For Andrea, her car is her connection to the world. Due to her multiple health conditions, the 55-year-old businesswoman is immunocompromised and lives with chronic fatigue. Stressful situations, such as rushing to change train platforms, can quickly drain Andrea's energy and weaken her. Furthermore, her joint pain can turn even the simplest everyday tasks into challenges. For example, the pain in her elbow prevents her from carrying heavy shopping bags.
Thanks to her car, Andrea was able to overcome all these obstacles and thus manage her daily life. Until one morning, a registered letter from the road traffic office turned her world upside down. The letter informed her that she was no longer allowed to drive. Andrea's connection to the road was simply cut off.
The recipe for this predicament: a careless handling of Andrea's personal data by the disability insurance office and an unprofessional assessment of her THC medication, which led to a seemingly arbitrary decision by the road traffic office. But let's start from the beginning:
Caution: fragile
As she speaks, Andrea has to pause frequently to clear her throat and cough. Because of her inflammatory rheumatic autoimmune disease, her mucous membranes are dry. She also constantly has a dry mouth and dry eyes. This makes her very sensitive to light. Due to the dry mucous membranes caused by this disease, Andrea's intestines become inflamed very easily, which has landed her in the hospital's emergency room several times. In addition, Andrea frequently struggles with joint stiffness and muscle cramps. When these occur, she suddenly begins to limp. Therefore, Andrea is always on guard against strong light sources, cold gusts of wind, or stressful situations. "I simply have to be very careful with my sensitive body," she says, wrapping her scarf a little tighter around her neck to prevent it from getting cold and stiff.
To make her body more resistant to everyday stressors, she takes numerous medications. In addition to immunosuppressants, muscle relaxants, antihistamines, and cortisone, Andrea takes an alcohol-based THC tincture, which she dissolves in hot cacao. The drops help her alleviate persistent inflammation, prevent unpleasant muscle cramps, and soothe her irritable bowel syndrome.
The prize for Andreas Freiheit
Andrea had arranged her life as best she could to cope with the symptoms of her illnesses. But a routine review by the disability insurance office (IV) suddenly turned her life upside down. Her case was reassessed, and she had to undergo several tests regarding her cognitive, physical, and mental health. This also raised the question of whether Andrea was fit to drive. To prove her competence behind the wheel, she needed a medical report from a traffic medicine specialist. For this purpose, Andrea's entire disability insurance file was sent by the insurance company to the road traffic office. Unsecured and unredacted, it made everything accessible, including the most sensitive details of Andrea's life situation, her childhood, and her professional life—things that were not relevant to the assessment.
After a thorough analysis of all this data, the traffic medicine specialist decided to revoke Andrea's driver's license. The brief explanation was: there were indications that she was unfit to drive due to her THC intake. "I was completely stunned," she says. She had to stop driving immediately, and her radius of movement was restricted to her apartment. Since she had no other choice and relied on her car for her daily life, Andrea discontinued her cannabis therapy. To prove this, she had to submit a urine sample to the doctor every month. "I felt like a junkie who had to prove her innocence." Only when it was proven that she no longer had any THC in her blood was Andrea allowed to drive again, albeit with certain conditions.
Since she could no longer take THC from one day to the next, the pain and sleep problems had a devastating effect on her mind and body. To endure the suffering of the muscle cramps, Andrea had to increase her medication (a muscle relaxant) fivefold and also take additional medications for the pain and sleep problems. "The side effects were horrific for me," Andrea recalls.
Arbitrariness at the road traffic office
Since the new driving ban was only valid for one year, Andrea had to undergo another medical and psychiatric evaluation after 12 months. This was followed by cognitive tests with cannabis in her blood. The results are striking: Andrea's reaction time is faster with THC medication than without.
Following this test result, the traffic medicine specialist gave Andrea the go-ahead to drive even while taking THC medication. This was on the condition that the THC dosage remains unchanged, Andrea only drives when she feels well, she undergoes regular checkups of her mental health, and she follows all other medical instructions.
So far, so good – until a year later when the next follow-up appointment was due and new assessments were required. "The appointments, prescriptions, tests, and reports cost me several thousand francs each time and a lot of time," Andrea says, perplexed. "I can't afford this in the long run."
That's why Andrea, together with Medcan, is now applying for a long-term permit to drive while taking THC medication. Only then can she live her life independently again, without constant bureaucratic checks or endless paperwork. Fittingly, Andrea concludes our conversation: "My life is severely restricted by my illnesses. The car gives me freedom again."
