Earlier this month, the German federal government confirmed that the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) has received 60 applications for scientific research projects on the sale of cannabis, pursuant to Section 2, Paragraph 4 of the Consumer Cannabis Act.

“These include 34 model projects designed to investigate consumption, health protection, and social impacts under controlled conditions.” stated the German Cannabis Business Association in a recent newsletter (translated from German to English).

Germany became the fifth country to adopt a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure when lawmakers implemented the nation’s historic CanG law in April 2024. Only Uruguay, Canada, Malta, and Luxembourg had adopted such a public policy change before Germany.

The legalization model adopted in Germany was broken up into two phases, or ‘pillars’. The first involved legalizing personal cannabis cultivation, possession, and consumption by adults, along with permitting cultivation associations.

The second component of German legalization involves launching regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials in which local jurisdictions can allow limited sales of recreational cannabis products for research purposes. Pilot trials are already underway in several jurisdictions in the Netherlands and Switzerland, with no major issues reported.

A major premise of German legalization is to boost public health outcomes by transitioning consumers away from the unregulated market toward a combination of home cultivation and acquiring cannabis from regulated sources. A key ingredient to success on this front is scientific research, which is why the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food needs to approve the pending applications, especially the applications for pilot trials.

A coalition of German scientists recently issued an open letter addressed to the federal government and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food, calling for the approval of pending research applications.

“Despite the accompanying EKOCAN research, Germany lacks a reliable database on the use of cannabis. Research projects pursuant to Section 2 Paragraph 4 of the Cannabis Act are legally permissible and crucial for still unresolved questions regarding youth and health protection, the illegal market, and consumer behavior. The undersigned scientists therefore call on the Federal Government and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) to quickly approve the current applications in order to enable an evidence-based drug policy.” the letter states (translated from German to English).

“We, the scientists researching cannabis, see an urgent need for action. The access channels established under the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG) are insufficient to create a relevant database on the societal and thus scientific challenges associated with using cannabis as a recreational drug.” the letter continues. “Relevant scientific questions continue to be ignored despite current efforts such as the accompanying research project EKOCAN. Scientifically supported research projects pursuant to Section 2 Paragraph 4 of the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG) can remedy this situation by finally generating the urgently needed, comprehensive database.”

The need to provide German patients with more options for acquiring regulated cannabis is increasing with the recent revelation that medical cannabis import permits are being temporarily suspended after the reported demand estimate to the International Narcotics Control Board has been reached, as reported by krautinvest.

Cannabis patients and consumers in Germany need and deserve to have a comprehensive approach to product sales, including pilot trials. Additionally, Germany’s cannabis laws and regulations should be primarily driven by science, and that is completely dependent upon the approval of pending scientific research applications.