Adult-Use Sales In Germany May Go Beyond Pharmacy Distribution
Germany is currently home to Europe’s largest legal cannabis industry. Part of that is due to Germany’s population of roughly 83 million people and part of that is also due to Germany being home to the fourth-largest economy on earth.
Another contributing factor is Germany’s approach to medical cannabis policy and the nation’s medical cannabis industry framework. Germany has embraced the medical cannabis industry in ways that most other countries have yet to do, both in Europe and abroad.
Every passing year results in Germany’s medical cannabis industry becoming larger, and that is being accelerated by domestic cannabis production. Initially, Germany imported all of its medical cannabis products which resulted in Germany being the world’s largest importer of medical cannabis (over 9,000 kilograms in 2020 alone).
Germany is no longer the largest importer of medical cannabis. Israel recently took over that title. However, the industry is as strong as ever, and when Germany legalizes cannabis for adult use and launches an adult-use industry in the near future, the nation’s emerging cannabis industry will be enormous.
Hints Of Regulations
Germany’s Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) recently participated in an interview during which he provided quite a bit of insight into what Germany’s eventual adult-use cannabis industry may look like.
The governing coalition previously indicated a desire to legalize cannabis for adult use, and part of the policy change would include regulations for adult-use sales. Below are additional emerging details via Radio Eins (translated from German):
The goal agreed by the SPD, Greens and FDP in the coalition agreement is clear: “It should be legally possible for adults to buy cannabis in licensed shops,” said the Minister of the German Press Agency. This could be pharmacies, for example, “but we may also continue to draw the circle”. A prerequisite could be a “required expertise of the sales staff”. This would enable the salespeople to “provide information about the products and counteract risky cannabis use, especially in the case of recognizable addicts”.
For him, as Minister of Justice, it is clear: “If there are shops that are legally allowed to sell cannabis, then there must also be producers who are allowed to grow and sell it legally”. Possession must then also be legal for adults up to a maximum limit to be stipulated in the law. And cannabis will be “subject to some form of taxation, like other consumer products”.
Adult-Use Cannabis Taxation
Cannabis taxes were also discussed during the interview, and the Minister indicated that he was not worried about taxation making it harder to compete with the unregulated market.
As long as the taxation is not too burdensome, most consumers will not care about higher prices up to a point. The benefit of being able to go into a fixed location during set business hours to choose from a variety of products in a legal setting is well worth an additional cost within reason.