Group chat says the Cannabis Act is doomed? Here's what's actually in force, what the coalition promised and which bill is really before parliament in 2026.
Your phone buzzes. Someone in the group chat has posted a headline with the words "Cannabisgesetz" and "abschaffen" in it, followed by three crying emojis and a voice note you're not emotionally ready for.
By the time you've scrolled to the bottom, two cousins have declared the law dead, one has declared it immortal, and somebody has started a debate about balconies.
Here's the calmer version. We read the law, the evaluation news and the Bundestag papers so you don't have to read them at 1 a.m. between voice notes.
Below is a status check for adults 18+ as of October 2026: what's actually in force, what has been promised, what has been proposed, and what a repeal would and would not touch. If you want the companion piece on what the law allows day to day, start with what you can buy under the Cannabis Act; if you're mainly wondering whether a repeal would touch our THC alternatives, the short answer is: mostly not directly.
The status in ten seconds
| The question | The answer | The fine print |
|---|---|---|
| Is the KCanG still in force? | Yes | Consolidated text listed its last amendment as 20 June 2024 when we checked |
| Has a repeal bill passed? | No | We found no government repeal bill as of October 2026 |
| What did the coalition agree? | An open-ended evaluation | Not a repeal |
| When is the final report due? | 1 April 2028 | Comprehensive evaluation report, set in § 43 KCanG |
| Which cannabis bill is in parliament? | A medical cannabis one | A MedCanG bill; no final vote found when we checked |
| Does any of this cover CBD or THC alternatives? | Mostly not directly | Hemp flower is the exception to watch |
Where the law stands right now
"Cannabisgesetz" (CanG) is the umbrella act that came into force on 1 April 2024. Its two core parts are the Konsumcannabisgesetz (KCanG), covering non-medical cannabis, and the Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz (MedCanG), covering medical cannabis for patients. When people ask whether "the cannabis law" will be scrapped, they nearly always mean the KCanG.
The KCanG is in force. When we checked this month, the official consolidated text on gesetze-im-internet.de still listed its last amendment as 20 June 2024. In other words: plenty of talk, no rewrite.
The core rules are the ones you've probably heard:
- Possession: adults may carry up to 25 g in public and keep up to 50 g at home (§ 3).
- Home growing: up to three plants at a time at your home address (§ 9).
- Cultivation clubs: licensed non-commercial cultivation associations may grow cannabis together and hand it on site to their own adult members, within daily and monthly limits: 50 g a month for members aged 21+, 30 g for 18–20-year-olds (§§ 11, 17 and 19).
- No shops: § 2 still bans trading in cannabis. There are no licensed shops: the only routes the law sets out are home growing and non-commercial cultivation associations.
That last point matters for the repeal debate. Because the law never created a shop, there's no shop for a repeal to close. The arguments are about possession, home growing, clubs and the medical market.
What the coalition actually promised
Since spring 2025 Germany has been governed by a coalition of CDU, CSU and SPD. Before the election, the CDU/CSU's own election programme promised to scrap the cannabis law and take back legalisation. The coalition agreement they then signed with the SPD says something much milder: an open-ended evaluation of the law in autumn 2025.
"Open-ended" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It means nobody promised to keep the law exactly as it is, and nobody promised to scrap it. Each side can read it the way it likes, which is roughly how coalition agreements stay signed.
It also helps to know how a repeal would work in practice. Undoing a federal law takes a new law: a bill, committee work, a Bundestag vote and a turn through the Bundesrat. A government that wanted to roll back the KCanG would also have to decide what happens to the clubs, plants and members that exist under the current rules. None of that happens by headline.
So when you see "Union wants to abolish the Cannabis Act", the useful follow-up question is: is there a bill? So far, the answer is no: we found no government bill to repeal it.
The evaluation timetable (and what it has found so far)
The evaluation isn't a coalition invention; it's written into the law itself. § 43 KCanG sets three dates:
- By 1 October 2025: a first look at how the consumption bans affect child and youth protection, plus the possession and club limits.
- By 1 April 2026: an interim report that also covers cannabis-related organised crime, with the Federal Criminal Police Office involved.
- By 1 April 2028: the comprehensive report.
The evaluation is carried out by EKOCAN, a research consortium led from the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) with partners in Düsseldorf and Tübingen, funded by the Federal Ministry of Health; the UKE hosts its project page. Its first interim report was presented on 29 September 2025, and the second followed on 1 April 2026, the law's second birthday. Nobody brought cake.
Press summaries of the EKOCAN evaluation so far describe a fairly unspectacular picture: the positive effects lawmakers hoped for have been modest so far, but most of the critics' biggest fears haven't materialised either, and youth use has stayed stable or dipped slightly. CDU/CSU politicians responded to the reports by calling for changes to the law.
If you like your politics with suspense, this is the bit to watch. A report isn't a law (and almost nobody reads one cover to cover), but it's the evidence everyone will wave around when the next amendment debate starts.
The bill that is actually on the table: medical cannabis
Here's the twist most headlines blur. The cannabis bill actually before the Bundestag isn't about the KCanG at all. It amends the MedCanG, the medical side.
The Federal Cabinet approved a draft amendment on 8 October 2025, according to the Federal Health Ministry. The government bill (Drucksache 21/3061, introduced December 2025) would require an in-person doctor visit before a first prescription and would end mail-order delivery of medical cannabis flower, with pharmacy courier services still allowed. The Bundestag's own news service has a summary.
It had its first reading before the end of 2025 and a committee hearing in January 2026. Reports since early 2026 describe disagreement between the coalition partners over the details, and when we checked in October 2026 we found no record of a final Bundestag vote. If you're a patient, this is the one to follow, ideally with your doctor or pharmacist rather than the group chat (the group chat has many opinions and no prescription pad).
One more thing for patients: a 2026 health-insurance law has already stopped statutory insurers paying for cannabis flower. Nothing here is medical advice, though; we're a shop, not a surgery.
What a repeal would and would not touch
Suppose the KCanG were rolled back one day. What would that change? Mostly the things it regulates: possession limits, home growing and cultivation clubs. Plenty of products that people lump in with "the cannabis law" sit somewhere else entirely.
CBD. The KCanG's definition of cannabis explicitly excludes CBD. CBD products are governed by other rules instead, depending on the product, for example EU novel-food rules for foods, cosmetics law, or medicines law. Hemp flower is fiddlier, because the law's industrial-hemp exemption comes with conditions, so treat CBD flower as something to check rather than assume.
THC alternatives. Semi-synthetic cannabinoids aren't cannabis in the KCanG sense. In Germany they are dealt with mainly under the Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz (NpSG). The Health Ministry can add substance groups to its list by regulation, and parliament amended the act directly in 2026. One that took effect on 27 June 2024 brought HHC and related compounds in (Federal Law Gazette 2024 I No. 210), and the list has grown again in 2025 and 2026. Our guide to the NpSG list in 2026 keeps track.
That's the honest irony of the whole debate: since mid-2024 the NpSG list has changed several times, while the KCanG text hasn't moved. If you follow this space, that list is the one to keep an eye on.
Hardware. Grinders, rolling trays, batteries and empty vaporisers aren't cannabis, so the KCanG doesn't regulate them as such. Nothing in the current debate targets them, though any future bill would need to be read on its own terms. Your grinder can stop refreshing the news.
How to follow the news without doomscrolling
Headlines about this law tend to arrive in two flavours: "Legalisation is over" and "Nothing will ever change". Both are usually wrong. A few habits help:
- Ask "is there a bill?" A politician's interview is a position. A bill (Gesetzentwurf) printed as a numbered Bundestag Drucksache is a proposal. Many Drucksachen are only questions, answers or reports. A law changes only after it's passed and published in the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt).
- Check the date on the law itself. The consolidated KCanG text on gesetze-im-internet.de shows its latest amendment at the top (the "Stand" line). If that hasn't moved, the rules almost certainly haven't either, though very recent changes can take a little while to appear there.
- Tell KCanG and MedCanG apart. A lot of "cannabis law tightened" stories are about prescriptions and pharmacies, not about adults at home.
- Watch 1 April 2028. That's when the comprehensive evaluation is due under § 43 KCanG, and it will likely feed any later amendment debate, though changes can be proposed before then.
- Remember the border. All of this is German law. If you live elsewhere in the EU, your own country's rules are the ones that apply.
Supplies for the waiting room
If you've made it this far, you now know more about § 43 than most people at the party. Three things from our shop for the wait until 2028:
- Super Silver Haze Broad Spectrum: broad-spectrum flower by the gram with citrus, pine and classic Haze notes, and less than 0.2% THC according to the product page. For adults 18+ only. Flower is the one category to check for your country first.
- Penjamin 3.0: a pre-filled 1 ml pen with a display for battery, voltage and puff count, in seven flavours from Lemon Haze to Mystic Berry. It's psychoactive, so for adults 18+ only: start low, go slow and read the product page first.
- Woody Pack: one box with the battery, two Trippy 1 ml cartridges and ten Happy Stones, if you'd rather order once than three times. For adults 18+ only.
Prefer something without the psychoactive side? The CBD range is that way. Each product page lists what is inside; we strive to offer only products that are 100% legal throughout the EU, but rules differ between countries, so please check yours before ordering.
The repeal rumour, answered
Has Germany's Cannabis Act been repealed?
No. The Konsumcannabisgesetz (KCanG) is still in force, and the official consolidated text listed its last amendment as 20 June 2024. No repeal bill has been passed.
Does the coalition plan to scrap the law?
The 2025 coalition agreement of CDU, CSU and SPD promised an open-ended evaluation of the law, not a repeal. Some Union politicians want changes, but we found no government repeal bill as of October 2026.
When is the final evaluation of the Cannabis Act due?
The law itself sets 1 April 2028 for the comprehensive evaluation report. Two interim reports have already appeared, in September 2025 and on 1 April 2026.
Is the medical cannabis law changing?
A government bill to tighten the Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz, with in-person first prescriptions and an end to mail-order delivery of medical cannabis flower, was introduced in the Bundestag in December 2025. We found no record of a final vote as of October 2026, so check the current status.
Would a repeal affect CBD or THC alternatives?
Mostly not directly. CBD is excluded from the KCanG and semi-synthetics fall under the NpSG. Hemp flower is the exception to watch, because its exemption is written into the cannabis law itself.
More reading
- Germany's December 2025 NpSG update and 10-OH-HHC
- HHC in Germany: the 2026 status explained
- CBD flowers: the 2026 EU rulebook
Legal position as of October 2026, based on the KCanG text on gesetze-im-internet.de, the EKOCAN evaluation reports and Bundestag publications. This is general information, not legal advice; laws change, so check the current rules where you live.
