[Sundowner] Armies of Gummy Bears

[Sundowner64]

Why did a recent change in legislation result in a record number of new children playgrounds in Bavaria?

[Sarisberie2]

Armies = many? A specific number? a round figure? Just a generic phrase meaning "a lot"? Title relevant? Did the armies indeed recruit gummy bears? Real bears? Non-bears? Were there ranks? Were the bears in the playgrounds? Weren't there enough playgrounds? For children? For bears? Miniature parks (like miniature trains)?
Was there an incident or accident which required more playgrounds or space? Safety issue? Relevant that it was in Bavaria? Other bears relevant?

[Sundowner64]

Sarisberie
Armies = many? A specific number? a round figure? Just a generic phrase meaning "a lot"? No to all. Title relevant? No. Did the armies indeed recruit gummy bears? No armies and no bears in this puzzle. Real bears? Non-bears? Were there ranks? Were the bears in the playgrounds? No. Weren't there enough playgrounds? Can there be ever enough? But that's not the point here. For children? For children of all age. For bears? Miniature parks (like miniature trains)? No, ordinary playgrounds with sandboxes, seesaw, climbing frame, slide, ..
Was there an incident or accident which required more playgrounds or space? No. Safety issue? No. Relevant that it was in Bavaria? Some other German states would work as well. Other bears relevant? No.

[GalFisk]

Were there an average number of playgrounds before this? Fewer? More? Did the new playgrounds benefit the kids? Their parents? Someone else? Did contructing playgrounds have some other relevant effect, apart from making spaces for children to play? Money relevant? Do the playgrounds relevantly attract something? Repel something? Make it illegal for something else to be near them?

[Sundowner64]

GalFisk
Were there an average number of playgrounds before this? Yes, we can assume so. Fewer? More? Did the new playgrounds benefit the kids? Sure. Their parents? And them as well. Someone else? Did contructing playgrounds have some other relevant effect, apart from making spaces for children to play? Yes. Money relevant? No. Do the playgrounds relevantly attract something? Repel something? This. Make it illegal for something else to be near them? Because of this. Great question.

[Sarisberie2]

"repel something" = birds, dogs, other animals, good, bad or nefarious people, damage, traffic, aeroplanes? Were the locations of the playgrounds relevant, before or after the change?

[Sundowner64]

Sarisberie
"repel something" = birds, dogs, other animals, good, bad or nefarious people This, for svv of "bad or nefarious"., damage, traffic, aeroplanes? Were the locations of the playgrounds relevant, before or after the change? Location is relevant, yes.

[trebor2]

Are the "bad or nefarious people" teenagers? Adults? Are they connected by a profession? Hobby? Interest? Was the intent of the legislation to drive these people out of the area? To create another area for these people, which had the effect of them leaving this one?

Is homelessness relevant? Drug use? Public drinking? I'm hoping they weren't trying to drive out homeless people, but maybe did they enact legislation that allowed for more shelters? Safe injection sites? A universal basic income, that helped people get back on their feet? Anything like these ideas?

This is reminding me of a puzzle I ran quite a while ago about learning the notes in the treble clef. The mnemonic the student came up with for the line notes was "Evil Gummy Bears Destroy France". Is that puzzle relevant here? Is music relevant?

[Sarisberie2]

I remember that puzzle! EGBDF. Good one.

[Sarisberie2]

Were the playgrounds established to cover land which otherwise might be used for, say, more roads, or housing? Were there trees which might be cut down otherwise? Was the area a greenfield site originally? Are allotments involved? Bavarian language relevant?

[Sundowner64]

trebor
Are the "bad or nefarious people" teenagers? Adults? This. Are they connected by a profession? Hobby? Interest? Would not actually call that a hobby or interest, but it goes into that direction. Was the intent of the legislation to drive these people out of the area? Yope. Explore. To create another area for these people, which had the effect of them leaving this one? No.

Is homelessness relevant? No. Drug use? Yes. Public drinking? Not drinking. I'm hoping they weren't trying to drive out homeless people, but maybe did they enact legislation that allowed for more shelters? No. Safe injection sites? A universal basic income, that helped people get back on their feet? Anything like these ideas? No.

This is reminding me of a puzzle I ran quite a while ago about learning the notes in the treble clef. The mnemonic the student came up with for the line notes was "Evil Gummy Bears Destroy France". I remember it as well. That was a great puzzle. Is that puzzle relevant here? Apart from the title, no. Is music relevant? No.

Sarisberie
I remember that puzzle! EGBDF. Good one. Indeed.

Were the playgrounds established to cover land which otherwise might be used for, say, more roads, or housing? No. Were there trees which might be cut down otherwise? No. Was the area a greenfield site originally? Possibly. Or the land was used differently. Are allotments involved? No. Bavarian language relevant? No.

The puzzle title is a reference to that song.
Herbert Grönemeyer: Kinder an die Macht

The lyrics roughly translate as:

Armies of gummy bears
Tanks of marzipan
You can eat up all the wars
Simple plan
Genius of a child
..
Give the power to the children
They don't care what they do
The world should be in the hands of children
End all gloom and dullness
Laugh away all problems
Power to the children

[Biograd1]

This is reminding me of a puzzle I ran quite a while ago about learning the notes in the treble clef. The mnemonic the student came up with for the line notes was "Evil Gummy Bears Destroy France".

In fact when I read the title of this puzzle, I assumed it was a reference to that puzzle, and that the answer to this one would involve music somehow...

Are cannabis dispensaries relevant? needle exchanges? legally-sanctioned/supervised drug administration sites?

[GalFisk]

Specific drugs relevant? All illegal drugs? Drug: use? Sale? Production? Distribution? Has some aspect of drug use been legalized? Or decriminalized? But not near playgrounds? So playgrounds are built to make it effectively illegal again in an area?

[Sundowner64]

Biograd
In fact when I read the title of this puzzle, I assumed it was a reference to that puzzle, and that the answer to this one would involve music somehow... This will come later.
Are cannabis dispensaries relevant? needle exchanges? legally-sanctioned/supervised drug administration sites? No to all.

GalFisk
Specific drugs relevant? One specific drug. All illegal drugs? No. Drug: use? This one. Sale? Production? Distribution? Has some aspect of drug use been legalized? Yes. Or decriminalized? But not near playgrounds? So playgrounds are built to make it effectively illegal again in an area? Exactly.

[GalFisk]

Tobacco? Weed? Alcohol? Nitrous oxide? Something smoked? Drank? Injected? Snorted? Inhaled?

[Sarisberie2]

I assume it was weed/cannabis? Did the law state the weed was now legal, as long as there were no children present/nearby? Could the smoke and smell be detected a fair distance away? Would they have to allow for various weather conditions, wind speed and directions etc? If they built playgrounds a certain distance apart, effectively they could prevent weed being smoked over a large area, even if no children were present?

[Sundowner64]

GalFisk
Tobacco? Weed? This. Alcohol? Nitrous oxide? Something smoked? Which is this. Drank? Injected? Snorted? Inhaled?

Sarisberie
I assume it was weed/cannabis? You assume correctly. Did the law state the weed was now legal, as long as there were no children present/nearby? Basically yes. Could the smoke and smell be detected a fair distance away? Would they have to allow for various weather conditions, wind speed and directions etc? Not necessarily. If they built playgrounds a certain distance apart, effectively they could prevent weed being smoked over a large area, even if no children were present? But that's it.

SPOILER
Since 1 April it is legal in Germany to smoke cannabis in public places. This was not welcomed by everyone but as it's a federal law the states could not do much against it. Nevertheless, Bavaria and some other states banned cannabis in areas of 200 metres around schools, kindergardens and playgrounds. Consequently, people who wanted to keep cannabis smokers out of their neighborhood started to put up makeshift playgrounds whereever possible. Often just a piece of grassland with a sign "Playground". And called the police whenever a glowing blunt came into sight.

The cannabis lovers started to complain about this practice - after all, the law says smoking cannabis in public is legal - and finally the government decided that a playground must have some equipment for playing in order to count as a playground. So people started to put up sandboxes, climbing frames, seesaws and turned the grassland into real playgrounds. Looks really nice in some neighborhoods and children enjoy it.

Thanks to all who played and congratulations to Sarisberie and GalFisk.

[Sarisberie2]

Cunning... /beardystroke