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Flowering cannabis plants. Credit: Thomas Schmid
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Georg Wurth, managing director, DHV. Credit: DHV
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Jürgen Neumeyer, managing director, BvCW. Credit: BvCW
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Author Thomas Schmid closely examining CBD oils and extracts at an exhibition. Credit: Thomas Schmid.
Under the new government, Germany may soon become the EU’s hotspot for fully legalized CBD and THC cannabis products.
In December 2021, Germany received a new government, a coalition comprising the Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats. In their coalition agreement, the three parties endorsed a plan for complete legalization of cannabis with the main aim of regulating rampant black-market trading of recreational cannabis products. It’s a bold plan never successfully attempted in Europe, though Luxembourg tried in 2018 but eventually only settled for permitting private households to grow plants.
“We definitely anticipate an implementation under the current government coalition,“ assured Jürgen Neumeyer, managing director of Germany’s Cannabis Industry Association (BvCW). He added that “many of our members are looking forward to the great business opportunities once recreational cannabis products become legal. ”While BvCW advocates on behalf of commercial cannabis growers and cannabis product manufacturers (yes, they already exist!), the German Cannabis Association (DHV) acts as a mouthpiece for end consumers. Similar to his BvCW counterpart, DHV managing director Georg Wurth likewise expects full legalization under the present government. Still, he also cautioned that things might not go as smoothly as hoped. “I presume that the implementation will be opposed particularly by the [conservative, center right opposition parties] CDU and CSU, as theyfail to grasp the fact that in the end cannabis is considerably less harmful to consumer health than, say, alcohol,” he told Tobacco Asia.
Not every cannabis strain gives a “high”
For better understanding of the complexity of the matter, it is necessary to point out that selectively bred sub-strains of both Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica have indeed been cultivated and processed into various products in Germany (and other EU countries) for decades. Plants with very low concentrations of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabiol (THC) – in a legal context commonly referred to as “industrial hemp” - can be grown in open fields primarily as a source of natural fibers (e.g. for linen textiles, ropes, etc.), nutritional supplements or as ingredients in certain cosmetics.
However, plants with high THC yield used in medicinal cannabis products must be exclusively grown indoors and under very tight security conditions, the facilities resembling military installations with reinforced concrete walls and steel doors. While farmers of “industrial hemp” are only required to register their business and subjectto frequent controls, growers and processors of high-THC cannabis must obtain alicense, issued only after meticulous vetting and tied to numerous conditions. For both application areas, “only strains specified in the European Union’s agricultural species catalogue are permitted, with the authorities frequently taking samples in order to monitor the THC concentration,” explained BvCW’s Jürgen Neumeyer.
CBD still a “mystery compound” for many
Leaving THC aside, there also is of course that “other” cannabis compound, which in the past few years has been making headlines for its health and therapeutic benefits: cannabidiol, or CBD. The substance is contained in variable concentrations in the buds but also leaves, stalks, and stems of all cannabis strains and irrespective of their individual THC yields. After extraction, CBD can be used in numerous products, ranging from e-liquids, cosmetics, and food supplements to personal hygiene items and medical preparations.
However, while THC as a chemical substance is thoroughly regulated in Germany, the same cannot be said for CBD, which regulatory-wise pretty much lingers in a gray area. Though it is true that cosmetics or foods containing added CBD require pre-market licensing under relevant German and European Union laws, there doesn’t appear to exist a particular legal framework for policing products containing CBD, nor the pure substance itself.
“When companies ask questions regarding the legal status of CBD, authorities often are overwhelmed and unable to offer concrete answers,” said Georg Wurth. One case in point is the rather open market availability in Germany of CBD oils, which rarely attracts attention from regulators.
Germany’s current legal situation
Curiously, the actual consumption of cannabis products such as marijuana or hashish never was illegal in Germany. Perhaps it didn’t need to be, for there is a multi-pronged caveat that makes it practically impossible to use them anyway; at least in public. “Almost everything necessary to eventually consume a cannabis product is prohibitedby law, including possessing, cultivating, purchasing, importing, or obtaining cannabis through any means,” explained DHV’s Georg Wurth. The sole exception are cannabis preparations prescribed by a medical doctor and obtained from a pharmacy against such a prescription. However, according to a ruling by Germany’s constitutional court in 1994, the possession (or consumption) of “a minor amount of marijuana or hashish“ is not to be prosecuted. It is at the sole discretion of regional governments to define what constitutes “a minor amount“ and what doesn’t. Prescribing CBD medications likewise is legal, though BvCW’s Jürgen Neumeyer pointed out that the costs are usually not covered by health insurers. That has led to the practice that such medications are commonly purchased from black market sources.
There will be rules!
A blanket legalization of cannabis and its products will turn all of this on its head, of course, constituting a real game changer when compared to current circumstances. Yet it is almost certainly not going to tag along without any rules whatsoever. For instance, it’s unlikely that Germans will see stallspopping up at every street corner selling joints and CBD oils as if they were hotdogs or ice cream – and even if they do, they’ll be bound by rules.
“Cannabis distribution surely will be handled within certain regulations, including a minimum age for purchase as well as advertising restrictions,” predicted Jürgen Neumeyer. “In addition, retailers and their employees will be subject to particular requirements, which are pre-empting the possibility of cannabis product sales in the streets, for example.” Meanwhile, Georg Wurth anticipates product sales “through a limited number of licensed retail stores in order to protect underage youths.
”He added that precise packaging labels regarding products‘ individual THC and CBD concentrations would serve to better control the market, while “moderate product taxation“ will help phase out the black market. Jürgen Neumeyer concurred regarding sensible taxation, but also said that alongside dedicated stores pharmacies should be permitted to sell products for recreational use as well.
Some resistance expected
If the government goes ahead with its plan, resistance from within the general population is very likely. After all, Germans over the past decades were conditioned into believing that cannabis in any form is an addictive narcotic just as dangerous as heroin or cocaine.
While that picture has considerably softened in the younger generation, it is still very much prevalent in older people. “Of course there will be resistance [from within certain population demographics], but objective and sober discourse can help dispel such reservations and lead to asolution,” Jürgen Neumeyer said, insisting that the BvCW wholeheartedly supported the legalization. His colleague Georg Wurth agreed. “All arguments indicate that it simply is the right thingto do. The decades-long prohibition failed spectacularly, having had practically zero effect despite repressive persecution and threat of penalties,” he pointed out. “On the other hand, legalization is going to protect consumers from often very dubious product quality.
It also will reduce money laundering, create additional tax revenue for the government, relieve police and judiciary, and in the end elevate cannabis from being a taboo subject to a matter of open, mature discussion.” That Germany might indeed be ready for some seriously happy times is demonstrated by the incredible success of DHV TV, a cannabis news and facts channel hosted by Wurthon YouTube. Each episode easily attracts in excess of 60,000 views, a figure that has similar channels foaming at the mouth with envy.