Berlin Stations Offer Edible Train Tickets Laced With Hemp

Berlin’s public transport company (BVG) just came up with another unique and rather odd initiative to help the German capital relieve their stress from the COVID-19 pandemic with a legal edible.

BVG now offers customers riding public transport the chance to buy day tickets laced with legal hemp oil, hoping to give the public a calming effect during these troubling times. The tickets cost €8.80 ($9.95) each and are made from edible paper that’s safe to ingest, dotted with about three drops of organic hemp oil.

BVG released a statement regarding the new initiative, noting that hemp oil was derived from the seed of the cannabis plant. The seeds do not contain the psychoactive compound THC. The statement said that the tickets are valid for 24 hours and the hemp oil is “completely harmless to health” and “completely legal.”

The company said that using the hemp-laced ticket; passengers can travel “hassle-free” around Berlin all day then simply “swallow your stress along with your ticket.” BVG also noted that this initiative was not supposed to launch the debate about legalizing cannabis.

Germany’s new coalition government was sworn in last week, and it’s already approved to legalize cannabis for recreational use. In the press release, BVG states they are against any drug use “whether illegal or legal,” but it also said BVG leans towards a more “open approach to completely harmless substances.”

They concluded the statement by giving the example of comparing hemp oil to other harmless substances like sunflower oil, pumpkin seed oil, and olive oil. This isn’t the first time BVG has initiated some rather quirky and unique marketing strategies.

In 2018, hundreds of people sat in the early-morning line in Berlin when BVG announced it would launch a limited-edition pair of Adidas sneakers that work as an annual metro ticket. The shoes act as an annual ticket worth €761, but they retailed for a low €180 and were designed in the same fashion as Berlin’s U-Bahn train seat covers.