Cannabis in Germany

Germany partly legalized cannabis on 1 April 2024. Under the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG), adults 18 and older may carry up to 25 grams of dried cannabis in public, keep up to 50 grams at home and grow up to three plants. There are still no licensed shops: selling cannabis outside the medical system remains a criminal offense. Since 1 July 2024 adults can also join non-commercial cultivation associations (Anbauvereinigungen), which grow collectively and hand cannabis to members only. Clubs are capped at 500 members who must live in Germany, membership lasts at least three months, and each member may receive 25 grams a day and 50 grams a month; for 18- to 20-year-olds the monthly limit is 30 grams with at most 10 percent THC. Advertising and sponsorship for cannabis and for clubs are banned.

Clubs have grown slowly. The federal evaluation project EKOCAN counted 366 approved associations by 31 October 2025 and estimated that only about 3.5 percent of consumers could get their cannabis from a club in 2025, with clubs present in fewer than half of Germany's districts. Licensing is a state matter, so rules and waiting times differ: Hesse, for example, reported 22 permits from 36 applications by September 2026, while Bavaria issued its first three permits only in April 2025.

The larger legal market is medical. Since the Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG) took effect with the KCanG, medical cannabis is no longer a narcotic and can be prescribed on an ordinary prescription and dispensed by pharmacies. Telemedicine platforms and mail-order pharmacies expanded quickly; the evaluation estimated that up to 200 tonnes of medical cannabis were available in 2025, only about 2.6 tonnes of it grown in Germany. Two 2026 changes matter for patients. Since 29 July 2026 statutory health insurers can no longer be billed for cannabis flower, although standardized extracts and dronabinol remain possible. And in March 2026 the Federal Court of Justice ruled that public advertising of cannabis treatments that refers to medical conditions breaches the medicines advertising law.

A government bill to amend the MedCanG (printed paper 21/3061) would require an in-person doctor visit before a first flower prescription and ban mail-order shipping of flower. It passed its first reading on 18 December 2025 but was still before the Bundestag health committee in mid-September 2026, so online prescriptions and mail order remain legal for now. Public consumption is restricted near schools, playgrounds, youth and sports facilities and, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., in pedestrian zones.