Market & legal data analysis of the cannabis sector in Europe

12th December 2024: Germany: The Federal Office of Agriculture and Food (BMEL) has issued regulations on cannabis research projects, which will examine research applications of cannabis consumption and industrial hemp. The focus of these investigations is to better protect young people, reduce activity in the black market and organised crime, and increase consumer protection through lower-risk forms of consumption. Applications can be submitted on the authority’s website. The BMEL emphasised that this is not the “second pillar” of cannabis legalisation, which would introduce cannabis speciality stores, as that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
12th December 2024: France: The country’s caretaker administration presented an emergency finance bill to the parliament to avoid a shutdown after the country’s government and the 2025 budget bill fell in a no-confidence vote last week. The provisional budget bill contains only a few articles that permit the state to roll over the same taxes levied in 2024 and continue to issue debt. However, it does not permit the introduction of any expenses, so the extension of the experiment on medical cannabis, expected to resume in 2025, would be delayed to 2026. The definitive budget will be voted on later in 2025.
11th December 2024: Netherlands: The Dutch government has announced that the next phase (experimental phase) of the Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment, which aims to investigate whether a regulated chain of production, distribution and sale of cannabis is possible, will start on 7th April 2025. In the experimental phase, coffee shops in the ten participating municipalities will only sell regulated products. This phase should last four years.
9th December 2024: Germany: Last week, in response to a statement from the Federal Council, the federal government issued a comment about the Industrial Hemp Liberalisation bill. The bill permits indoor cultivation of industrial hemp and eliminates the “intoxication clause”, which states that the use of industrial hemp for commercial purposes must exclude the abuse of intoxication. The federal government emphasised that the bill focuses solely on industrial hemp, leaving other matters, such as recreational cannabis, outside its scope. The Federal Council did not oppose the removal of the “intoxication clause”.
5th December 2024: Belgium: The Federal Public Service for Health, Food Chain Safety, and the Environment has updated its positive list of notified herbal products for smoking, which includes hemp flowers and other smokable cannabinoid products. Products not on the list may not be placed on the Belgian market without notification.
5th December 2024: France: The extension of the French experiment on medical cannabis, which had been expected to resume in 2025, will likely be delayed to 2026 following the no-confidence vote in the government. This development will lead to the resignation of prime minister Michel Barnier and could result in president Emmanuel Macron appointing a new head of government. The failure to approve next year’s budget has created an unprecedented situation, forcing the government to potentially operate under a provisional budget.
5th December 2024: UK: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced that it will launch an eight-week public consultation in early 2025 which will be considered in the recommendation to the government of three CBD-containing novel food applications that received a positive risk assessment from the agency. The FSA has suggested that the acceptable threshold for THC content in CBD novel food applications will be aligned with Home Office standards, namely that “where THC is present at very low levels and cannot be readily extracted in a quantity that is liable to be abused, it can be defined as an exempt product under drugs law and can be freely traded”. The FSA expects to make recommendations on CBD applications to ministers by spring/summer 2025, following the public consultation.
4th December 2024: Spain: Daily consumption of cannabis is decreasing in Spain, while occasional use increases. According to the Ministry of Health’s 2024 Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs in Spain (EDADES), cannabis is the most widely used drug in the country, having been consumed at least once by 43.7% of the population. Another finding is that 12.6% of 15- to 64-year-olds said they had used cannabis at least once in the previous 12 months – a higher percentage than in 2022, when it amounted to 12.6%. Daily consumption of cannabis is 2.5% of the population in 2024, while it was 2.8% in 2022.
2nd December 2024: Switzerland: The Basel cantonal health department has extended the pilot project for the sale of recreational cannabis in pharmacies until January 2027, initially programmed to finish in July 2025. In addition to flowers and hashish, the project will be extended to include lower-risk products: two e-liquids and two tinctures. The project will also offer drug testing of cannabis purchased on the illicit market.
2nd December 2024: Czech Republic: The Ministry of Health has proposed a new decree aiming to simplify the prescription process for medical cannabis, allowing it to be prescribed by general practitioners, media reports. The decree has successfully passed the comment process and is set to take effect on 1st April 2025. Currently, only specialists are allowed to prescribe medical cannabis.
29th November 2024: Denmark: The government and a majority of the parliament have agreed to make the trial scheme with medical cannabis permanent from 2026. This ensures that patients with serious illnesses, such as cancer, and chronic pain can continue to access medical cannabis prescribed by doctors. Minister of the interior and health Sophie Løhde said the agreement guarantees patients safe access to alternative treatments that have shown significant benefits during the trial period. The deal also strengthens guidance for doctors and improves conditions for Denmark’s cannabis industry, including cultivation and export opportunities. The trial scheme was first introduced in 2018, and it opened the possibility in 2021 for companies to grow cannabis for medical use in Denmark.
28th November 2024: EU: During the parliamentary debate over the proposal for a revision of the 2009 Council recommendation on smoke-free environments, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), which currently holds 78 out of 720 seats in the European Parliament, proposed including cannabis in the EU goal to become tobacco-free by 2040, thereby proposing to ban cannabis across the European Union by 2040. The group alleges that smoking is still the most used method of consuming cannabis, which poses serious health risks. The group also rejects any regulation of recreational cannabis, saying it “gives rise to the concern that cannabis is still necessarily supplied from the illegal market”.

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