Frankfurt sees its plan to sell legal cannabis blocked by the state

L’Federal Institute for Agriculture and Food (BLE) blocked the pilot project for the legal sale of cannabis in Frankfurt. The project, submitted in December 2024, provided for a five-year term and the sale of cannabis and cannabis products in specialty stores reserved for registered adults.

City officials announced Tuesday that a an appeal had been filed against this rejection.

Legal Interpretation Called into Question

The BLE justified its rejection by citing the current cannabis law which, according to his interpretation, does not cover the regional pilot projects with a limited duration. According to the agency, any such project would require a new legislative process at the federal level.

Elke Voitl, a Green Party councilwoman in charge of social affairs and health for the city of Frankfurt, strongly disputed this interpretation, insisting that in Germany, cannabis is no longer considered an illegal drug, but rather a regulated product, comparable to alcohol or tobacco.

«With this study, we want to scientifically examine how consumers» health-related behavior changes when they can legally purchase cannabis at a specialty store,« she said. She added that rejecting the proposal would benefit »dogmatists and ideologues, but not evidence-based, sound health policy.”.

The Frankfurt pilot project had been designed with strict eligibility criteria. Only adults living in the city and in good health would have been eligible. Minors and pregnant women or while breastfeeding, as well as people with mental health conditions.

Participants would have been allowed to purchase up to 50 grams of cannabis per month, and would have been required to undergo mandatory surveys, medical examinations, and group discussions to monitor their consumption habits and health outcomes.

Research and Industry Partners

The company Sanity Group, based in Berlin, has been selected to manage specialty stores, as it already does as part of a similar pilot project in Switzerland. Scientific oversight of the study was to be provided by Heino Stöver, a researcher specializing in addiction and a former professor at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Sanity Group immediately joined the appeal against the dismissal, arguing that existing legal options such as the culture at home and cannabis clubs are insufficient to meet demand.

«Home cultivation and cannabis clubs alone cannot continue to meet demand in Germany; they are simply not sufficient as legal sources of supply,» the company said in a statement.

According to Sanity Group, shunning regulated retail channels risks making consumers dependent on illegal market, which would undermine the objectives of Germany's new regulatory framework for cannabis.

The BLE's decision also affects Hanover, which had submitted a similar application for a cannabis research project. Both cities consider these pilot projects essential for gathering data on public health, consumer behavior, and the impact of the regulated sale of cannabis on the black market.

For Frankfurt, the battle is not over. The city and its partners remain determined to challenge this rejection, framing the issue as a choice between evidence-based policy and political indecision.