Alfredo Pascual posted the following to Linked In 22 November 2025
German Bundesrat backs tighter rules for the Medical Cannabis Act (hashtagMedCanG)
Today Germany’s upper house, the Bundesrat, adopted its position on the federal government’s first MedCanG amendment. This is an intermediate step. Nothing is in force yet and the bill now moves on in the parliamentary process.
On top of the existing government draft (personal contact requirement and a ban on mail-order for cannabis flowers), the Bundesrat calls for additional tightening:
• Price binding
The Bundesrat wants the Drug Price Ordinance (AMPreisV) to explicitly apply to medical cannabis. That would restrict pharmacy-level price competition for these products.
• Advertising ban
Medical cannabis should also be explicitly subject to §10 Heilmittelwerbegesetz, meaning advertising to the general public (outside specialist circles) would be banned. This is aimed in particular at online platforms promoting “easy” online access to cannabis.
• Cross-border prescriptions
Prescriptions from EU/EEA countries and Switzerland would no longer be recognized for medical cannabis. The stated purpose is to close enforcement gaps and ensure the personal doctor–patient contact requirement can actually be monitored.
Rejected proposal
A counter-motion from Thuringia, which argued for regulated telemedicine for follow-up prescriptions and a strictly controlled mail-order model instead of a complete ban, failed to gain a majority.
