Germany countries/de.yaml
Within the limits nothing is punished; small overages are fines.[@bmg, kcang36] Selling, giving away, or growing beyond three plants are crimes with prison of up to three years, more in aggravated cases.[@bmg, kcang34]
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Not allowed. Home-grown cannabis may not be passed on to anyone, even for free, and club cannabis is for the member's own use only.[@bmg, kcang] Giving cannabis to another adult remains punishable — the main reason this segment scores so low.
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Public consumption is legal, with exceptions: not near minors, not in or within sight of s … pedestrian zones between 7:00 and 20:00, and not inside or near cultivation associations.[@bmg, kcang]
Old convictions for conduct that is now legal can be deleted from the federal register on application.[@bmg] The driving limit is 3.5 ng/ml THC in blood serum, with zero tolerance for novice drivers and under-21s.[@bmg, stvg24a]
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Handling cannabis seeds is allowed unless they are meant for unlawful growing, and seeds for home growing may be imported only from other EU member states.[@kcang] Cuttings without flowers count as propagation material: cultivation associations may hand out up to seven seeds or five cuttings a month per person, in person, to members and to other adults living in Germany.[@kcang] Cuttings may not be shipped or delivered.[@kcang]
Non-commercial cultivation associations have been [legal since 1 July 2024](/history/germany-cultivation-associations-2024/), each needing a permit from its state.[@kcang] A member must have lived in Germany for six months.[@bmg, kcang1] By August 2026 a nationw … in of building rules, security requirements and paperwork that differ from state to state.[@hj26] Even at full production they would cover only about 3.5 to 4.3% of estimated demand.[@hj26]
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The government's evaluation put adult demand at about 743 tonnes a year.[@dhv25] In 2024 the cultivation associations supplied less than 0.1% of it and medical cannabis from pharmacies roughly 12 to 14%; home growing could not be measured.[@dhv25] The evaluators concluded that illegal production was probably still the main origin of the … laying a minor part, and that the illegal share appeared to have shrunk in the first year.[@dhv25]
Driving with at least [3.5 ng of THC per millilitre of blood serum](/history/germany-drivi … statutory fine ceiling of €3,000; combining that level with alcohol has a €5,000 ceiling.[@stvg24a] Drivers under 21 or in their probationary period face a separate cannabis prohibition under section 24c, rather than permission up to 3.5 ng/ml.[@stvg24c] Both provisions exempt THC from a medicine taken as prescribed for a specific illness.[@stvg24a, stvg24c] That exemption does not permit unsafe driving: section 316 criminalises inability to drive safely due to intoxicants, with up to one year in prison or a fine, even without reaching the administrative threshold.[@stgb316]
Police crime statistics show how much of drug policing had been cannabis.[@diw26] Recorded cannabis offences fell from about 174,000 in 2023 to about 62,000 in 2024, the year possession and home growing became legal on 1 April, close to a third of the earlier figure.[@diw26] Researchers at the economic institute DIW put most of the fall down to conduct that is simply no longer a crime.[@diw26]
Hemp was once a farm crop with customs of its own. In Swabia and Baden young couples jumpe … dr/), the word and the drug of West Germany's student movement of the late 1960s.[@duden] The plant's German name, [Hanf](/culture/language/cannabis/), is the same ancient word as English hemp. Across the border, East German state security reported hashish smuggled along the transit … Hanfparade in Berlin](/history/germany-hanfparade-1997/) every August since 1997.[@hanfp] Since 2024 members have also grown together in non-profit associations on the [social-club model](/culture/traditions/cannabis-social-clubs/) pioneered in Spain. The 2024 law is closely tied to [Karl Lauterbach](/culture/people/karl-lauterbach/), a doc … using marijuana morally acceptable, 25% unacceptable and 42% not a moral question.[@pew26]
Duden — Gras Duden — Hanf Duden — Joint 37 unchanged
word Gras · lang German · meaning colloquial; Duden lists hashish and marijuana senses · sources duden-gras, word Hasch · lang German · meaning short for Haschisch; the student movement's word · sources duden, word Hanf · lang German · meaning the standard word; same ancient root as English hemp · atlas cannabis · sources duden-hanf, word Joint · lang German · meaning a hand-rolled cannabis cigarette · sources duden-joint