The German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) issued a press release this week expressing support for recent comments that Federal Drug Commissioner Prof. Dr. Hendrik Streeck (CDU) made in support of launching regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials in Germany.

“I would personally be open to potential pilot projects, but only under very strict conditions,” Streeck stated, according to local reporting by the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (translated from German to English). “No normalization, no commercial expansion, no advertising, no distribution to young adults…very limited quantities would be conceivable, around five grams, distribution only to people over 25, and close scientific monitoring.”

“It’s no use either sugarcoating a law or pretending that we can simply reverse the trend without considering the reality,” Streeck added, according to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

It is worth noting that pilot trials have operated in the Netherlands and Switzerland in recent years with no major issues reported. Below is the press release from BvCW in support of those comments (translated from German to English).

The German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) expressly welcomes the recent statements made by the Federal Drug Commissioner, Prof. Dr. Hendrik Streeck (CDU), regarding the need for scientifically monitored pilot projects for regulated cannabis distribution, as reported in the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The association views the increasing discussion within the political debate on practical feasibility, youth protection, and potential alternative market structures as an important step towards a fact-based and evidence-based approach.

Several member companies of the BvCW, based on Section 2 Paragraph 4 of the KCanG (German Law on the Protection of Consumers from Unfair Competition), have, together with renowned scientific partners, prepared professionally developed model projects and submitted corresponding research proposals to the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food ( BLE ). The aim of these projects is to gain sound insights into consumer and youth protection, product safety, and the suppression of the illegal market.

From the association’s perspective, scientifically monitored model projects can make a significant contribution to fact-based research into the currently much-discussed areas of tension between the black market, medicinal cannabis, prevention, and controlled supply channels. Successful pilot projects in neighboring European countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands have already demonstrated that such scientific endeavors function smoothly in practice and yield valuable insights. Especially given the often highly charged debates, the BvCW believes more fact-based findings are needed to determine which regulatory approaches actually work in practice and what unintended side effects might arise.

The BvCW explicitly shares the health policy view that medical care and recreational use must remain clearly separate. At the same time, the association believes the current debate demonstrates the importance of practical, legally sound, and monitored regulatory models to minimize problematic loopholes and fully achieve the original goals of the Cannabis Act.

Regarding the pilot projects, the cannabis industry desires legal certainty through a statutory regulation, as envisaged under the name “Pillar 2” in the key points paper from 2022 by the Federal Ministry of Health.