The coalition agreement recently concluded between the CDU/CSU and SPD does not contain any specific plans to amend or repeal Germany’s Cannabis Act (Cannabisgesetz, “CanG”). But the future governing parties have agreed to evaluate the effects of this act to legalise cannabis, leaving all options on the table, in autumn 2025.
The Recreational Cannabis Act (Konsumcannabisgesetz, “KCanG”) already provides for such an evaluation (section 43(2), sentences 2 and 3), so the coalition agreement essentially confirms the legal status quo. Despite the CSU’s public insistence that the partial legalisation of cannabis be reversed, press reports indicate that its proposal failed in the face of resistance from the SPD, which remains committed to legalisation of the drug, one of the preceding coalition’s flagship projects.
The evaluation report is due to be delivered in 2026. It remains to be seen whether or not the future governing parties will then agree to repeal or reform the CanG, in whole or in part, or whether the current legal regime will persist. Currently, there are few indications that Germany will be returning to its previous legal framework of narcotic bans.
Given these developments in the wake of the coalition talks, this article revisits the CanG’s key provisions, especially in connection with the Medical Cannabis Act (Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz, “MedCanG”). The two most important changes made in 2024 were these:
- The cultivation and distribution of medicinal cannabis are now regulated by a purely authorisation-based procedure rather than an award-based one, as previously. The days of centralised purchasing by Germany’s Cannabis Agency are over.
- Medicinal cannabis is being removed from the Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz, “BtMG”) and will therefore be subject to fewer bureaucratic requirements. For the first time, pharmacies will be able to process mail orders for medical cannabis prescribed by doctors.
This will present producers, doctors, pharmacies and patients – and not least digital platforms – with a number of new opportunities and challenges, which we take a look at below.
Cultivation of medicinal cannabis made easier
Before the CanG was adopted, commercial medicinal cannabis growers had to navigate an extensive and legally uncertain award procedure to obtain a licence from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, “BfArM”). The Cannabis Agency at the BfArM purchased the medical cannabis centrally from the producers who had been awarded the contract. This time-consuming procedure was repeatedly challenged in court and in some cases delayed the supply of high-quality cannabis to patients. The new law replaced the award procedure with a purely authorisation-based procedure that reduces the barriers to market-based cultivation in Germany and is likely to create equal opportunities for German growers when it comes to competing internationally.
To obtain a licence, growers must submit the necessary documents to the BfArM and prove that they meet the requirements for cultivating, producing, trading, importing, exporting, supplying, selling, otherwise placing on the market, procuring or acquiring medicinal cannabis for medical or scientific purposes. The Act clarifies the specific terms of the licence and sets out which documents must be submitted with the application.
Last year saw a significant increase in the amount of land used to grow cannabis in Germany. But most of the medical cannabis prescribed in Germany continues to be imported, as there has been an enormous rise in demand since the Act was adopted. Reliable data on increased consumption of (medical) cannabis since partial legalisation are not yet available, but pharmacies have reported a sharp rise in demand for medical cannabis, and the market for mail-order medical cannabis in particular has grown significantly. Patients in this market tend to prefer private prescriptions.
A further reason why demand for legal medical cannabis has increased is probably that private cultivation at the quality desired tends to be difficult.
Medicinal cannabis removed from Narcotics Act
Another relevant change stemmed from the removal of medicinal cannabis from the BtMG. This change has affected doctors and pharmacies in particular and ensured that some of the effort involved in handling cannabis has been eliminated. Narcotics documentation and storage in a safe are no longer necessary. Also, a normal doctor’s prescription – instead of a special narcotics prescription – now suffices. Since this change was made, medical cannabis has been treated like any other prescription medicine.
The previous Federal Government estimated that time savings of five minutes per prescription were realistic. Extrapolating from this, pharmacies throughout Germany could save a total of over two million euros a year in staffing costs. Removing medicinal cannabis from the BtMG also makes things easier for patients, as they have fewer obstacles to overcome when obtaining a prescription for and picking up medicinal cannabis.
Prescription of medical cannabis through online platforms
Liberalisation has focussed attention on the prescription of medical cannabis through online platforms. Increasingly in demand, these new market players offer telemedical consultations to patients and often cooperate with one or more mail-order pharmacies when doctors prescribe drugs. The rules governing telemedical prescriptions of medical cannabis by doctors and subsequent dispatch of mail-order cannabis products do not differ from those governing conventional medicines. Compliance with the general provisions governing pharmacies, drugs and their advertising is sufficient. Key rules here include sections 9 and 10 Health Products and Services Advertising Act (Heilmittelwerbegesetz), which ban advertisements for telemedical treatment and for prescription drugs respectively. Courts have already restricted the activities of some platforms on this legal basis.
Pharmaceutical quality of medicinal cannabis guaranteed
Medicinal cannabis still has to meet the same quality standards as other herbal medicinal products. These include the requirements of “Good Agricultural and Collection Practice” (GACP), “Good Manufacturing Practice” (GMP) and the corresponding monographs from the German Pharmacopoeia (Deutsches Arzneibuch). The purpose of these requirements is to guarantee the safety, efficacy and purity of medicinal cannabis and to enable product traceability.
New requirements for recreational cannabis
The CanG also lays down the requirements for the partial legalisation of recreational cannabis. Adults aged 18 and over are allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis in public spaces and up to 50 grams in their residence. In addition, up to three cannabis plants may be grown per adult per household, whereby the cannabis harvested may only be used for personal consumption and may not be distributed.
Private cultivation associations (“cannabis clubs”) with a maximum of 500 members (who are at least 18 years old and resident in Germany) are allowed to grow cannabis for recreational purposes, but cannabis grown there may only be distributed to members for their own consumption – there must be no intention to make a profit. Operating a cultivation association requires an official licence and is subject to monitoring by the competent federal state authorities. According to the Federal Government’s response to a parliamentary question in January 2025, over 400 applications for such licences had been filed across Germany by then, of which only 83 had been approved. The number of approved cultivation associations varies greatly among the individual federal states responsible for implementing the KCanG. As of January 2025, 25 cultivation associations had been approved in Lower Saxony and 20 in North Rhine-Westphalia, while no licence applications at all had been approved in Bavaria, Hesse or Saarland by this date.
According to press reports, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft) was expected to issue an ordinance before the end of the last legislative period that would have contained further liberalisation, including the commercialisation of recreational cannabis (“coffee shops”) within the framework of regionally limited model projects. This never came to fruition. And given the current majorities in the Bundestag, there is little likelihood that any liberalisation of recreational cannabis beyond this will be realised politically.
Conclusion
Political discussions revolving around the repeal or reform of cannabis’s partial legalisation in Germany are likely to continue in future. For the time being, however, medical cannabis will largely be subject to the same rules as other prescription drugs. Notwithstanding the strict regulations that apply in some respects, there will continue to be opportunities for producers, doctors, pharmacies, patients and above all digital platforms.
Forward
