Starting on July 1st, 2024, aspiring cannabis cultivation association operators can apply with their local regulatory authorities to try to open facilities. The nation’s first cannabis cultivation association application was approved in the district of Oldenburg last month.

Cannabis cultivation associations will serve as a major foundational component of Germany’s legalization model for the foreseeable future. Cultivation associations, which are also legally operating in Malta, involve up to 500 members cultivating cannabis to be distributed to association members.

Additionally, cultivation associations can conduct other cannabis activities, such as selling cannabis clones and seeds to home cultivators. Associations, home cultivation, and eventually regional adult-use pilot trials, are the legal channels from which adult consumers can source their cannabis in Germany.

Bureaucratic delays have slowed the process of launching cannabis associations in various parts of Germany, however, the flow of applications is starting to pick up in some regions. The German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) provided the following status update in its most recent newsletter (translated from German to English):

• North Rhine-Westphalia : 32 applications were submitted here by 18 July.
• Baden-Württemberg : The Freiburg Regional Council had received 38 applications by July 31.
• Bavaria : By July 29, 16 applications had been received by the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety. The majority of the applications came from smaller towns.
• Rhineland-Palatinate : Here, 13 applications were submitted to the State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Welfare. Here, too, most of the applications came from small towns and villages.
• Hesse : The Darmstadt Regional Council has received nine applications, including five from small towns and three from large cities.
• Saxony , Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg : Seven applications were submitted in each of these federal states.
• Brandenburg : So far there have been five applications, three of which come from small towns.
• Thuringia : Four applications were received here.
• Saxony-Anhalt : The State Office for Consumer Protection is currently processing four applications, three of which are still incomplete.
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania : The Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection has received two applications.
• Bremen : The first application was submitted to the Senator for Health, Women and Consumer Protection.
• Saarland : An application has also been submitted here.
• Lower Saxony: Lower Saxony, of all places, was not mentioned in the PZ article. As reported in the BvCW newsletter, 20 applications were counted there and the first (at least) three were approved.

“In Berlin, the situation is more complicated: the responsibility for processing the applications has not yet been clarified. The district administrations accept the applications, but do not process them until a jurisdictional regulation is in place. This delay is causing dissatisfaction among the clubs, as they are already bearing rental costs without their applications being processed.” BvCW stated about efforts in Germany’s largest city.

In a recent nationwide survey conducted in Germany by Pronova BKK, 44% of self-reported ‘regular’ cannabis consumers indicated that they plan to join one of the country’s cannabis cultivation associations once they launch in their area. Another 27% of ‘occasional’ cannabis consumers also indicated that they plan to join an association.

This article first appeared on Internationalcbc.com and is syndicated here with special permission.

Photo by Ryan Lange on Unsplash