Cannabis Legalization in Germany

Medical

On January 19th, 2017, Germany’s parliament (Bundestag) passed a law that officially makes cannabis legal for medicinal purposes, allowing for severely ill German patients to receive prescriptions for medical cannabis treatment. This amendment became effective from March 2017, allowing people with qualifying conditions to legally obtain medical marijuana from pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription.

In April 2019, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) announced that it was awarding the tender to cultivate cannabis domestically in Germany to three companies exclusively for distribution in German markets. In total, the tender ensures that the BfArM will purchase 10,400 kilograms of cannabis from producers for an estimated wholesale price per gram €2.3. 10,400 kilograms is further split into 2,600 kilograms per year between the companies in the proportions listed below:

  • Aurora – 1,000kg/year for 4 years
  • Tilray – 1,000kg/year for 4 years
  • Demecan – 600kg/year for 4 years
Recreational

On February 23, 2024, the Bundestag (the lower house of the German legislature or parliament) passed a law legalizing the recreational use of cannabis for personal use in the country. The Law (CanG) will come into force on April 1st for possession and cultivation, with cannabis social clubs expected to start operating from July 1st.

The new legislation removes cannabis from the German Narcotic Drugs Act (BtMG). This allows individuals to possess up to 25 grams in public and 50 grams at home. It also allows up to three plants per person to be grown at home and creates social cannabis clubs that will have up to 500 members, from which individuals can obtain up to 50 grams of cannabis per month.

The CanG must still be approved by the Bundesrat (a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level), which does not have the power to block the bill entirely but can delay its implementation.

German Cannabis Market: Stats and Perspectives

In 2022 over 170,000 patients were prescribed medical cannabis in Germany comparing to about 128,000 patients in 2020, 60,000 patients in 2019 and 40,000 patients in 2018. Most prescriptions so far have been given for pain (71%), followed by spasticity (11%) and anorexia (8%).

The German group Cansativa holds the sole license to distribute domestic products, which they started doing in July 2021 after shipping the product from Tilray. While domestic producers may exceed the declared amount by 10%, 2600 kg per year does not cover the needs of Germany. Imports to Germany have been increasing steadily since the inception of the market in 2017, on average, almost doubling each year up to the end of 2021. In 2022, imports reached nearly 25 tonnes of cannabis flower (or their equivalent needed for extracts) marking yet another record.

Four million people used cannabis in Germany in 2022, and a quarter of all people aged 18 to 24 in the country used it, according to the Minister of Health. It had been estimated that full legalisation would create a market for about 400 tonnes of cannabis worth approximately €4 billion.

Source: cannabusinessplans.eu


Germany Cannabis Market Infographics


'70% ready to go' business plan templates

Our cannabis financial models and cannabis business plan templates will help you estimate how much it costs to start and operate your own cannabis business, to build all revenue and cost line-items monthly over a flexible seven year period, and then summarize the monthly results into quarters and years for an easy view into the various time periods. We also offer investor pitch deck templates.

Best Selling Templates

Cannabis business plan templates for European countries are also available at cannabusinessplans.eu.