Germany's Cannabis Act in 2026: Clubs, Pilot Shops and What Tourists Can Do

Germany's Cannabis Act lets adults possess cannabis but creates no lawful way to buy it in a shop. As of 8 November 2026, anyone aged 18 or older may carry up to 25 g in public and keep up to 50 g and three living plants at home under § 3 of the Konsumcannabisgesetz (KCanG), in force since 1 April 2024. There is still no licensed shop. Supply comes from home growing or a non-profit cultivation association that serves members only. For possession limits and penalties in one place, see Germany's cannabis law: possession limits and penalties.

The Pillar 2 pilot shops that were supposed to test licensed retail have not opened. The federal agency that decides on research permits, the Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE), refused the joint Hannover and Frankfurt project in 2025. By 22 September 2026 it had refused 20 projects with 44 applications because it classes them as model projects for supplying consumers.

What the KCanG allows today (Pillar 1)

The KCanG is Article 1 of the Cannabisgesetz of 27 March 2024 (BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 109). Most of it took effect on 1 April 2024; the rules on cultivation associations (§§ 11 to 29) took effect on 1 July 2024, according to the in-force note on the consolidated text. The core rules:

• Possession: up to 25 g for personal use, and up to 50 g plus three living plants at your residence or habitual abode in Germany (§ 3). Holding more than 30 g away from home, more than 60 g in total or more than three plants is a crime carrying up to three years or a fine (§ 34(1) Nr. 1).
• Home growing: no more than three plants at the same time, at your residence or habitual abode, adults only (§ 9). Home-grown cannabis may not be passed to anyone else.
• Cultivation associations: non-profit clubs need a permit from the Land authority (§ 11). In Berlin that is the Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales (LAGeSo), responsible since November 2024.
• Public consumption: banned in the presence of minors, at and within sight of schools, playgrounds, child and youth facilities, public sports facilities and club premises, and in pedestrian zones between 7:00 and 20:00. The sight-line ban ends more than 100 metres from the facility's entrance (§ 5).
• Advertising: advertising and every form of sponsorship for cannabis and for cultivation associations is banned (§ 6).
• Trade, import and export: all other handling, including trading, importing and exporting, stays prohibited (§ 2(1)).

What happened to Pillar 2

The federal government set out the two-pillar plan in its key-points decision of 12 April 2023. Pillar 1 was nationwide non-commercial supply: home growing and cultivation associations. Pillar 2 was to be a regional, scientifically evaluated model project with commercial supply chains: licensed companies producing and selling to adults in specialist shops, open only to adult residents of selected districts and cities in several Länder, on an opt-in basis, for five years from the point the supply chain was set up. The key-points paper said Pillar 2 would get its own bill and was expected to remain subject to notification to the European Commission.

That bill never reached the statute book. What exists instead is the research clause in § 2(4) KCanG: permits to handle cannabis for scientific purposes, granted only in exceptional cases. A regulation (the KCanWissZustV) makes the BLE the competent authority. Cities and companies tried to fit pilot shops into that clause. The record so far:

• 1 August 2025: the BLE held applications for 58 research projects on cannabis distribution, 32 of them model projects; first decisions were expected in the third quarter of 2025 (Bundestag Drucksache 21/1125).
• Late September 2025: the BLE refused the project planned for Hannover and Frankfurt (City of Hannover release, last updated 30 September 2025, quoted below).
• 28 November 2025: the Berlin districts of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Pankow announced that the BLE had refused their project with Humboldt-Universität and Sanity Group (district release).
• 4 December 2025: 65 applications filed, none approved, nine refused, the rest pending (Drucksache 21/3133).
• 22 September 2026: 82 research projects filed. Four approved, concerning mainly cultivation research such as industrial hemp and climate-neutral growing. 29 refused with 53 applications, 20 of them (44 applications) as model projects. 13 withdrawn, 23 still under review. 22 objections covering 14 projects are being processed, and no lawsuits had been filed (Drucksache 21/8143).

Why the BLE says no

According to the City of Hannover, the BLE found the current KCanG offers "keine gesetzliche Grundlage für die Erteilung einer Erlaubnis" (no legal basis for granting a permit). In the agency's view the project was in substance a model study of a commercial supply chain, which the law does not regulate. The refused design shows what Pillar 2 would have looked like in practice: a five-year study with several sales points in Hannover, open to adults with a regular residence in the city, lower quantities for participants aged 18 to 21, scientific oversight by Medizinische Hochschule Hannover and Sanity Group as applicant. Sanity Group filed an objection.

The federal government has not offered a new legal basis. Its answers of 4 December 2025 and 22 September 2026 both state that the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition agreement does not provide for regional model projects with commercial supply chains.

What the KCanG lets you do: residents and visitors

Germany legalized possession, not purchase. An adult may carry 25 g, yet the law creates no lawful way for someone without a German home or club membership to obtain any, and the research route meant to test shops has been refused at the federal agency. For a visitor the practical rule runs opposite to the headline: carrying is lawful, buying is not, and the Land you are in (Bavaria above all) may ban the place where you would consume.

City notes: Berlin and Munich

Is weed legal in Berlin?

Possessing up to 25 g and growing up to three plants at home is legal in Berlin under the federal rules, but buying it is not, because Berlin has no licensed shops and its clubs admit only members resident in Germany. LAGeSo's guidance restates the federal consumption zones (100 m around schools, daycare centres, playgrounds and clubs, and time limits in pedestrian zones); we found no additional Land-level consumption bans of the Bavarian kind. Berlin's own pilot attempt, planned by three districts, was refused by the BLE in 2025.

Munich and Bavaria

Bavaria adds its own layer. The Bavarian Cannabisfolgenbegrenzungsgesetz of 23 July 2024 (GVBl. 2024 S. 254), in force since 1 August 2024, bans smoking or vaporizing cannabis in outdoor areas of restaurants and bars and on Volksfest grounds, which covers beer gardens and the Oktoberfest. The fine runs up to €1,500, and up to €5,000 for repeat offences. It also lets municipalities ban consumption on specific public areas by ordinance (GSG Art. 8 and LStVG Art. 30); an LStVG ban may not cover the whole municipal area.

Bavaria's fine catalogue for KCanG offences (25 March 2024) sets a standard €500 for consuming in a § 5(2) zone, €1,000 for consuming in the presence of minors, and €500 to €1,000 for carrying more than 25 g up to 30 g away from home.

One Munich rule has gone. Bavaria's palace and gardens administration had banned cannabis in the Englischer Garten, the Hofgarten and the Finanzgarten. On 24 November 2025 the Bavarian Administrative Court (BayVGH, 10 N 25.826) held that ban "rechtswidrig und damit unwirksam" (unlawful and therefore void) and refused leave to appeal on points of law (court press release). In those parks the federal § 5 rules now apply.

Medical cannabis and the pending MedCanG change

Since 1 April 2024 medical cannabis has been regulated by the Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz (MedCanG) instead of the Narcotics Act. Doctors prescribe it on a standard e-prescription rather than the narcotics form (KV Baden-Württemberg), and only pharmacies may dispense it (MedCanG § 3). The government's amending bill (Drucksache 21/3061, 3 December 2025) would allow cannabis flowers to be prescribed only after in-person contact in the practice or on a home visit, with follow-up prescriptions allowed if such contact took place within the previous four quarters, and would ban mail-order dispensing of flowers to patients. The Bundestag held the first reading on 18 December 2025 (BMG) and a committee hearing on 14 January 2026 (hib 32/2026). On 22 September 2026 the government described the bill as still under parliamentary deliberation, and on 8 November 2026 the consolidated MedCanG still showed the 2024 text. Until the bill passes and is promulgated, telemedicine prescriptions and pharmacy mail order remain governed by the current law.

Why the law is not settled

§ 43 KCanG requires an independent evaluation. The federal health ministry commissioned EKOCAN, run by UKE Hamburg-Eppendorf, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and the University of Tübingen (Drucksache 21/1125).

• First interim report (due 1 October 2025): the declining share of young people using cannabis continued after legalization, an estimated 5.3 million adults used cannabis in 2024, and "Die Zahl der Konsumierenden hat sich kaum geändert" (the number of users has hardly changed). Medical cannabis covered about 12 to 14 percent of total demand, while cultivation associations produced less than 0.1 percent (HHU release, 29 September 2025).
• Second interim report (1 April 2026): focused on organized crime. Researchers saw no reform-related rise in adult use, said very few clubs had been approved, and reported medical cannabis imports up 198 percent from 2024 to 2025 (HHU release, 1 April 2026).
• Political reaction: on the same day, four federal officials, including Interior Minister Dobrindt and the federal drug commissioner, said the law needs correcting, and Health Minister Nina Warken called partial legalization "ein Fehler" (a mistake) (BMG, 1 April 2026).
• No bill yet: as of 22 September 2026, the ministry was examining the interim reports for necessary legislative changes, without naming any change or date. Citing EKOCAN, the government put the medical channel at 24 to 30 percent of estimated non-medical demand (Drucksache 21/8143).

The only KCanG amendment in 2026 so far is a consequential change made by a federal law of 22 October 2026 (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 318). It did not alter the possession, home-grow or club limits in §§ 3, 9, 16 and 19.

What operators should take from this

• Associations: a Land permit under § 11; no more than 500 members, all resident in Germany and in one club only (§ 16); no premises within 200 metres of the entrance to a school, child or youth facility or playground (§ 12); hand-outs capped at 25 g a day and 50 g a month, and 30 g a month at no more than 10 percent THC for members aged 18 to 20, with both members present and no delivery (§ 19).
• No commercial channel: selling is a crime under § 34(1) Nr. 4, and § 6 bans advertising and sponsorship for cannabis and for clubs. A retail concept for Germany has no legal home today.
• Hemp: plant material falls outside the KCanG only as Nutzhanf under § 1 Nr. 9. For trade in hemp material, that requires THC no higher than 0.3 percent (or certified seed of an EU-catalogue variety) and trade serving only commercial or scientific purposes that rule out misuse for intoxication. Treat the 0.3 percent figure as necessary, not sufficient.
• Medical: pharmacy-only dispensing under the MedCanG, with the in-person and mail-order rules for flowers pending. Business models built on online prescriptions for flowers carry the most exposure to Drucksache 21/3061.
• Research projects: the § 2(4) route runs through the BLE and is limited to exceptional cases. Projects that look like supply to consumers have been refused, 22 objections are pending, and no lawsuit had been filed by 22 September 2026.

What's next

• MedCanG bill: second and third readings in the Bundestag are outstanding; we found no scheduled date as of 8 November 2026.
• EKOCAN: the comprehensive evaluation is due by 1 April 2028 at the latest (§ 43(2) KCanG); authorities send the previous year's data by 30 April each year.
• BLE: 23 research projects and 22 objections were open on 22 September 2026, with no decision date given.

FAQ

Is weed legal in Germany for tourists?

Adults in Germany may carry up to 25 g, and § 3(1) KCanG attaches no residence condition to that. There is no lawful way for a visitor to buy: no shops exist, and clubs admit only members with a residence or habitual abode in Germany.

Is weed legal in Berlin for tourists?

The federal rules apply in Berlin. Possession within the limit is lawful, buying is not, and the § 5 bans near schools, playgrounds and youth facilities and in pedestrian zones from 7:00 to 20:00 apply.

Is weed legal in Munich?

Possession within the federal limits is. Bavaria bans smoking or vaporizing cannabis in outdoor areas of restaurants and bars, including beer gardens, and on Volksfest grounds, with fines up to €1,500. The ban in the Englischer Garten was struck down in November 2025.

Is recreational weed legal in Germany?

Possession and home growing have been legal for adults since 1 April 2024; commercial sale is not. See our Germany country page for limits and penalties.

Is medical weed legal in Germany?

Yes. Doctors prescribe it and pharmacies dispense it under the MedCanG. A government bill would require in-person contact before cannabis flowers are prescribed and ban mail-order dispensing of flowers; it was still under parliamentary deliberation in September 2026.

Weed laws in Germany for tourists?

Carry no more than 25 g, do not consume in the § 5 zones or at Bavarian venues that ban it, do not drive with 3.5 ng/ml THC or more in your blood serum, and never take cannabis across a border.

This is regulatory journalism on German federal and Land law as checked on 8 November 2026, not legal advice. Land and city rules vary. Confirm with the Land authority or a lawyer admitted in Germany.