German Cannabis Business Association
2026-02-16 | The planned amendment of the German Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG) is facing substantial legal concerns. A legal opinion commissioned by Member of the Bundestag Linda Heitmann (Alliance 90/The Greens) from the Scientific Service of the Bundestag (EU 6 – 3000 – 002/26) concludes that the Bundesrat’s proposal not to recognize medical prescriptions issued in other EU member states would violate EU law.
According to the assessment, such a restriction would limit both the European freedom to provide services and the free movement of goods. Heitmann described the proposal on LinkedIn and her website as a legally untenable symbolic tightening that threatens legal certainty and reliable patient care. She warned the federal government and coalition partners against adopting provisions that would not withstand judicial scrutiny.
Should the contested rules nevertheless be enacted, Heitmann predicts practical stagnation: online prescriptions and cross-border mail-order supply from other EU countries would likely continue unchanged, as national law must yield to the primacy of EU law. She therefore calls for legally sound and proportionate legislation to avoid pseudo-activism and instead secure sustainable solutions for medical supply.
However, the reform’s core elements—namely a ban on mail-order sales of medical cannabis flowers and a prohibition of online prescriptions without prior in-person consultation—are likely justifiable under EU law. Tagesspiegel Background reports extensively on the political sensitivity of the opinion, which now puts significant pressure on the ongoing legislative process.
