|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
Germany's Cannabis Reform Shows No Signs of Harm its Critics Predicted, Government Mandated Data Shows Ben Stevens Cannabis Business Wednesday 01 Apr 2026 Today, the government published the results of the second Ekocan (Evaluation des Konsumcannabisgesetzes) evaluation, providing vital new details to an increasingly robust picture of the ambitious cannabis project. Since its implementation in 2024, Germany’s medical cannabis market has experienced rapid, unmitigated levels of growth, with Prohibition Partners revealing in its latest Global Medical Cannabis Market Review 2026 that the market more than doubled in size last year. It arrives at a critical juncture. Germany’s coalition government is midway through a contentious set of proposed amendments to the Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG), justified in a large part by allegations that the framework is being ‘abused’ for recreational purposes, and encouraging the spread of cannabis use throughout Germany. While the initial Ekocan report and subsequent independent analysis directly contradict this assessment, the latest findings identify structural gaps in the reform’s implementation, but strengthen the case that the reform has not driven the increase in consumption or harm that underpins the government’s proposed restrictions. Finn Hänsel, founder and CEO of Sanity Group, said in a statement to the press: “Two years after the Cannabis Act took effect, one thing is obvious: the reform deserves a serious, scientifically based evaluation, not a rushed political change of course. “As agreed in the coalition agreement, we should wait for the full evaluation to be completed before drawing far-reaching conclusions or imposing new restrictions.” What the first report found When Ekocan published its first interim report in September 2025, the headline findings were broadly reassuring for its advocates. Cannabis consumption had not surged following legalisation, youth use was declining, and the fall in recorded cannabis offences, the most significant decriminalisation in the history of the Federal Republic, reflected a genuine shift in the legal landscape rather than a change in underlying behaviour. The black market persisted, but early signs pointed to a gradual shift toward legal sources. The first report was explicit that it was too early for definitive conclusions, and that robust inferential analysis would follow later in the project. https://businessofcannabis.com/germanys-cannabis-reform-shows-no-signs-of-harm-its-critics-predicted-government-mandated-data-shows/
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!