles or relaxation)
- 4, 2, 6 Breathing exercise: Inhale nose into abdomen for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, mouth for 6 seconds
exhale - being in the moment by activating 5 senses, naming 5 things you can see around you, 4 things,
you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can
can taste - cognitive restructuring (booklet/diary)
How my MPU was
While we discussed these questions in the MPU preparation, they did not appear in the same order or wording on my MPU. Nevertheless, the preparatory course is necessary, otherwise you will fail directly.
The MPU consists of 3 parts: the interview with the psychologist, a reaction test + a urine sample.
My MPU went well overall, I passed the reaction and urine test with certainty, during the interview it depends on the expert what the result is. (ultimately he gave me a positive report)
Other things I had to do?
Apart from the MPU itself and the preparatory course for it, I still had to do a 12-month abstinence certificate. This involves either urinating into a cup on a toilet in the presence of a doctor (6 times in 12 months) or removing 2-inch hair twice.
Both can be perceived/interpreted by a person as a violation of dignity, both can only be a trifle for a person. In any case, I felt extremely stupid, was a bit ashamed and also embarrassed to pee into a cup 7 times (6 times for the proof of abstinence and 1 time for the MPU) under medical supervision.
There are also costs for applying for a driver's license, for a first aid course and for transport costs. For example, my MPU was due to coincide with the period that I have a practical phase in Ireland, which is why I had to fly from Ireland to Germany, cancel a booked return flight as the MPU took longer than I thought, and a had to book a new flight the next day. I also had to apply for my certificate of good conduct for around 20 €, which then leads to the following list:
- €814 for the medical-psychological report
- 147 € for the driving license application
- €690 for proof of abstinence for 12 months
- 739 € for the MPU preparation course
- €50 for the first aid course
- 140 € costs for flight Ireland-Germany and back
- 20 € Application for a certificate of good conduct
= 2600 €
2600 € are the costs measured in money. On top of that, it took so much time to take care of everything, prepare for MPU, justify yourself to family and friends, deal with yourself etc.
Conclusion
So that you understand me correctly:
I recognize my mistake and see driving under the heavy influence of cannabis as problematic. However, the measures are those against me and so many other young people who use cannabis occasionally and just above the limit of 1 ng/ml THC in the blood (I had a limit of 1ng/ml), extraordinarily excessive.
In other words, it's cracking down on sparrows, while there's a generous tolerance limit of 0.5 per mille for the biggest risk factor in road traffic - alcohol:
Alcohol is the greatest risk factor on the road, both in terms of the frequency and severity of accidents. Every year more than a million people die worldwide as a result of traffic accidents, so about 4,000 per day. In 2001, for example, almost 65,000 traffic accidents in which alcohol played a role were registered in Germany alone. 909 people lost their lives.
The consequences of alcohol accidents are exceptionally severe. For every 1000 traffic accidents involving personal injury, there are an average of 16 fatalities, compared to 27 fatalities in alcohol-related accidents.
According to the statistics of the Association of Liability Insurers, every fourth serious traffic accident in Germany can be traced back to the influence of alcohol, despite numerous prevention efforts and information campaigns and controls. Only a fraction of all driving under the influence of alcohol is discovered and penalized by traffic controls.
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While driving under cannabis, one study concluded the following:
According to this, after correcting for age, gender, origin and alcohol consumption, there is no increased risk of a traffic accident after cannabis consumption compared to the control group without cannabis consumption.
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Who benefits?
The question that remains is who will benefit from the current situation? The state, the companies or both?
The companies that offer MPU preparatory courses for a lot of money, certainly. By the way, my course leader was living in Ibiza at the time we had the MPU prep sessions, which surprised me a bit at first...
The state, which receives the taxes from it, of course also benefits from it.
The appraisers, who are extremely well paid for their work, too.
Solve the cause or the symptoms?
Drugs are a sensitive topic in our society. Some have never tried any, some have almost everything. I am of the opinion that we should not demonize drugs, but should find a conscious and considered way of dealing with them and, above all, give young people a safe framework in which they do not have to be ashamed of what they are doing.
A sane, enlightened society would use substances that also medical benefits can have, don't demonize it, but deal with it in a reflective manner.
Cannabis is in Germany already recognized as a drug and is apparently well on the way to finally being legalized. It's about time, too, because there are far more important issues to take care of...
"Humans are causing the largest global extinction of species since the dinosaurs disappeared."
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