Frankfurt am Main and Hanover will soon begin pilot projects selling cannabis at dispensary points. How will the trial work and who will be allowed to purchase weed at the designated dispensaries?

Two German cities to begin over-the-counter cannabis trials

At the beginning of 2025, Frankfurt am Main and Hanover will trial selling cannabis at dispensaries. Four dispensaries will be run in Frankfurt and three in Hanover. The trials will run until 2030 and will be supported by Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and Hanover Medical School.

Working in connection with the Sanity Group, a company based in Berlin that specialises in cannabis for medical use, the Frankfurt and Hanover trials aim to gather information about cannabis consumers’ behaviour and eventually reduce the harm caused by unregulated cannabis sold on the black market.

In Frankfurt, participants must be registered as living in the German city. While the number of participants in the Frankfurt trial is yet to be confirmed, a few thousand are expected to take part, and 4.000 are expected in Hanover.

Participants must be over the age of 18 and in good health. Anyone who is pregnant, breastfeeding or has poor mental health cannot take part in the trials.

Once registered they will receive a pseudonymised ID card which they must present at the dispensaries in order to collect an allotted amount of cannabis. Throughout the trial, the participants will be monitored by researchers and are obliged to take part in medical surveys. Anyone who is caught sharing their dispensary cannabis will be excluded from the trial.

When will commercial cannabis be widely available in Germany?

Cannabis for personal use has been legal in Germany since April 1, 2024. Anyone over the age of 18 can grow up to three cannabis plants and keep up to 50 grams of cannabis at home. Adults can also carry up to 25 grams of cannabis on their person in public spaces.

On July 1, 2024, Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) were introduced. A CSC is an association (Verein) where up to 500 members can “access” but not “purchase” marijuana. These legal changes were part of Germany’s cannabis legalisation “Schnellesäule” (speedy pillar). 

Germany is now cautiously entering the second pillar phase, trialling the commercial sale of cannabis in certain regions. A trial is already underway in Wiesbaden, the pilots in Frankfurt and Hanover are upcoming and further trials in a total of 25 regions are planned.

According to the government’s original plans, Germany would allow commercial sales as part “state-controlled supply chain” from cultivation to delivery and sale, if these regional trials are deemed successful.

However, opposition from the European Parliament means this plan is on the back burner. For now, the regional trials will continue while a question mark remains about the longer-term policy for commercial cannabis sales in Germany.

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