Stratcann
Germany’s Commissioner of Drug and Addiction Policy says he wants to tighten the country’s cannabis regulations.
In a recent interview, Hendrik Streeck, appointed Commissioner on April 28, 2025, provided further insight into the new government’s thoughts on a multi-stage evaluation of Germany’s cannabis regulations, which is currently underway.
The first results from that evaluation are expected this fall, with additional findings to follow in the spring.
The Commissioner takes specific exception with how Germans currently can access medical cannabis online, and highlights concerns with the country’s cultivation laws for non-medical cannabis.
“We’ll have to look at some figures, such as the development of the black market, traffic accident statistics, the number of users, but also whether there’s an increase in cannabis-induced psychoses,” Streeck told the Rheinische Post, a prominent German regional daily newspaper, in an interview published on August 27.
While the Commissioner told the publication that it was too early to respond to specific policy questions regarding issues like home cultivation, cultivation clubs—which are currently allowed—and the possibility of sales through pharmacies, he did say that growing three plants at home is “far too much for personal use.”
“That’s an enormous amount. A knowledgeable owner with a green thumb can harvest about a kilo of cannabis with it,” Streeck told the publication, saying there is a clear need to reform Germany’s cannabis laws.
A joint document from the country’s recently elected coalition government said earlier this year that there would be “an open-ended evaluation of the law on the legalization of cannabis” in the fall, which was already planned as part of the original legislation.
Although the previous German government had created several new avenues for accessing cannabis for medical and non-medical purposes, the recently elected Conservative government (CDU) has said that it does not support easier access to cannabis, seeking to roll back a recent surge in Germans using cannabis under the medical program.
According to one analyst, it’s estimated that approximately between 700,000 and 900,000 individuals in Germany are accessing medical cannabis through pharmacies.
A new bill in Germany seeks to restrict how people access medical cannabis, rolling back rules that have allowed online consultations and mail order delivery from pharmacies. The bill seeks to restrict how people can access cannabis for medical purposes, requiring in-person authorizations for cannabis, as well as in-person sales (the Bill can be viewed here, translated). The move could significantly impact the country’s medical cannabis imports.
Germany first allowed the prescribing of cannabis flowers for medical purposes by physicians in 2017. The country then legalized recreational, non-medical cannabis in March 2024. The law came into effect in two phases.
The first phase, which allowed for personal cannabis cultivation and possession, came into force on April 1, 2024, and cultivation clubs were allowed in July. More than 100 of these clubs have already been approved.
The second phase was intended to facilitate regional model projects with commercial supply chains; however, shifting domestic politics appears to have slowed down that process.
“The law must definitely be more stringent and coherent,” the new Commissioner of the Federal Government for Drug and Addiction Policy told the Rheinische Post. “It isn’t at the moment. For everything else, we’ll have to wait and see what the evaluation reveals. There are no restrictions on thinking here.
German Drug Commissioner highlights government concerns over medical, non-medical cannabis laws
