Germany’s Federal Lawmakers Vote to Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis

Germany is steps away from legalizing adult-use cannabis nationwide for those 18 years and older following lawmakers in the Bundestag, the lower chamber of the country’s parliament, voting, 407-226, to pass final legislation on Feb. 23.

Certain provisions in the legislation, which would allow adults to smoke cannabis in various public places and grow up to three plants at home, could become effective as soon as April 1, BBC reported. Notably, adults would be allowed to possess up to 25 grams (just shy of an ounce) in public and up to 50 grams in their private residences, according to the news outlet.

In addition, German residents 18 and older would be allowed to join nonprofit “cannabis clubs” under the legislation, The Associated Press reported. These clubs would be limited to 500 members who could grow their own cannabis for personal use starting July 1, according to the news outlet.

Bundestag lawmakers held off on including provisions for a commercialized marketplace, straying away from plans to license shops and pharmacies to sell cannabis after European Union concerns over unregulated exports surfaced, the BBC reported. Forthcoming complementary legislation to pave way for commercialized operations would likely be tied to EU approval.

Still, cannabis executives from some of the industry’s largest companies welcomed Germany’s advancement on reform.

Niklas Kouparanis, co-founder and CEO of Frankfurt-based European cannabis company Bloomwell Group said, “we finally have clarity,” in a statement provided to Cannabis Business Times.

“This is the biggest moment in German cannabis history since the legalization of medical cannabis in March 2017,” he said. “The era of dysfunctional and unjust prohibition is coming to an end in our country, and Germany has the potential to serve as a role model for other countries looking to explore legalization measures.”

Kouparanis said the most significant aspect of the legislation actually involves the medical market, with the reclassification of medical cannabis as a nonnarcotic. Bloomwell Group anticipates patient numbers to increase seven- to 10-fold during the next year because of this, he said.

In addition, the provision for cannabis clubs is an important step toward destigmatizing cannabis use, he said.

“Of course, our ultimate goal in Germany remains to legalize the entire value chain for a full-fledged adult-use market, going beyond the nonprofit, members-only cannabis clubs and creating a commercial market that can be accessed by all adult consumers,” Kouparanis said.

Tilray Medical Chief Strategy Officer and Head of International Denise Faltischek echoed some of Kouparanis’ comments.

Tilray Medical is the medical cannabis division of international cannabis operator Tilray Brands Inc. Tilray’s Neumünster site is one of just three cannabis cultivation facilities located in Germany.

“The decision to open up the previously limited German medical cannabis market is an important step that will allow patients and physicians to explore effective treatment options tailored to individual needs,” Faltischek said in a public statement. “Facilitating access to the highest quality cannabis medicines through the new Medical Cannabis Act, produced in Germany, will help to improve patient care and provide patients with a wider range of treatment options."

Curaleaf Executive Board Chairman Boris Jordan, whose company entered the German market in the September 2022 through completing the majority-stake acquisition of Four20 Pharma, also applauded German lawmakers for moving forward on the legislation.

Germany is one of nine countries Curaleaf operates in across the U.K. and Europe. Jordan pointed out that Germany joins Canada as the second Group of Seven (G7) country to remove cannabis from its narcotics list while the U.S. continues to “lag behind” on rescheduling.

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“Through Curaleaf’s subsidiary Four20 Pharma, we secured a first-mover advantage and leading market share in the country and expect the population of 84 million people to be a major global growth catalyst for 2024,” Jordan said in a statement provided to CBT. “Today’s development represents a significant first step towards broader legalization in Europe’s biggest economy, and the potential domino effect this may have on other European markets is not to be underestimated.”

Raj Grover, founder and CEO of Calgary, Alberta-based High Tide Inc., also welcomed the legalization news from Germany.

The Bundestag’s vote sets the stage for Germany to begin implementing “pillar 1” of its legalization plan, he said.

“We are very excited about the potential to bring our first-of-its-kind innovative discount club model to Germany, which is the world’s third-largest economy and a country with a population of over 83 million,” Grover said in a prepared statement. “That’s why our team has been closely monitoring legislative developments in Germany ever since the ruling coalition government indicated its desire to move towards adult-use legalization in December 2021.”

The German government has indicated that it will now begin work on drafting the complementary legislation related to “pillar 2” of its legalization plan, which will focus on regional adult-use pilot programs supported by commercial supply chains and for-profit cannabis stores, according to High Tide.

While the Bundestag, the German Parliament’s lower house, passed the legislation Friday, it now goes to Parliament’s upper house, the Bundesrat, which represents Germany’s 16 state governments, the AP reported. The legislation doesn’t formally need the upper chamber’s approval, but the Bundesrat could potentially delay the legislation’s enactment, according to the news outlet.