Germany’s New Cannabis Laws: 7 Things to Know

Germany’s partial cannabis legalization is in force. The principal adult possession and private-cultivation provisions began on April 1, 2024, followed by the cultivation-association framework on July 1, 2024. The law permits defined personal-use activities; it does not establish an unrestricted recreational retail market.

These seven points explain what the reform means in practice, including the distinction between possession, growing, club membership and consumption.

1. Adults have separate public and home possession limits

Under section 3 of the Consumer Cannabis Act, adults aged 18 and older may possess up to 25 grams for personal consumption away from their residence or habitual abode. At their residence or habitual abode, they may possess up to 50 grams. Plant-material quantities are measured after drying.

The allowances are not additive: a person cannot hold 50 grams at home plus another 25 grams outside and treat the combined 75 grams as lawful. The statute caps the combined amount at 50 grams. These figures also should not be translated into a fixed number of joints, because potency and preparation vary.

2. The private plant allowance is per adult

The allowance is three living cannabis plants per adult, not three per household. The Health Ministry’s guidance explains that private cultivation requires residence or habitual abode in Germany for at least six months. Short-term tourists cannot rely on the home-growing provision.

Section 9 limits cultivation to personal consumption at the person’s residence or habitual abode and prohibits passing home-grown cannabis to third parties. The harvested cannabis remains subject to the possession limit. Growing three plants does not authorize keeping an unlimited harvest or selling the surplus.

3. Cultivation associations are licensed member organizations

Cultivation associations provide a regulated, non-commercial route for communal growing and distribution to members. They require official authorization; registering an association by itself does not authorize cultivation.

Membership rules cap an association at 500 members, require adulthood and residence or habitual abode in Germany, and permit membership in only one association. Associations organized as registered clubs must provide for at least three months’ membership. The statutory residence definition and ministry guidance require at least six months in Germany, preventing short-stay visitors from using clubs as tourist dispensaries.

4. Clubs have distribution limits and cannot operate as lounges

Under section 19, members aged 21 or older may receive no more than 25 grams per day and 50 grams per calendar month. Members aged 18 to 20 have the same daily limit but a 30-gram monthly maximum and a THC limit of 10%.

Associations may distribute only cannabis in its pure marijuana or hashish form, rather than an unrestricted assortment of infused foods. Handover must occur in person between members on association premises, with age and membership checks. Mailing or delivery is prohibited, and recipients cannot pass the cannabis to other people. Consumption on association premises is also prohibited.

5. Public consumption has specific exclusions

Partial legalization does not permit consumption everywhere. Section 5 prohibits use in the immediate presence of people under 18. Public consumption is prohibited in schools, playgrounds, youth facilities and publicly accessible sports facilities, as well as within their sight.

The same public-consumption restriction applies at cultivation associations and within sight of their premises. For these location rules, the statute treats a distance greater than 100 metres from the entrance as outside sight. Consumption is also prohibited in pedestrian zones between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. and in Bundeswehr military areas. These are consumption rules, not a promise that every other property owner must allow smoking.

6. Possession permission is not general retail permission

The non-medical reform relies on private growing and authorized cultivation associations. It does not turn ordinary shops or pharmacies into recreational cannabis stores. Medical cannabis is governed by a separate prescription framework, so medical access should not be confused with adult-use retail.

Likewise, a lawful possession quantity is not permission to import cannabis across the border. The ministry’s guidance distinguishes permitted domestic personal-use activities from prohibited importing and exporting. Visitors should not interpret Germany’s possession limit as authorization to bring cannabis from another country.

7. Evaluation is underway, while current law remains the reference

The reform’s evaluation is no longer simply a future plan. The EKOCAN research project published its first interim report in September 2025 and its second on April 1, 2026. These reports assess the reform and inform debate; their publication does not itself amend the law.

Statements about what a political party might do after the 2025 election are now historical, not current guidance. Readers should distinguish an evaluation finding, a political proposal and an enacted amendment. The operative possession, cultivation, membership and consumption provisions are the appropriate starting point for deciding what is allowed today.