Germany’s NpSG doesn’t list allowed cannabinoids at all; it describes banned ones in chemistry. Here’s that description in plain English, as of October 2026.
You searched for “legal cannabinoids list”, hoping for something tidy. A table, perhaps. Two columns, green ticks, done by the time the kettle boils.
Instead you found a German statute with chemical diagrams in it, a group called “Rest R4” and the phrase “unabhängig vom Hydrierungsgrad des aromatischen Ringes A” (regardless of how hydrogenated ring A is). It is the only law we know that comes with homework.
Here is the twist that explains everything: Germany’s New Psychoactive Substances Act, the NpSG, does not keep a list of allowed cannabinoids at all. It keeps a description of banned ones, written as chemistry rather than names.
This guide translates that description into plain English, as of October 2026. You get what the law covers, where the familiar names land, which ones sit in a genuine grey zone and how to check a product before you buy.
If HHC is your specific question, our HHC in Germany explainer goes deeper. If you just want to see what we stock, our CBD range is one click away.
The list in ten seconds
| What’s on the label | What the law says | Our plain-English read |
|---|---|---|
| HHC, HHC-P, HHC-H, HHC acetate | Named by the health ministry as covered by group 2.3, in force since 27 June 2024 | Covered. Trading in them is a criminal offence in Germany. |
| 10-OH-HHC and other variants hydroxylated or halogenated on ring A | Group 2.3 widened by the Sixth Amending Ordinance, in force since 2 December 2025 | Covered by structure: 10-OH-HHC’s hydroxy group sits on ring A. |
| Acetates of THC look-alikes (THC-O-type) | Group 2.3 describes ester groups such as acetates | Built on the same skeleton the group targets. Treat as covered. |
| THCA-A and its esters (THC “prodrugs”) | A new R4 position since 2 December 2025 may carry a carboxyl or alkyloxycarbonyl (an ester-type) group | Taken in by the December 2025 widening. Treat as covered. |
| CBN, THCV, THCP-type compounds | Share the ring skeleton; the group has no exception for natural origin and allows side chains of up to twelve carbons at R3 | Grey zone: whether a product is caught depends on its exact chemistry and how authorities and courts read the text. We won’t call it for you. |
| Δ8-THC | Listed by name in the narcotics law (BtMG, Annex I); among the exemptions are non-synthetic forms for non-medical purposes and MedCanG medical cannabis | What is normally sold is converted from CBD, which is generally treated as synthetic, and synthetic Δ8-THC is a listed narcotic. |
| CBD, CBG, CBDA, CBGA | No closed ring of the kind group 2.3’s skeleton needs, so no match as written | Outside the NpSG on its wording, but food, medicines and hemp rules still apply. |
| Δ9-THC and cannabis itself | Outside the NpSG; covered by their own laws | Since April 2024: the KCanG and MedCanG, no longer the BtMG. |
Keep that table handy. The rest of this post explains why each row says what it says, so you can apply the same logic to whatever new three-letter acronym turns up next month.
What the NpSG is, and why it has no “legal list”
The Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz has been in force since 26 November 2016. It exists because classic narcotics law works substance by substance, and chemists can tweak a molecule faster than parliament can name it.
So the NpSG works in families. Its annex describes whole groups of compounds by their core structure and the bits allowed to hang off it. If a molecule fits the description, it is covered, whatever the label on the packet says.
That design has one awkward consequence for anyone searching for a “complete list”: nothing in the law lists cannabinoids as allowed. Anything outside the groups is simply outside this particular law, which is not the same as being cleared by every other law on the books.
The Act also steps aside where other rulebooks already apply. Its first section excludes anything that is a narcotic under the BtMG, plus medicines, veterinary medicines, and medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics. Δ9-THC and cannabis itself follow their own rulebook too: since April 2024 that has been the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG) and the Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG), no longer the narcotics law (BtMG).
Group 2.3: one ring skeleton, five slots and a weight limit
Cannabinoids sit in the annex’s second group, “Cannabimimetika/synthetische Cannabinoide”. The first two subgroups cover the families of lab-made synthetic cannabinoids that have appeared since the late 2000s. The one that matters for HHC and friends is group 2.3: compounds derived from 6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol, also called 6H-dibenzo[b,d]pyran-1-ol.
That mouthful is the three-ring skeleton that THC is built on (THC is a partly hydrogenated form of it). The group then works like a molecular colouring-in sheet:
- The core: that ring system, regardless of how hydrogenated ring A is or where any remaining double bonds sit. HHC, essentially THC with the double bond in its non-aromatic ring hydrogenated away, falls under this group by its structure, even though the annex never names it.
- Ring A substituents (Rn): added in December 2025, these include halogens, hydroxy, alkoxy, hydroxymethyl and methyl groups, certain esters, silyl groups and carbon chains up to ten carbons.
- The slots R1 to R5 (not, sadly, a robot boy band): side chains up to twelve carbons at R3, various ester and acyl groups at R5, and, in a new R4 position added in December 2025, alkyl, alkenyl, carboxyl and ester groups.
- A ceiling: a maximum molecular mass of 600 u.
In plain English: the skeleton stays fixed, and the lists cover the common small tweaks a chemist might make to it, from swapping in a chlorine atom to lengthening the tail.
Notice what is not in there: any exception for compounds that also occur in the plant. The group is defined by shape, not by origin story.
How the rules got here: 2016 to 2026
The cannabinoid part of the NpSG has moved in a few clear steps. The dates come from the health ministry’s overview of the amending ordinances.
- November 2016: the NpSG takes effect, with synthetic cannabinoids as one of its two original substance groups.
- 27 June 2024: the Fifth Amending Ordinance creates group 2.3. The ministry’s draft says it targets semi-synthetic designer drugs derived from THC and names HHC, HHC-AC, HHC-H and HHC-P, plus acetates and their extended variants.
- 2 December 2025: the Sixth Amending Ordinance (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 292) widens group 2.3 to halogenated and hydroxylated derivatives on ring A, which reaches 10-OH-HHC. It also adds a new R4 position that may carry a carboxyl or alkyloxycarbonyl group, which on the text’s own chemistry takes in THCA-A and its esters.
- 12 April 2026: an amendment to the Act itself adds a second annex for nitrous oxide, GBL and 1,4-butanediol. No cannabinoids are involved, but it is why the cannabinoid groups now live in “Anlage 1”.
The pattern is easy to read. New variants turn up on the market, are picked up through seizures and the EU early-warning system, and the description is then widened to cover them. Anything marketed as “the new legal HHC” is, historically speaking, next season’s amendment.
Where the usual suspects stand
Clearly covered
HHC and its named derivatives have been covered since June 2024, and the December 2025 update pulled in 10-OH-HHC, with THC-O-type acetates in the same box. If a product leans on one of these names, a German shop shouldn’t be selling it.
Genuinely grey
CBN, THCV and THCP-type compounds share the group 2.3 ring skeleton, and the group has no exception for natural origin. Even so, whether a specific product is caught depends on its exact chemistry and on how authorities and courts read the text, and no single official source settles it as of October 2026, so check current law. That is a question for a lawyer with a lab report, not for a blog post with jokes in it.
Δ8-THC is a narcotics-law question rather than an NpSG one. The narcotics law (BtMG, Annex I) lists it by name. Among the exemptions from that entry are non-synthetic forms for non-medical purposes, and medical cannabis under the MedCanG. The Δ8-THC normally on sale is converted from CBD, which is generally treated as making it synthetic, and synthetic Δ8-THC is a listed narcotic.
Outside this law, inside others
CBD and CBDA lack the closed pyran ring, and CBG and CBGA have an open (acyclic) chain instead, so none of them matches the group 2.3 skeleton as written. That keeps them outside the NpSG, but not outside everything: food law, medicines law and Germany’s hemp rules can all still apply. Under the Cannabis Act, for example, “Nutzhanf” (industrial hemp) must come from certified EU hemp varieties or contain no more than 0.3% THC, and it may only be traded for commercial or scientific purposes that rule out misuse for intoxication. Our Cannabis Act guide covers that side.
What it means if you’re shopping in Germany
This is the part of the statute that reads like a very thorough list of verbs. The NpSG’s section 3 prohibits trading, placing on the market, manufacturing, importing, exporting, acquiring, possessing and administering covered substances. Section 4 then makes trading, placing on the market, administering, and manufacturing or importing for sale criminal offences, with up to three years for the basic offence and more for aggravated cases.
Possession is still prohibited. What section 4 leaves out is possession for your own use, which isn’t on the criminal list, and the explanatory notes to the ministry’s 2024 draft ordinance say the aim was to stop the trade without criminalising consumers. Covered products can still be seized, and “not a crime” is a long way from “allowed”.
A listing that still advertises one of the names in the table’s covered rows is telling you something about the seller.
How to check a product before you buy
Laws move faster than product pages, and a molecular diagram is not something you should have to read at the checkout. Five minutes of checking beats a confiscated parcel:
- Read the cannabinoid names. HHC, HHC-P, HHC acetate, 10-OH-HHC or THC-O on the label is your answer for Germany. CBN, THCV or THCP on the label means checking current law, lab report in hand.
- Ask for a lab report. A batch-specific certificate of analysis shows what is actually in the product.
- Be wary of “new and legal” launches. A molecule invented to sit just outside group 2.3 is the kind of compound the last two amendments widened the group to cover.
- Check the date. Any guide written before December 2025, including plenty still ranking in search, misses the update that reaches 10-OH-HHC.
- Check your own country. The NpSG is German law. Other countries keep their own lists and thresholds.
And if you’re not in Germany
The NpSG applies in Germany only. There is no single EU list of allowed cannabinoids, and neighbouring countries draw their lines in different places, sometimes by named substance, sometimes by family, sometimes through food or medicines law.
Anyone selling into Germany has to follow it. Outside Germany, though, the German annex is not the rule that applies to you. Wherever you are, the local rules are the ones that count.
From our shelf
A few things from our range, for adults 18+:
- CBD Drops: a full-spectrum CBD oil with 40% (4,000 mg) CBD in a 10 ml bottle, made with organic coconut oil and under 0.2% THC according to its page.
- Super Silver Haze CBD: CBD flower sold by the gram, with citrus zest, herbal pine and Haze spice.
- CBD Hash: crafted from hemp trichomes, with herbal and citrus notes.
Hemp flower and hash are regulated differently from country to country, Germany included, so check the rules where you live before ordering either.
Each product page describes the product and its specifications, and our FAQ explains how to request test results. We strive to offer only products that are 100% legal throughout the EU, but rules differ between countries, so please check yours before ordering. With anything new, start low, go slow and read the product page.
The NpSG, answered
Is there an official list of legal cannabinoids in Germany?
No. The NpSG has no list of allowed cannabinoids. It defines banned substance groups by chemical structure, and anything that matches a group’s description is covered. Anything outside those groups is outside this law only, and other laws such as food, medicines and narcotics rules can still apply.
Is HHC still sold legally in Germany in 2026?
No. HHC and its derivatives have been covered by the NpSG since 27 June 2024, and the December 2025 update widened the group to reach 10-OH-HHC. Trading in them is a criminal offence in Germany.
Does the NpSG cover CBD?
CBD lacks the closed ring that the cannabinoid group in the NpSG annex is built on, so on the law’s wording it sits outside it. CBD products can still fall under food, medicines or hemp rules, depending on what they are.
Is it a crime to possess an NpSG-covered substance?
Possession is prohibited under section 3, but the criminal offences in section 4 target trading, placing on the market, administering, and manufacturing or importing for sale. Prohibited items can still be seized, so the simple answer is not to buy them.
Does Germany’s NpSG apply in other EU countries?
No, it is German law. Anyone selling into Germany has to follow it, but every country has its own rules, so check yours.
More reading
- 10-OH-HHC Ban (December 2025): What’s Actually Changed
- HHC alternatives in 2026: what’s still on the market
- Is HHC Legal in Germany? The 2026 Legal Status Explained
Legal position as of October 2026, based on the NpSG and its Annex 1 as published on gesetze-im-internet.de, the Sixth Amending Ordinance (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 292) and the health ministry’s explanatory notes to the 2024 and 2025 draft ordinances. This is general information, not legal advice; check the current rules where you live.
