The Biggest Winners Of German Legalization So Far
More than a year after the first provisions of Germany’s adult-use legalization law took effect, domestic and international cannabis policy and industry observers continue to evaluate the impact of the policy modernization change.
Starting on April 1st, 2024, adults in Germany can cultivate, possess, and consume a personal amount of cannabis. Additionally, cannabis was removed from Germany’s Narcotics List as part of the nation’s CanG law. The changes in German public policy have had a positive effect on society, industry, and government.
“One year of the cannabis law is already a complete success for me, because it’s a year without criminalization and unnecessary persecution. Access to support services has been made easier, and there’s more education going on, which is precisely one of the health policy goals. The fact that cannabis clubs are now also emerging shows that there’s a movement here as well. This will noticeably reduce the black market, similar to home cultivation.” stated Dirk Heidenblut (former member of the Bundestag), according to Merkur (translated from German to English).
Earlier this month, the new governing coalition in Germany announced that, at least for the time being, there will be no changes to the CanG law. Evaluations of German cannabis policy and regulations will be ongoing, but the coalition’s announcement was welcomed news for cannabis advocates and industry members.
The coalition announcement comes after polling found little support for a CanG reversal. A recent YouGov poll has found that a minority (38%) of the nation’s citizens support reversing German adult-use cannabis legalization.
Additionally, according to the results of a Forsa survey commissioned by the KKH Kaufmännische Krankenkasse, 55% of surveyed Germans do not want to repeal the nation’s CanG adult-use legalization law. Only 36% of the Forsa survey respondents indicated that they want to repeal legalization, with the rest being undecided.
Arguably, the biggest winner of German adult-use legalization so far is the nation’s medical cannabis industry and the patients it serves. According to a recent report by the Bloomwell Group, prescriptions for medical cannabis in Germany increased by roughly 1,000% between March 2024 and December 2024. The report also found that prices for medical cannabis products are decreasing in Europe’s largest medical cannabis market.
During the first three full months following Germany’s enactment of the CanG adult-use legalization law (Q3 2024), legal medical cannabis imports increased by over 70% compared to the previous period.
Another major winner is Germany’s home cultivation sector. According to a recent survey by the German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW), consumers reported that ‘seeds and accessories (e.g. grow box sets) for home cultivation and cannabis flowers, followed by humidity regulators for storing cannabis,’ were the most frequently sold out items in their area.
Adult consumers, German courts and law enforcement, and ultimately German taxpayers, have all greatly benefited from the CanG law. Consumers no longer face prosecution for personal cannabis activity, the nation’s court system is no longer jammed up with needless cannabis consumer cases, German law enforcement is freed up to focus on fighting real crime, and taxpayers no longer have to foot the bill for enforcing harmful, ineffective cannabis consumer prohibition policies.
The Institute for Competition Economics at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf previously conducted an analysis that found that adult-use legalization could yield as much as 1.3 billion euros per year in savings for Germany’s police and judicial system.
Germany’s legalization model is not perfect, and advocates must continue to push for improvements. With that being said, the CanG law is clearly better than cannabis prohibition, and it is superior to other policies in place in other European nations.
