| 2026-03-02 | On 27 February 2026, the German Bundestag held its first reading of the Federal Government’s draft bill on the further development of pharmacy services (21/4084), according to a parliamentary report. The legislative package, intended to stabilize nationwide supply—particularly in rural areas—includes substantial changes that could fundamentally transform the medical cannabis market. At the center of the debate are the planned standardization of dispensing prices for cannabis flowers and significantly tightened requirements for mail-order distribution.
A key element of the draft concerns the creation of more transparent billing structures. To reduce administrative burdens and harmonize reimbursement processes, binding pharmacy purchase prices (AEP) are to be agreed upon within the self-governance framework for defined substances, explicitly including cannabis flowers. This measure aims to eliminate, in some cases, considerable price disparities between pharmacies, particularly in the self-pay segment. Until now, this area has been characterized by intense price competition, primarily driven by specialized mail-order pharmacies and telemedicine platforms. By introducing mandatory pricing structures, the Federal Government intends to ensure standardized remuneration and improve economic planning reliability for brick-and-mortar pharmacies.
The proposed amendments to the Pharmacy Operating Regulations (§ 35b ApBetrO) are also highly contentious. Under the draft, pharmacies would be required to contractually ensure that commissioned logistics providers comply with strict shipping conditions, including uninterrupted transport and storage temperature controls. This enhanced temperature monitoring obligation would require pharmacies to document and report any event that could potentially compromise the quality of the medicinal product.
In a formal statement, the German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) criticized these provisions as disproportionate compared to other prescription medicines and warned that they could significantly increase costs for mail-order medical cannabis—or even bring it to a halt. According to the association, the regulation could amount to an “indirect mail-order ban.” Given that only a fraction of Germany’s approximately 16,600 pharmacies possess sufficient expertise in medical cannabis, many patients rely on specialized mail-order services. Restricting this supply channel could, in the BvCW’s view, lead to treatment interruptions and push patients toward the illicit market. The bill has now been referred to the Health Committee, where an expert hearing is scheduled for early March. |
