Medical cannabis was released in Germany more than three years ago. That has happened in the legalization debate since then.
In Germany, a lot is happening when it comes to cannabis. In the meantime, even the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has publicly expressed his sympathy for legalization. Holger Münch (59), President of the BKA since 2014, presented the situation report on drug crime in Germany two weeks ago together with the drug commissioner of the federal government, Daniela Ludwig (45, CSU). Both expressed their sympathy for the "Portuguese model", which provides for a decriminalization of consumers.
In 2001 Portugal decriminalized the private use of all intoxicants. Because the state saves a lot of money by no longer being imprisoned, it invests it in alternative support and therapy programs. In 2009, the United Nations therefore recommended that the governments of the world orientate themselves on the drug policy of the Portuguese. In 2010, the Czech Republic responded to this call, and since then drug use of any kind has only been an administrative offense and not a criminal offense. Politicians in Germany are acting more cautiously, but medical marijuana has been legal throughout Germany since 2017.
Great demand for medicinal cannabis
Since March 1, 2017, doctors in Germany have been able to prescribe cannabis as a drug. In the amendment to the Narcotics Act, the legislature refrained from making specific requirements – whether the green flowers are used as medication depends solely on the "justified assessment of the treating contract doctor". Cannabis is particularly common in chronic pain patients.
"We receive above-average positive experience reports on therapy with our cannabis products in oncology, palliative medicine and the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, ADHD and epilepsy," says David Henn from the Cologne-based company Cannamedical, the pharmacy supplied with the so-called medicinal cannabis. Since 2017, "the importance and value of medicinal cannabis in therapy has been increasing", confirms Henn.
Is legalization coming?
Whether cannabis will be formally downgraded from a criminal offense to an administrative offense in Germany outside of medical use remains open for the time being. As BKA boss Münch emphasized, the consumption and possession of small amounts in Germany is already largely decriminalized: "You simply have to state that possession and consumption offenses are criminal offenses and are found, but only really to a very limited extent lead to a conviction. " In most federal states, with the exception of Bavaria, which pursues a zero tolerance policy, regionally different marginal limits apply, under which the public prosecutor usually does not pursue a charge due to lack of public interest.
Both patients and consumers as well as the selling industry therefore continue to be uncertain about what is allowed and what is not. The sale of CBD products, for example, of hemp, which does not contain the intoxicating THC as the main active ingredient, but the cannabidiol, which is also in the foreground in medicine, is still legally in a gray area. Many experts have been calling for clear regulations here for years. However, if the trend of recent years continues, further liberalization and professionalization of the industry can be assumed, not least because of the economic factor: According to estimates, the market could reach a volume of 13 billion euros in Germany and 55 billion euros across Europe by the end of the 2020s to reach.