More than 100 state-authorized cultivation associations from across the country have signed a joint letter. It is addressed to the Federal Health Ministry, the Bundestag health committee, parliamentary factions, and the drug and addiction commissioner. The core demand: a clear distinction between medical provision and recreational use, along with effective limits on purely form-based rapid prescriptions for cannabis flowers.
📑 Inhaltsverzeichnis
What the Cultivation Associations Specifically Demand
The alliance identifies five key points. First, the government should end aggressive advertising for prescription medical cannabis. Second, serious telemedicine should be explicitly protected, as should traditional pharmacy distribution. The signatories are not calling for a ban on digital consultations, but rather a clear line between medical treatment and the ordering process.
Third, the associations demand proportionate administrative practices toward them. How differently authorities currently interpret regulations is shown by the case of a Thuringia club that was issued a controversial quality requirement by the state office. The Administrative Court of Gera temporarily halted this requirement. Fourth, the alliance demands political strengthening of non-commercial access routes. Fifth, and this is the actual trigger, the planned restriction of cannabis flowers in statutory health insurance should not be considered in isolation.
The Contradiction: Strict Requirements Here, Express Delivery There
It is at this exact point that the letter becomes explicit. Cultivation associations operate under tight supervision. They require authorization, maintain inventory records, cannot advertise, are subject to quantity limits, and must designate prevention officers. How elaborate this apparatus is becomes clear from the numbers. In Hesse, for example, 21 cultivation associations are licensed, with 15 actually growing. In Berlin, the first association recently distributed member-grown cannabis at the main train station, after more than two years of preparation.
Commercialized telemedicine platforms, according to the alliance’s assessment, operate largely unchecked. Strain selection, price per gram, and express shipping take center stage, not medical indication. That this advertising practice is legally challengeable was established by the Düsseldorf Regional Court in summer 2026. It held a mail-order pharmacy liable for a platform’s advertising. Meanwhile, policymakers have been discussing stricter rules for online prescriptions, though no law has yet been passed.
Why the Insurance Coverage Ban Intensifies the Debate
Since July 30, 2026, dried cannabis flowers have been removed from the benefits catalog of statutory health insurance. The Bundestag decided to prioritize finished pharmaceutical products on July 10. Those who wish to continue using flowers need a private prescription and must pay out of pocket. This inevitably shifts some demand toward the exact market that cultivation associations criticize.
From the alliance’s perspective, this creates a doubly skewed situation. The non-commercial route through an association remains cumbersome, heavily regulated, and practically inaccessible for many people. The commercial route through a platform becomes increasingly attractive due to the insurance coverage ban. If the boundary between medicine and recreation is to be taken seriously, the argument goes, both sides must be regulated, not just one. Similar arguments were made years ago by experts who viewed the prevailing cannabis policy as unacceptable.
What Could Follow Politically
A letter from over 100 associations is not a legislative proposal. But it arrives during a process that remains open. The amendment to the Medical Cannabis Act continues to sit in the health committee. It proposes, among other things, a shipping ban for medical cannabis flowers. It also includes a requirement for mandatory direct physician contact before initial prescriptions. These exact points align in part with what the cultivation associations are demanding.
The constellation is interesting because, for the first time, the cooperative part of cannabis legalization is taking a political stance against the commercial part. Until now, cultivation associations appeared mainly as petitioners to authorities. Now they are emerging as a regulatory voice. Whether they will be heard remains to be seen in autumn, when the health committee revisits the MedCanG amendment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is behind the cultivation associations‘ alliance?
It consists of more than 100 state-authorized cultivation associations from across the country. The letter was coordinated through the Cannabis Cultivation Associations of Germany association. The signatories are associations under the Cannabis Consumption Act, not commercial enterprises.
Do the cultivation associations want to abolish telemedicine?
No. The alliance explicitly calls for the protection of legitimate telemedicine and pharmacy services. What is criticized are purely form-based rapid prescriptions in which actual medical examination effectively disappears. According to the signatories, the line runs between treatment and ordering process.
What changes for patients since July 30, 2026?
Cannabis flowers are no longer covered by statutory health insurance as of that date. Those wishing to continue receiving them need a private prescription and must pay costs themselves. For extracts, dronabinol, and nabilone, there is also a mandatory six-month trial with an approved finished pharmaceutical product that must be approved by the health insurance fund.
Can cultivation associations distribute medical cannabis?
No. Cultivation associations distribute cannabis exclusively for recreational purposes to their members. Medical cannabis flows through physicians and pharmacies. The alliance wants to see this separation applied more consistently in political practice as well.
When will the Bundestag vote on the MedCanG amendment?
No date is set. The draft has been in the health committee since its first reading in December 2025, and the vote has been postponed multiple times. Observers expect a decision no earlier than late autumn 2026.
Sources: Cannabis Cultivation Associations of Germany (CAD), joint letter from over 100 licensed cultivation associations from July 7, 2026; Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 228 (GKV Contribution Rate Stabilization Act); Bundestag paper 21/3061 (Draft of the First Amendment to the Medical Cannabis Act).
Sollten Telemedizin-Plattformen für Cannabis stärker reguliert werden?
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