Your cousin says 50 g, your other cousin says 25. They are both right, and the three plants are a third rule entirely. Here is which number applies where.
Somebody at the barbecue has a theory. “It’s 50 grams,” says one cousin. “No, 25,” says the other. A third person, who has clearly read one headline in 2024, insists it is “three of something”.
Here is the slightly annoying truth: they are all right. Germany’s cannabis law, the Konsumcannabisgesetz (KCanG), does not have one number. It has three, and each one belongs to a different place.
Mix them up and you may still win the argument at the barbecue, just not the one with the police.
This guide sorts it out for adults 18+ who want the actual rule: what you may carry, what you may keep at home, how the three plants work, what happens when you go over, and where the numbers stop helping you at all. If you would rather read about what you can actually buy, our explainer on what you can buy under Germany’s Cannabis Act picks up where this one ends, and the seeds range is there for the gardeners.
The three numbers in ten seconds
| Where you are | The limit | One thing to know |
|---|---|---|
| Out and about (public) | 25 g of cannabis | Dried weight, per adult |
| At home | 50 g in total | Includes what you carry; not on top of it |
| Growing at home | 3 living plants | Per adult, at the same time, for your own use |
| Cannabis club member | 25 g a day, 50 g a month | Under 21: 30 g a month, max 10% THC |
Every figure above comes straight from the KCanG on gesetze-im-internet.de, the official federal legislation portal. The Federal Ministry of Health repeats them in its cannabis FAQ, last updated in September 2026.
25 grams: the out-and-about limit
Section 3(1) of the KCanG lets anyone aged 18 or over possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal use. This is the limit that applies away from your own home: on the street, in the park, at a friend’s flat or on a train. Where you may consume it is a separate rule, covered below.
Two details matter more than people expect.
- It is the dried weight. For flowers, leaves and other plant material, the law measures the weight after drying. A freshly cut, still-damp harvest weighs more on the scale than it counts for. What matters is what it weighs once dry, so weigh dried material, not wet.
- It is per person. One person cannot carry extra on behalf of friends, and one person carrying everyone’s share is one person over the limit.
The only exceptions to the 25 g limit outside the home are on the enclosed grounds of a licensed cannabis association, and when such an association transports cannabis between its own sites under the conditions of section 22(3). Neither applies to private individuals carrying cannabis, so on an ordinary Tuesday, 25 g is the ceiling.
50 grams: the at-home ceiling
Section 3(2) raises the figure at home: your “residence or habitual place of stay” in Germany, or in plain words, where you actually live. There, an adult may possess up to 50 grams of cannabis. This is the number the first cousin had in mind, and they will be insufferable about it.
The catch is in the wording. The 50 g is not a second allowance stacked on the first one; it is the cap on the total you possess, at home and on you combined. So if 20 g is in your jacket and 35 g is in the kitchen drawer, you are at 55 g, and the jacket does not get its own exemption.
Home also means your home. A weekend on a friend’s sofa is unlikely to count, so the public 25 g is the safer figure to keep in mind away from your own place.
And the KCanG adds a duty that often gets skipped: under section 10, cannabis and propagation material at home must be protected by suitable measures so that third parties, especially children and teenagers, cannot get to it. A lockable box is not a legal requirement spelled out in the text, but “on the coffee table” is clearly not what the law has in mind.
Three plants: the windowsill rule
Section 9 allows adults to grow cannabis for their own use at home, with a clear cap: no more than three plants at the same time. Section 3(2) puts it the other way round for possession: up to three living cannabis plants at home.
A few things trip people up here:
- It is per adult. The health ministry’s FAQ (as of September 2026) says the three-plant limit applies to each adult, so two adults sharing a flat may each grow three.
- Seedlings are an open question. The KCanG doesn’t say whether seedlings count. The cautious reading is to count every living plant, seedlings included — the FAQ below explains why.
- The harvest still meets the 50 g cap. Growing within the plant limit does not suspend the possession limit. Whatever you dry and keep at home counts towards the same 50 g total.
- It is for you only. Section 9 says cannabis from private cultivation may not be passed on to third parties. Not sold, not gifted, not “just a little for the neighbour who watered them”.
Seeds have their own short section. Under section 4, handling cannabis seeds is permitted as long as they are not meant for unlawful cultivation, and importing seeds for private home growing is only permitted from other EU member states.
Going over the line: what actually happens
This is where the numbers stop being trivia. For possession amounts, the KCanG has two bands: a buffer where going over is an administrative offence, and beyond it a criminal offence.
| Situation | What the KCanG says |
|---|---|
| More than 25 g and up to 30 g, away from home | Administrative offence (section 36): a fine |
| More than 50 g and up to 60 g in total, at home | Administrative offence (section 36): a fine |
| More than 30 g away from home | Criminal offence (section 34) |
| More than 60 g in total, at home | Criminal offence (section 34) |
| More than three living plants, or growing more than three at once | Criminal offence (section 34) |
The administrative fines under section 36 can reach up to €30,000 for these possession cases. The criminal offences under section 34 carry up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine, with tougher ranges for particularly serious cases.
None of that means every five grams too many ends in court; how a case is handled depends on the circumstances. It does mean the five-gram buffer is a buffer, not a bonus, and that “I was only a bit over” is a sentence best never tested.
Cannabis clubs: a separate ration
If you join a licensed cultivation association (the so-called cannabis clubs), the club can hand out cannabis to its members for personal use. Section 19 caps that, too:
- Members aged 21 and over: at most 25 g per day and 50 g per calendar month.
- Members aged 18 to 20: at most 25 g per day and 30 g per calendar month, with a THC content of no more than 10%.
The club ration does not lift your personal limits. Club-dispensed cannabis counts towards the same possession limits: 25 g in public and 50 g in total at home. The club is a ration book, not a loophole.
Where the numbers don’t help you
Being within your limit tells you what you may possess. It says nothing about where and when you may consume, whether you may drive, or what happens at a border. Three rules to keep separate from the gram counts:
Places and times
Under section 5 of the KCanG, consumption is banned in the immediate presence of under-18s. Public consumption is also banned in pedestrian zones between 7:00 and 20:00, and in and within sight of schools, child and youth facilities, playgrounds, publicly accessible sports facilities and cannabis clubs. “Within sight” no longer applies beyond 100 metres from the entrance; the health ministry’s FAQ covers the same rules.
Think of the gram limits as the rule for what is in your bag, and these as the rule for where you may open it. Being well under 25 g does not turn a playground into a lounge.
Driving
Section 24a of the road traffic act (StVG) makes it an administrative offence to drive with 3.5 ng/ml or more of THC in blood serum, and combining it with alcohol is a separate administrative offence with a higher fine (section 24a(2a)). The safe rule needs no maths: if you have consumed, someone else drives.
Borders
The KCanG’s general ban covers importing and exporting cannabis, and the possession allowance does not change that. Your 25 g allowance applies inside Germany only. Other countries, including Austria, Italy and Croatia, have their own, stricter cannabis laws, and our guide to vapes in Austria shows just how different they can be. The allowance stays home when you cross the border.
The tidy-home shelf
Rules sorted, barbecue argument won. If you grow, roll or simply like your things in order, three items from our shop that fit:
- White Fire OG seeds: feminised hybrid seeds from Fire OG x The White genetics, a second option if you would rather not grow the same strain three times.
- Weedorizers Rolling Papers: 32 papers and 32 filters in each pack, for anyone who rolls rather than grows.
- Weedorizers Grinder: 60 mm, four parts, magnetic lid, easy to clean, for the tidy-home crowd this shelf is named after.
Each product page lists the full details. We strive to offer only products that are 100% legal throughout the EU, but rules differ between countries, so please check yours before ordering.
Gram counts, answered
Is the 25 g limit per person or per group?
Per person. Each adult may carry up to 25 g of cannabis in public, so three friends do not share one 75 g allowance that anyone can carry. Each of you is measured on what you have on you.
Do the 25 g and the 50 g add up to 75 g?
No. The 50 g at home is the ceiling for everything you possess, including whatever is in your pocket. 25 g out and 50 g at home both measure the same stock.
Do seedlings count towards the three plants?
The KCanG does not say. It classes flowerless young plants and cuttings as propagation material, which is why some articles say seedlings don’t count, but the three-plant limit refers simply to cannabis plants and the health ministry’s FAQ does not address it. The cautious reading is to count every living plant, seedlings included.
Are the limits changing in 2026?
As of October 2026 the possession amounts in section 3 of the KCanG have not changed. The law is being evaluated: interim reports were submitted for 1 October 2025 and 1 April 2026, a final evaluation is due four years after it came into force, and its future has been politically debated, so check the current text before relying on any number, including ours.
What happens if I am a little over 25 g?
More than 25 g and up to 30 g away from home is an administrative offence that can be fined. More than 30 g away from home, or more than 60 g in total, is a criminal offence under the KCanG. At home, the same buffer sits between 50 g and 60 g.
More reading for the rule-curious
- What Can You Buy Under the Cannabisgesetz?
- Is a Vaporizer Legal in Germany?
- THC alternatives in the EU, explained
Legal position as of October 2026, based on the KCanG and StVG texts on gesetze-im-internet.de and the Federal Ministry of Health’s cannabis FAQ (updated 4 September 2026). This is general information, not legal advice; the law is under evaluation, so please check the current text. Product details as listed on weedorizers.com product pages on 17 October 2026.
