Berlin, 2026-01-13: The leading specialist associations in the field of medicinal cannabis declare, ahead of tomorrow’s public hearing on the First Act to Amend the Medicinal Cannabis Act in the Health Committee of the German Bundestag, that they support a meaningful revision of the Medicinal Cannabis Act. This must consistently, proportionately, and evidence-based prevent undesirable developments without weakening proven care pathways, as this would jeopardize the security of supply for patients. The undersigning associations will be represented as experts in the hearing.

To ensure the care of patients, especially in rural areas, a general ban on shipping medicinal cannabis flowers would be an enormous risk from the associations‘ perspective: “Patients with mobility impairments, seriously ill people, and individuals in underserved regions rely on continuous and low-barrier care. This care has been taken over by German local pharmacies with a mail-order permit. With the ban on mail-order sales, it hits not only patients but also German pharmacies that have specialized in providing medicinal cannabis,” says the Managing Director of the Association of Cannabis-Supplying Pharmacies (VCA), Dr. Christiane Neubaur.

Daniela Joachim, representing cannabis patients in the Federal Association of German Cannabis Patients (BDCan), agrees: “Shipping bans for flowers harm thousands of chronically ill patients who rely exactly on this medication – especially in rural areas. They do not solve the problem, as recreational users can simply switch to other dosage forms for misuse. Politics must instead finally address the root of the observed undesirable development: the offensive and permanent illegal advertising for medicinal cannabis to laypeople must no longer be profitable!”

The associations also clearly oppose general bans on the use of telemedical offers and call on the legislator for differentiated regulatory requirements for the use of video consultations. Antonia Menzel, Chairwoman of the Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Companies (BPC), clarifies: “Telemedical video consultations are a recognized standard of regular medical care nowadays. Serious telemedicine platforms operate in compliance with German professional law, with secure identity and age checks, and exclusively with licensed doctors who bear full therapeutic responsibility. A mandatory doctor-patient contact is correct, but this can also take place via video consultations.”

Dr. med. Franjo Grotenhermen, Chairman of the Working Group Cannabis as Medicine (ACM), criticizes the dubious statements regarding the compliance effort: “The draft law is not honest. One cannot claim on the one hand that pharmacists incur no ongoing additional compliance effort, while on the other hand it is expected that they provide more consultation. Also, the assumption that there would be no increased costs and no increased compliance effort for citizens is not honest. For many, it would become more expensive and more complex.”

Dirk Heitepriem, President of the Cannabis Industry Association (BvCW), also sees a clear need for legal access to recreational cannabis in the course of the discussion about the Cannabis Act. “The Federal Government’s assumption of misuse of medicinal cannabis for recreational purposes shows that there are currently insufficient legal access routes for recreational cannabis. The clear separation of medical therapy and consumption is of great importance. For this, low-threshold access to quality-assured and controlled cannabis is needed. The implementation of already planned and applied-for model projects would represent an enormous improvement here.”

“The first EKOCAN interim report and a survey by the Institute for Addiction Research (ISFF) of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt UAS) in cooperation with the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg show that approx. 30 percent of consumers obtain cannabis via pharmacies. A legal dispensing to consumers within the scientifically monitored pilot projects could be easily and professionally handled by pharmacies,” adds Dr. Neubaur.

In conclusion, the associations emphasize that the existing legal framework already provides instruments to punish violations of the Medicinal Products Advertising Act, professional law, pharmaceutical and pharmacy law, and EU law. However, there is currently a lack of consistent enforcement.