Berlin, 11/27/2023 | The changes planned by the German government to the upcoming Cannabis Act (CanG) became known today through reports by the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland and the legal magazine LTO. The proposals of the Federal Ministry of Health have not yet been finally discussed in parliament. The cannabis industry is pleased that a decision will finally be made in the Bundestag next week. 

Jürgen Neumeyer, Managing Director of the BvCW, commented in a press release: “We explicitly welcome the new simplifications for medical cannabis cultivation due to the elimination of the over-bureaucratized award procedures. The removal of cannabis from the Narcotics Act is also welcomed by the cannabis industry as a paradigm shift. 

However, it is completely incomprehensible and also contradictory that the “intoxication clause”¹ has not been removed. While cannabis as a whole is being re-evaluated, the possibility of prosecution for industrial hemp is being continued and this sustainable economic sector thus continues to be extremely hindered. Unfortunately, farmers and processors may continue to have their harvests confiscated and be prosecuted. In addition, there has been a failure to enable full-spectrum extracts from industrial hemp, e.g. for non-psychoactive cannabinoids and other valuable ingredients of the plant”. 

Nevertheless, the BvCW sees the upcoming resolution of the law as positive overall and hopes for improvements. In the coming year, the BvCW believes that an independent industrial hemp law is needed as well as significant reforms in the handling and prescription practice of medicinal cannabis and the implementation of “Pillar 2” for model projects with licensed points of sale.

The amendments proposed by the Federal Ministry of Health can be found here.

¹The theoretical possibility, assumed in case law, of becoming intoxicated by consuming large quantities of industrial hemp (industrial hemp). This clause, which was no longer included in the previous draft bill, was taken over from the Narcotics Act in Section 1 No. 9 a) in the federal government’s cabinet draft.
More on this in our ELEMENTS Volume 21 “Why it is practically impossible for industrial hemp to be abused for intoxication purposes”.

You can find an overview of the ELEMENTE series here.