Germany restricts online cannabis sales amid import boom

By Bernadette Hogg

Germany's cabinet passed plans on Wednesday to restrict the online sale of cannabis to tackle a surge in imports of the drug since the legalisation of its recreational use last year, the government said.

The amendment to the existing law will require direct, in-person contact with a doctor for a cannabis prescription and ban mail-order delivery of the drug, with distribution restricted to physical pharmacies to ensure proper counselling.

Germany became the ninth country to legalise recreational use of the drug in April 2024. In the first half of 2025, imports rose by more than 400% from the same period in the previous year, the government said.

"The massive increase in cannabis imports and the practice of prescribing cannabis online without any personal medical contact require political action," said Health Minister Nina Warken.

The increase is not due to greater demand from seriously ill patients, the government said, as prescriptions via the social health insurance system only rose by a single-digit percentage.

"People who really need medicinal cannabis will still be able to get it," Warken told reporters.

A spokesperson for Jiroo, a pharmacy in Berlin specialising in cannabis, told Reuters they expected the main impact to be on patients in rural areas who, they said, may not be able to access adequate care locally.