Legalization of cannabis in Germany

If you follow the Cannabis industry, you probably would know that lately, Germany has started moving towards legalizing adult-use of cannabis. According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a draft law is scheduled to be ready by the end of 2022 for the legalization of cannabis in Germany.

As per the Health Minister, Germany has over 4 million adult-use Cannabis users which are about 5% of the population. If that number is to be put in perspective, as per cdc.gov, about 48.2 Million adults used Cannabis, at least once, in 2019 in the USA, which is about 18% of the population. This number in Canada is 17% as per canada.ca. But it is understood after the legalization of adult-use Cannabis in Germany, adult-use Cannabis users in Germany will grow.

In recent times Berlin has also experienced a pro-cannabis rally demand where around 500 Cannabis supporters gathered in Berlin and demanded faster action from the Government for the legalization of cannabis in Germany.

ICBC in Berlin, Germany

Given this context, this year International Cannabis Business Conference was held in Berlin which was an intelligent move.

We were fortunate to be a part of the biggest Cannabis trade show in entire Europe. Just like us, attendees flew from 85 different countries and gathered for a 2 day B2B conference in Berlin.

We were at booth 143 and it was a pleasure meeting with some old clients and friends. These photos below probably will give some indication about the fun we had. We met GlassHouse Botanics, NOC Pharma, RQC Pharma, Elevated Signals, and many other friends at the conference. We had some great discussions (some over drinks too) about the cannabis industry and the prospect of the same in Germany.

It was a pleasure to watch Mr. Burkhard Blienert, The Federal Government’s Drug and Addiction Commissioner, talk about the current complexities of the adult-use cannabis law in Germany and the entire Europe.

Discussion Points at ICBC

The 2-day conference was also packed with many other speakers and panels and we thoroughly enjoyed them. The discussions revolved around

• Cannabis policy in Germany and how that can make an impact in Europe and the rest of the world
• Emerging markets for Cannabis besides Germany
• Complexities of the Cannabis industry concerning logistics, standardization, regulations, etc.

Takeaways from ICBC

After the 2 days event, we feel a little wiser. Some of the takeaways from the conference would be

1. Berlin Subway system is way more advanced than Toronto (on a lighter note )
2. The German medical cannabis market is driven a lot by distributors importing products from Canada and African nations.
3. Recreational legalization is still a little ways away but the movement seems very positive.
4. Portugal and Spain are hot markets.
5. Having a fully validated GMP EQMS that is compliant with Annex 11 is a must to operate in the EU. So if you are planning for an adult-use cannabis business in Germany, we can help as we have 20 years of experience in GMP.