Newsweed
L’Federal Institute for Agriculture and Food (BLE) blocked it pilot project for the legal sale of cannabis in Frankfurt. The project, submitted in December 2024, provided for a duration of five years and the sale of cannabis and its products in specialized stores reserved for registered adults.
City officials announced Tuesday that a appeal had been filed against this rejection.
Legal interpretation called into question
The BLE justified its rejection by invoking the current cannabis law which, according to his interpretation, does not cover regional and time-limited pilot projects. According to the agency, any such project would require a new legislative process at the federal level.
Green elected official Elke Voitl, head of social affairs and health for the city of Frankfurt, strongly contested this interpretation, insisting that in Germany, cannabis is no longer considered an illegal drug, but rather like a regulated product, comparable to alcohol or tobacco.
“With this study, we want to scientifically examine how consumer health behavior changes when they can purchase their cannabis legally from a specialty store”, she said. She added that refusing the project would benefit “dogmatists and ideologues, but not a fact-based and solid health policy”.
The frankfurt pilot project had been designed with strict participation criteria. Only healthy adults living in the city would have been eligible. Minors were excluded from the system pregnant women or during breastfeeding, as well as people with mental illnesses.
Participants would have been allowed to purchase up to 50 grams of cannabis per month, and should have undergone mandatory surveys, medical examinations and group discussions to track their spending habits and health outcomes.
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