October 27, 2023 by NIKLAS KOUPARANIS, Rolling Stone
GERMANY IS AT a turning point — the government’s approval of the Cannabis Act (CanG), a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis within the country, is expected to be in practice in early 2024. Despite this good news, many currently licensed medical cannabis companies were hoping for the legalization of the entire value chain as outlined in the first cornerstone paper. The current two-pillar approach to legalization only allows adult-use cannabis to be supplied to cannabis clubs, limited home grow and regional scientific pilot programs.
In response to this watered-down approach to legalization, the adult-use market will not grow significantly in the short term. Instead, the already existing medical cannabis market will likely consolidate after significant growth in the total number of existing distributors from 2017-2021. However, this comes as no surprise, and forward-thinking companies are already preparing to adapt to what the licensed cannabis landscape will look like next year.
