Germany curbs online cannabis sales

Not sure why people still bother with medical cannabis prescriptions in Germany when its already legal for recreational use.

And of course cannabis imports have risen by more than 400%. Now that it is no longer illegal, they no longer have to grow so much of it like contraband domestically and avoid entering the boarders with it.

It can now be imported more inexpensively. I wouldn't be surprised if they are sourcing a lot of it from Thailand now too. 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3117914/germany-curbs-online-cannabis-sales

PUBLISHED : 8 Oct 2025 at 20:32

WRITER: Reuters

BERLIN - Germany’s cabinet has approved a plan to restrict the online sale of cannabis to tackle a surge in imports since recreational use was legalised last year, the government said on Wednesday.

The amendment to the existing law will require direct, in-person contact with a doctor for a cannabis prescription. It will 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 cannabis 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 rose only 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 that they expected the main impact to be on patients in rural areas who, they said, may not be able to access adequate care locally.

A window display in the Orange Spot cannabis store, formerly a butcher shop, in Hof in the German state of Bavaria. (Photo: PantheraLeo1359531 via Wikimedia Commons).