Puff puff pass: How Berlin trains are tackling Christmas commuter stress

A transport company in Berlin has come up with just the ticket to reduce commuter stress this Christmas.

It’s easy to feel stressed on public transport between Covid, Christmas, the crowds and sights and smells of trains and trams. Not to mention carrying heavy Christmas gifts from one stop to another.

Berlin’s public transport system has come up with a unique way of helping anxious commuters deal with the Christmas panic.

They are now offering edible hemp metro tickets.

No, you really did read that right.

Image rights BVG.

Each ticket cost €8.80 each and are made from edible rice paper. They are sprinkled with ‘no more than three drops’ of hemp oil each. The tickets are a limited edition and will be on sale from Monday to Friday this week to counteract the Christmas commuter rush. There is no CBD or THC in the ticket, just hemp oil made from the seeds of the plant.

In the advert, a bus driver takes a tour of a hemp field before drying some of the plants on the bus. The tickets are shown to help stressed and grumpy commuters calm down as they make their way home for Christmas.

The advert states:

“The hemp oil obtained from the seeds of the cannabis plant is said to have a relaxing effect,” it says. “And in contrast to the intoxicating active ingredient THC, it is completely harmless. And the stuff, this is not just really good, but also completely legal.”

“That’s why there is now a ticket made of edible paper amid all the Christmas stress that you can swallow all your anger with,” it says. “The hemp ticket: the ticket which not only brings you home but maybe also brings you down a bit.”

Although it may not have any CBD or THC, the seeds are associated with essential amino acids and vitamins which may help with the heart, skin and immune system.

It’s a cheeky nod to the news that Germany is set to legalise recreational cannabis.

Although, it’s possibly best to wait until after your journey to take a bite out of it as the company stressed that chewed tickets will not be accepted.

James Schwentu, BVG spokesperson said: “Of course this is all to be taken with a twinkle in your eye.”

“We do make very clear that anyone who wants to use the ticket as an actual ticket, please only nibble on it or eat it after your journey as if it has a bite out of it, it is no longer valid.”

[activecampaign form=33]