How Germany is moving towards CBD legalization 

In today's article, we will take a look at the current legal status of CDB in Germany and the impact it has on society.  

Europe's Cannabis-Community is looking towards Germany. When will the biggest economy in Europe finally initiate steps towards a regulated and legal market for products containing CBD and THC. Many experts within the community are predicting a domino effect of legalization for countries within the EU if Germany would effectively change its current policies towards a Cannabinoids friendly ecosystem as it could create a wave of FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out within the leaders of governments in Europe and the World. 

Germany is known to be more conservative towards innovative markets, but when they decide to enter they usually do it with force. One of the best indicators for this is how CBD products like Oils, edibles and buds are gaining in mass adoption around the country. 

Based on the growth data from our partners in Germany like Healthy Gardenand Hanfbucht, we can see a clear trend towards the adoption of CBD products in the market. According to our partners, customers are not only general consumers but mostly patients who are getting recommendations from the doctors. Furthermore, more and more pharmacies, hospitals and clinics are showing strong interest and are starting to buy CDB in bulk. 

Here at el Capitan we believe that CBD is not only taking away the market share of big pharmaceuticals as it has the potential to make many of the expensively sold drugs obsolete, but also from the Tobacco and Alcohol Industry as people are looking for more natural and healthy alternatives for dealing with stress and anxiety. It will also take away customers that are becoming weary of the high amount of chemicals in the cosmetics industry and looking for more natural and sustainable options. This would mean that CDB has the potential to drastically change consumer behavior in these segments and pave the way for global legalization for Hemp related products.  

Firstly let’s take a look at the current legal status quo. CBD products can be acquired in Head Shops, Drug Stores, Pharmacies and Health food stores. In most parts the accepted maximum THC level needs to be under 0,2%. This leads to a problem for European CBD producers as the limits in each country are differently restricted. 

Still there are many restrictions in place that are holding back the mass adoption of CBD products. One main reason is that it is illegal for distributors to advertise themselves in any form. While big Pharma is spending billions into not only advertising pushing placebos and painkillers with often strong side effects on national television but also incentivizing insurance companies and doctors to prescribe their products. 

There is still a big effort to be made to educate the medical community of the benefits of the herb. As century long negative biased reporting about Cannabis has still had a massive impact on the current perception of the Germans.

But let’s take a look at some main benefits of CBD

• Offers natural & sustainable alternatives for hundreds of products that are currently made out of chemicals like for example Painkillers and Cosmetics

• Can help reduce anxiety & stress 

• Can help alleviate Cancer-Related Symptoms 

• Can be used as medicine for animals 

• It’s generally a very sustainable product 

• It’s a plant - and can therefore be planted by anyone at home. So It’s out of control of big pharma and established entities 

• Legalizations allow the market to evolve and for Germany to be spearheading an industry with global potential for exponential growth

And what are some of the negatives that would come from a CBD legalization? 

Although CBD is generally well tolerated and considered safe, it may cause (in a very small amount of cases) adverse reactions in some people like Fatigue, Nausea, Change in appetite and Diarrhea. Keep in mind that regular medicine on average has much higher rate, intensity and amount of side effects in comparison. 

But honestly politicians in Germany, what are the reasons you are still lobbying for a strict prohibition of CBD? 

We couldn't find any other congruent argument on your sides, even after some hours of research, besides it has been like this it should stay like this. You can’t expect us to name the possible loss of political campaign contributions by the Pharma, Tobacco, Alcohol and Cosmetics industries as your main narrative. Would love to know your side - get in touch!

Therefore, let’s take look at the main political parties and their stand on legalization (stand October 2020):

Pro legalisation: 

• Bündnis90 / Die Grünen

• Linkspartei

• Piratenpartei 

• Humanisten 

• Volt 

Divided: 

• SPD 

• FDP

Against Legalization 

• AFD

• CDU 

• CSU

There is a strong push from the more liberal parties like Die Grünen and the Linkspartei while there is still a categorical anti Cannabis bias in the center right parties like CDU and CSU as well as the extreme right party the AFD. We will keep a close eye on political development in Germany and blog about significant updates. 

The good news, some pro legalization parties gain access to government in the upcoming elections, we can expect to see changes to the restrictions that are currently put on the Cannabis industry. 

Overall we believe that is a matter of time, there is no congruent narrative of why German y should keep its current restrictions on CDB. But what is your opinion on this? Will Germany be one of the countries leading the spear front of legalization, or will they stay behind the curve? 

All the best from Barcelona 

And as always 

Feel Like the Captain