Cannabis plant and German flag

Cultivating, smoking, and buying weed is finally legal in Germany. Since April 1, 2024, you're allowed to grow a few weed plants in your garden for personal use. But what are the rules exactly? Can you now smoke weed anywhere in public? And what's the deal with growing cannabis in your garden? Dutch-Headshop delved into the German regulations and has researched all your questions about the Cannabisgesetz.

Disclaimer | This article was written by Dutch enthusiasts and translated from Dutch. The information may no longer be current, inaccurately written, or incorrectly translated, for which we sincerely apologize. For up-to-date information, see the source we used to summarize the Cannabisgesetz, at the bottom of the article.

CanG - The Cannabis Law

With the passing of the new weed law, the CanG, private cultivation of weed suddenly becomes legal. This law came into effect on April 1, 2024, and applies throughout Germany. This means not only can you grow weed at home for personal use, but also that a true community can emerge. Together, you're allowed to grow weed for cannabis clubs, provided you're a member. Because there are no cannabis clubs at the time of writing, we think the regulations still need to be refined. Therefore, we'll dedicate another article to this at a later date.

Smoking or being under the influence of weed is about as legal as using alcohol. So, you're not allowed to smoke on the street or drive high. The entire regulation consists of 51 pages, so there are many nuances around the legalization of weed in Germany. For this reason, we do our best to make it as easy as possible for you, but we limit ourselves to what is allowed. We won't discuss criminal law and judgment if you violate these rules because that is usually done on a case-by-case basis.

Weed Legalization in Practice

In all cases, these rules apply to adults aged 18 and over, unless otherwise stated. When we say residence, it means you have lived there for at least 6 months and continue to live there. These provisions are at the top of the Cannabisgesetz.

Personal Weed Cultivation

  • You may grow weed for personal use. The government has set the limit at 3 plants at a time in your home or place of residence.
  • You're not allowed to sell your weed, nor give it away to others.
  • You must also ensure that others cannot simply pick your weed. Children and young adults are particularly mentioned. So make sure no one else but you can access your weed plants.

Buying Weed Seeds

  • You may buy weed seeds, but only for private use. Germinating more than three seeds is allowed, but you still can't grow more than 3 plants.
  • You can buy weed seeds from the Netherlands and all other countries within the European Union. So yes, you can buy weed seeds from Dutch-Headshop! Order today, shipped today.

Buying Weed

  • You may only buy ready-to-use weed in cannabis clubs, of which you must be a member.
  • You may not buy ready-to-use weed abroad.

Possession: Carrying Weed and Maximum Weed Quantity

  • Without discussing cannabis clubs, you may not possess more than 50 grams of dried weed privately. This includes flowers, leaves near the flower, or "other plant material from the cannabis plant." What this means is open to interpretation. For safety, assume you may not have more than 50 grams of dried weed at home or a maximum of 3 weed plants.
  • Outside your own home or place of residence, you may not have more than 25 grams on you. Again, this includes flowers, leaves near the flower, or "other plant material from the cannabis plant."

Hashish and Other Forms

  • As far as we read in the CanG, hash falls under the same regulation as weed (the dried flower of the cannabis plant). Read all about hash in all its forms in this article.
  • Joints and other smoking materials fall under the same regulation. You may not have more than 25 grams of weed on you.
  • Extracts other than hash are prohibited. This at least means: weed oil, rosin, shatter, wax, crumble, and ice-o-lator. What the rules are regarding THC-rich kief, the fine particles that collect at the bottom of your grinder, we're not sure.

Medical Weed & Other Cannabinoids

  • There are no additional exceptions for medical weed, other than that you can obtain this with a doctor's prescription. You may still possess as much or grow it yourself.
  • There are also no additional rules for weed or extracts intended for research.
  • Delta-9-THC is specifically mentioned, but also Delta-6a(10a), Delta-6a, Delta-7, Delta-8, and Delta-10. All these substances fall under the law. CBD has exceptions. CBD oil making, using, buying, and selling is allowed, provided it contains less than 0.2% THC.

Prohibition on Using Weed

  • Public consumption is prohibited.
  • Using weed in the presence of people under 18 years old is prohibited.
  • Using weed near schools, in the sight of children, and at child and youth facilities is prohibited.
  • Using weed at sports clubs, military areas, or within 100 meters of a cultivation association or in sight thereof is prohibited.
  • Between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., do not use it in "pedestrian zones."

If you read between the lines, you can smoke at home. Also, there are no special rules at home for vaping as an alternative to smoking, nor for preparing delicious edibles if you don't want to smoke or vape at all. Vaporizers fall under the same rules as smoking in Germany. They've also made "consumption" watertight by not mentioning any consumption methods. 

Protection of Youth

Protection of youth is a priority. That's why Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach managed to get this law passed. That's why it's mentioned several times that it's not allowed to have weed in sight of children and adolescents. And that's smart because weed and a developing brain simply don't go together.

Keep away from children and use weed responsibly!

At Dutch-Headshop, we've written hundreds of blogs on various topics. Also about cannabis. That's why we're happy to link you to more information.

What is cannabis actually?

Cannabis refers to the dried flowers or "buds" of the cannabis plant; the Cannabis sativa. Depending on your source, there are various subspecies within this plant species, or species alongside this one. We mean the distinction between indica, sativa, ruderalis, and industrial fiber hemp. We mention a difference between cannabis and hemp, to at least indicate that these are plants cultivated for cannabinoids (cannabis) or for other purposes (hemp).

And hash?

Hashish is an extract of cannabis. But a very simple one. You can make it by simply rubbing the buds of the cannabis plant between your hands. But there are dozens, if not hundreds types of hash! For example, you make charas by rubbing. You'll get very sticky hands from that because the resin glands are in the flowers and the surrounding leaves. They produce, among other things, THC and CBD.

Cannabinoids and Terpenes

Ah, the good stuff! The resin glands found on the flowers and the small sugar leaves produce hundreds of different substances. You probably know THC, but that abbreviation is a bit simplified. We mean Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid or Delta-9-THCA, which most cannabis plants are rich in. By heating cannabis, that "A" separates from the THC, and you can experience a pleasant euphoria. The percentage of THC in a dried cannabis flower varies between 0 and 32%.

There are also CBD-rich cannabis varieties, which contain more CBD than THC. CBD doesn't get you high. In fact, it has an inhibitory effect on THC, reducing paranoid feelings. Many novice smokers would do well to choose cannabis with at least as much CBD as THC, such as Auto CBD White Widow or Auto CBD NYC Diesel. In addition to THC and CBD, CBN, CBG, THCV, CBC, Delta-8-THC, and Delta-10-THC occur to a lesser extent in cannabis.

Terpenes are volatile substances and give cannabis its distinctive penetrating odor and, together with the substances above, provide the diverse effects. These are also entirely naturally produced by the resin glands. By the way, we also call them trichomes. We make a distinction in being stoned and being high to indicate the difference in effects that you feel mainly in your body (stoned) and in your head (high).

Medicinal cannabis

In addition to its negative effect on your short-term memory, cannabis also has positive effects. So positive, in fact, that it is prescribed as a recognized medicine in a growing number of countries. THC has analgesic properties and works against nausea, some terpenes are anti-inflammatory, and we know that CBD helps with some forms of epilepsy [2].

Growing cannabis yourself

Growing cannabis is a lot of fun because there is so much to learn about it. There is no other plant for which there is so much knowledge and information available as for cannabis plants. You start with water, potting soil, and a little fertilizer, but before you know it, you're and you have a cabinet full of supplements specially for cannabis plants. Then summer is over and the itch remains. You consider autoflower cannabis plants that can also grow and bloom later in the season or even growing cannabis indoors in a nice grow tent. Truly, anything is possible!

Conclusion: Cannabis more legal than in the Netherlands

In this blog, we hope to have written an overview that serves as a kind of springboard for more information. Because it's impossible to write everything in one blog. As a final note, it's nice to know that growing cannabis is now more legal in Germany than in the Netherlands. Because in the Netherlands, we only have the so-called "tolerance policy". This means that the judiciary and police are tolerant of small-scale home cultivation, but it still happens that cannabis plants are removed from the garden because they, for example, cause odor nuisance to the neighbors. We hope that we can expect a Cannabis Act similar to that in Germany soon. Happy growing!

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