Burkhard Blienert (born 30 March 1966) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) who has been serving as Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs at the Federal Ministry of Health in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

since 2022. From 2013 to 2017 he was a member of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

Education and early career

Blienert was born in

Braubach Braubach () is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km southeast of Koblenz. Braubach has assorted medieval architecture intact, including ...

. After graduating from the Theodorianum in

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

, he did the

Zivildienst Zivildienst is the German denomination for the alternative civilian service for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors to fulfill their national service, typically in the fields of social work (e.g. hospitals, retirement homes, eme ...

(compulsory community service) at the AWO district association Paderborn. At the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

, he obtained a master's degree in Politics, Modern History and Sociology in 1994.Burkhard Blienert
Bundestag.de He passed his first state exam for lower secondary school in the subjects social sciences and history. Prior to his time as a member of the Bundestag, Burkhard Blienert worked since 1992 in various functions in the SPD or their affiliated organizations. During the election campaign in 2009, he was a speaker in the office of the former SPD chairman

Franz Müntefering Franz Müntefering (; born 16 January 1940) is a German politician. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009. He served as the minister of Labour and Social Affairs, ...

. Between 2010 and September 2013, Blienert was a speaker for school and training, sports and petitions at the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Political career

From 2002 to 2011, Blienert was Deputy District Chairman of the SPD in the district of Paderborn. In 2011, he was elected district chairman of the SPD Paderborn. Since 2008, Blienert is also a member of the SPD Regional Executive for East Westphalia-Lippe, he is also a deputy member of the SPD party convention. For the election to the Bundestag in 2013, Blienert joined the Bundestag constituency

Paderborn - Gütersloh III Paderborn is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 136. It is located ...

as a direct candidate. He moved over the state list in the 18th German Bundestag. He was a full member of the Committee on Health and the Committee on Culture and the Media and Deputy Member of the Committee on Budgets and Committee on Foreign Policies in the eighteenth legislative session of the German Bundestag. He focuses on health on the topics of budget, drugs and addiction as well as men's health. In the field of culture and media, he held the position of the spokesman for his political group. His other areas of specialization include heritage protection, books / publishing / literature, cultural education and the social protection of cultural and media workers. Furthermore, Blienert was a member of the German-Polish, the German-Dutch and the German-Korean parliamentary groups. Blienert stood as a candidate for the 19th German Bundestag, but wasn't re-elected. On 12 January 2022, at the suggestion of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), he was appointed Commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues of the Federal Government. Blienert is considered an advocate of the

legalization of cannabis The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. The ...

, a project provided for in the coalition agreement of the traffic light coalition. Already in 2015, during his time as a member of the Bundestag, he was responsible for a publication of the SPD Working Group on Drug Policy, which defined "cornerstones of a social democratic drug policy" and called for an end to prohibition.

Other activities

Blienert is a member of the Board of Directors of Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Fostering Institute) Berlin, a member of the Radio Council and of the Economic and Financial Committee of

Deutschlandradio Deutschlandradio (DLR; ) is a national German public radio broadcaster. History ''Deutschlandfunk'' was originally a West German news radio targeting listeners within West Germany as well as in neighbouring countries, ''Deutschlandfunk Kultur'' ...

, member of the Board of Trustees of the

Federal Agency for Civic Education The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Thomas Krüger has served as president of t ...

and Deputy Member of the Administrative Council of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

Personal life

Blienert lives in

Delbrück Delbrück () is a town in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the district Paderborn. History The first document mentioning the town dates to 1219. In 1410, the town was destroyed by fire during a conflict between the bisho ...

since 1968 with interruptions. He is married and has two children.

References

External links

Burkhard Blienert
at the German Bundestag {{DEFAULTSORT:Blienert, Burkhard Living people 1966 births Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia People from Rhein-Lahn-Kreis University of Münster alumni Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany