(de-news.net) – Germany’s Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken (CDU) is reportedly advancing a legislative amendment to the Medical Cannabis Act designed to introduce stringent limitations on the dispensation of medicinal cannabis. The bill purportedly mandates that prescriptions for cannabis flowers must originate from direct, physical consultations between physician and patient, whether conducted at the physician’s practice or via domiciliary visit. This regulatory precondition is to be equally enforced for subsequent prescriptions, requiring recent personal interaction.

The legislative proposal has emerged in response to a pronounced escalation in the importation of medicinal cannabis, along with the proliferation of privately funded prescriptions facilitated via tele-medical frameworks – often involving practitioners operating extra-territorially. Empirical data from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices documents a 170 percent surge in cannabis imports between the first and second half of 2024. This contrasts with a modest 9 percent increase in prescriptions covered by statutory health insurance. The statistical discrepancy has been interpreted as indicative of heightened private-sector demand, particularly among self-financing individuals.

Moreover, the envisioned regulatory framework would confine the commercial circulation of cannabis flowers strictly to licensed pharmacies, thereby prohibiting distribution via postal channels under applicable pharmaceutical law. The underlying rationale emphasizes cannabis’s inherent risks of dependency and deleterious health outcomes – especially among adolescents – while noting the absence of formal market authorization and clinical evidentiary support. Consequently, the draft legislation underscores the imperative for bespoke regulatory mechanisms to uphold the integrity of medicinal provision and to safeguard patient welfare.