Germany's Cannabis Law Two Years On - What the Data Shows
On April 1, 2024, Germany became the largest country in the EU to legalise cannabis for adult use. Two years on, the results are in – and they make for uncomfortable reading if you were one of the people predicting disaster.
A new assessment from EKOCAN, the German research project evaluating the Cannabis Act (CanG), found that the key warnings from legalization opponents have not come true. Youth use hasn’t spiked. The black market hasn’t grown. And the police are spending less time on cannabis.
What EKOCAN actually measured
EKOCAN is hosted at the University of Hamburg and has been tracking the effects of the Cannabis Act since day one. Their second assessment, published on the two-year anniversary of the law, runs to 222 pages and draws on a significantly wider evidence base than the first report.
One of the more rigorous methods used was wastewater monitoring. Through a programme called AMoCan, researchers tracked THC-COOH concentrations across 15 German cities before and after the reform – accumulating 3,239 measurements on both sides of April 2024. The result: no significant short-term effect on cannabis consumption was detected.
That’s not a political statement. That’s sewage data.
Cannabis-related criminal offenses dropped from roughly 174,000 cases in 2023 to around 62,000 in 2024 – a fall of about 64%. Berlin alone recorded a 70% reduction in registered cannabis offenses. Police and court resources previously tied up in low-level cannabis cases are now available for other things.
No major increases in cannabis-related health incidents, emergency calls, or hospitalizations were recorded either.
On youth use and adult consumption
Among adults, the data shows a slight increase in lifetime and recent use – but this is consistent with a pre-existing trend that predates legalization. There is no evidence of a post-legalization surge.
Among young people, use has remained stable or declined slightly. Risk perception among younger people has also stayed largely stable, with some data suggesting they are slightly more likely to view cannabis as risky since the law came into effect.
Finn Hänsel, founder of Sanity Group, put it well: “The reform deserves a serious, scientifically based evaluation, not a rushed political change of course.”
Where the supply is actually coming from
This is where the picture gets more complicated. Germany’s total annual cannabis demand is estimated at between 670 and 823 tonnes. The legal supply channels cover a small fraction of that:
- Medical cannabis:Â covers roughly 9-13% of total demand. The market more than doubled in 2025, with up to 200 tonnes available – combining imports with 2.6 tonnes of domestic production.
- Cultivation associations:Â fewer than 400 approved associations as of late 2025, accounting for less than 0.1% of total supply.
- Home cultivation:Â has grown sharply – from 5.4% of consumers in the first half of 2024 to 21.4% in the second half of 2025.
- Social supply (peer-to-peer sharing):Â accounts for 35.2% of consumers as of the second half of 2025.
Early EKOCAN data showed that nearly 50% of the black market had already disappeared after just eight months of the Cannabis Act. Among intensive consumers, 88.4% reported obtaining legally produced cannabis in the past six months. That’s a significant shift in a short time.
The argument from the German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) is not that the black market hasn’t shrunk – it clearly has. Their point is that without regulated retail, you can’t go the full distance. The remaining illegal supply won’t disappear through home cultivation and social clubs alone.
What's still missing
Germany’s Cannabis Act has two intended components. The first – home cultivation of up to three plants per adult and membership-based cultivation associations – is now in place. The second pillar, regulated retail pilot programs in specific regions, was planned from the start but has not moved forward. As of now, no pilot trial applications have been approved.
BvCW president Dirk Heitepriem and managing director Michael Greif have been consistent in their position: regulated retail is essential to finish what the law started. Georg Wurth, CEO of the German Hemp Association (DHV), agrees. The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) oversees the cultivation association programme, but the retail question remains unresolved at the political level.
EKOCAN’s report identifies five areas for improvement: cultivation association reform, early intervention programs, addiction counseling funding, law enforcement capability, and medical market regulation. None of these are arguments against the law – they’re arguments for building it out properly.
The political noise
Not everyone is on board. Some ministers have called the Cannabis Act “a complete failure” – a framing that doesn’t hold up against the data, but reflects genuine political pressure. When crime statistics improve and youth use falls, the argument against legalization gets harder to sustain. That doesn’t mean it disappears.
The BvCW’s response has been consistent: judge the law by what it was designed to do, give the second pillar a chance to work, and don’t gut a functioning reform because it’s politically inconvenient.
What it means for the rest of Europe
Germany is the biggest legal cannabis market in the EU, and what happens there sets a precedent. Two years of data gives other governments something concrete to point to – crime went down, youth use didn’t increase, no health crisis materialized.
The Netherlands is running its own regulated supply experiment, and the first year of results there tell a similar story. The Czech Republic is moving forward with legalization too. A pattern is forming across Europe.
The question isn’t whether regulated cannabis markets can work in Europe. Germany’s two-year data suggests they can. The question is how quickly governments are willing to build them properly.
We'll be at Mary Jane Berlin in June
Every year we attend Mary Jane Berlin, one of Europe’s leading cannabis trade shows. This June is no different. If you’re involved in the German market – as a retailer, distributor, or brand – and want to meet up, get in touch and we’ll book some time.
