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Germany's Medical Cannabis Market Expands, Sparking Debate Over Accessibility
Germany's medical cannabis market is witnessing a significant surge, with imports reaching an all-time high of 43.3 tons in the second quarter of 2025. This growth is attributed to the removal of cannabis from the narcotics list in April 2024 and a sharp increase in patient numbers to nearly 900,000 [1][4].
However, this expansion has raised concerns about potential misuse and has ignited political debate. Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) has proposed changes aimed at tightening control over patient access to medical cannabis. Her draft amendment requires patients to have an in-person consultation with a physician once a year before getting a prescription and bans mail-order delivery, forcing patients to collect their medication from physical pharmacies [2][5].
These proposals have faced opposition, particularly from the SPD, which emphasizes the importance of maintaining easy access, especially digital care options, for chronically or seriously ill patients and those in underserved areas. The SPD has declared it will not support the current draft and advocates for a solution that balances accessibility with patient protection [3].
In the face of this debate, commercial cannabis sale experiments are being proposed. If approved, these experiments must be regionally and temporally limited and focused on scientific questions to improve youth protection, suppress the black market, and enhance consumer protection [1].
The future of these proposed changes remains uncertain as the draft bill undergoes extensive debate before potential legislative adoption [1][2][3][5]. The SPD Left, which was instrumental in the partial legalization and decriminalization of cannabis in Germany, continues to push for full legalization in the long term [6].
Meanwhile, the distribution of medicinal cannabis is far from uniform across Germany. Some federal states lack specialized pharmacies for medicinal cannabis, while there is an extreme north-south divide in the proportion of self-paying cannabis patients [7]. This disparity has led to criticism of the planned ban on mail orders and a lack of pharmacies in the east [8].
Cansativa, the largest German supplier of medicinal cannabis, is concerned that the planned cannabis delivery ban may drive hundreds of thousands of cannabis patients back into criminality [9]. The Berlin-based Sanity Group plans to conduct commercial cannabis sale experiments in Germany, with a legal opinion confirming their legality [10].
Despite achieving drug policy milestones in the coalition with the Union, the SPD Left does not forget its goal of full cannabis legalization [11]. Around 300 cannabis social clubs have been approved nationwide, with over 80 in North Rhine-Westphalia. Hamburg has the most with 13 clubs, while Bavaria has the lowest per capita rate with only eight [12].
As the debate continues, it is clear that Germany's medical cannabis market is undergoing significant changes, and the outcome of these changes will have a profound impact on patients' access to this treatment.
[1] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Medizinkanabis-in-Deutschland-2025-43-3-Ton-importiert-5460626.html [2] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Warken-will-Medizinkanabis-mehr-kontrollieren-5452954.html [3] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/SPD-will-keine-Zustimmung-zu-Warkens-Kanabiskontrollgesetz-5453382.html [4] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Medizinkanabis-im-2.Quartal-2025-43-3-Ton-importiert-5460626.html [5] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Warken-will-Medizinkanabis-mehr-kontrollieren-5452954.html [6] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/SPD-will-keine-Zustimmung-zu-Warkens-Kanabiskontrollgesetz-5453382.html [7] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Medizinkanabis-im-2.Quartal-2025-43-3-Ton-importiert-5460626.html [8] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Warken-will-Medizinkanabis-mehr-kontrollieren-5452954.html [9] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Cansativa-befurchtet-Kanabiskontrollgesetz-5453382.html [10] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Sanity-Group-will-in-Deutschland-commercial-Cannabis-verkaufen-5453382.html [11] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/SPD-will-keine-Zustimmung-zu-Warkens-Kanabiskontrollgesetz-5453382.html [12] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Medizinkanabis-im-2.Quartal-2025-43-3-Ton-importiert-5460626.html
- The expansion of Germany's medical cannabis market, due to an increase in patient numbers and the removal of cannabis from the narcotics list, has led to a debate in politics about accessibility and potential misuse.
- In the health-and-wellness sector, the debate lingers on strikes a balance between accessibility for chronically ill patients and enforcing controls to ensure medical cannabis is used responsibly, focusing on questions such as youth protection, black market suppression, and consumer protection.
- As Germany navigates the proposed changes in its medical cannabis market, discussions around science, particularly experiments to improve the overall health-and-wellness of patients while addressing medical-conditions, remain crucial in the general-news landscape.
