## Key points at a glance
As of: 14 September 2026
- Nothing has been decided. The Federal Government's bill amending the Medical Cannabis Act (Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz, MedCanG) has been before the Bundestag since December 2025. No final vote has taken place so far.
- What applies today: a doctor's prescription of medical cannabis following telemedical treatment is not prohibited, and pharmacies may continue to ship cannabis flower.
- What the draft provides: cannabis flower may only be prescribed after personal contact in the practice or during a home visit, with such contact required again at least once within four quarters thereafter. The shipping of flower to patients is to be discontinued.
- From when? There is no date. The draft would enter into force on the day after promulgation; it contains no transitional period.
What applies today: the legal situation since April 2024
Since 1 April 2024, medical cannabis has been regulated in the Medical Cannabis Act and no longer in the Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz). Under § 3 MedCanG, cannabis for medical purposes may only be prescribed by doctors and only dispensed by pharmacies upon presentation of the prescription.¹ The Act in its current version contains no requirement for personal contact before prescribing. An overview of the basics is given in the article Cannabis on prescription in Germany.
Remote medical treatment is governed by professional law. Since 2018, § 7 para. 4 of the Model Professional Code for Physicians (Musterberufsordnung für Ärztinnen und Ärzte, MBO-Ä) has permitted exclusive advice or treatment via communication media “in individual cases” where this is medically justifiable and the necessary care is taken in establishing findings, advising, treating and documenting.² This rule becomes binding through the professional codes of the state medical associations (Landesärztekammern). Whether remote treatment is justifiable in a specific case is therefore decided by the treating doctor, not by the platform and not by the patient. There is no entitlement to a prescription. Who plays which role is explained in the article Which doctor prescribes cannabis?.
What the bill provides
The Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit) justifies the amendment with a sharp rise in imports: in the first half of 2025, around 80 tonnes of cannabis flower were imported for medical purposes, compared with around 19 tonnes in the same period of the previous year. According to the Ministry, prescriptions billed to statutory health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV) rose only by a single-digit percentage over the same period.³ The draft (Bundestag printed paper (Drucksache) 21/3061) provides for a new version of § 3 MedCanG.⁴
Initial prescription only after personal contact
Cannabis flower is only to be prescribed “after personal contact” between the patient and the prescribing doctor “in their medical practice or in the course of a home visit”.⁴ A video consultation or an online questionnaire would no longer suffice for the first prescription of flower.
Follow-up prescriptions: the four-quarter rule
Follow-up prescriptions without a further practice visit would only be permitted if the same doctor had prescribed flower after personal contact within the last four quarters, including the current one. An exception applies if another doctor in the same practice issued that prescription and is being deputised for.⁴ In practice, this would mean one in-person appointment, followed by up to three quarters of telemedical care, and then another in-person appointment.
Shipping ban for flower
The dispensing of cannabis flower to end consumers “by way of shipping” is no longer to be permitted.⁴ According to the Ministry, a pharmacy's courier service (Botendienst) would not be affected.³ How to redeem a prescription today and how long it is valid is described in the article Filling a cannabis prescription.
Important: in the draft, both rules expressly concern flower only. Extracts and other preparations are not covered.⁴
Where the legislative procedure stands
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 14 July 2025 | Draft bill of the Ministry of Health (Referentenentwurf)⁵ |
| 8 October 2025 | Adopted by the Federal Cabinet³ |
| 21 November 2025 | Opinion of the Bundesrat (first round)⁴ |
| 3 December 2025 | Introduced in the Bundestag, printed paper 21/3061⁴ |
| 18 December 2025 | First reading, referral to the Health Committee⁶ |
| 14 January 2026 | Public hearing in the Health Committee⁷ |
| 23 February 2026 | Public deliberation of a petition against the amendment in the Petitions Committee⁸ |
According to our research, no second and third reading in the Bundestag had taken place by 14 September 2026. The Ministry lists the project as an ongoing procedure.⁵ The last sitting week before the summer recess ran from 6 to 10 July 2026, the first one afterwards from 7 to 11 September.⁹ The draft is not listed on the agenda for the plenary sessions from 23 to 25 September 2026 (as of 10 September).¹⁰
Even after a decision by the Bundestag, the procedure would not be completed immediately: the Bundesrat deals with the law again in a second round, followed by signature and promulgation. No one can currently give a reliable date for its entry into force.
In the first round, the Bundesrat had proposed additional tightening, including an explicit ban on advertising outside professional circles and the application of the Pharmaceutical Price Ordinance (Arzneimittelpreisverordnung). The Federal Government rejected the advertising ban as superfluous because the Therapeutic Products Advertising Act (Heilmittelwerbegesetz) already applies, and announced that it would examine the pricing issue.⁴
Why the amendment is controversial
The dispute cuts across the governing coalition. The SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag has publicly stated that it will not approve the draft in its current form. Its legal policy spokesperson saw interference with doctors' freedom to practise their profession and considered the shipping ban difficult to reconcile with the free movement of goods in the EU.¹¹ After the hearing, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said that the draft could be tightened on individual points and made more legally robust.¹² In February 2026, the specialist press continued to report differences over practice visits and the shipping ban¹³; the CDU/CSU health policy spokesperson said, in her own words, that she could not foresee when the procedure would be concluded.¹⁴
At the hearing on 14 January 2026, the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), the German Centre for Addiction Issues (Deutsche Hauptstelle für Suchtfragen) and the pharmacy profession supported the aim of the draft, in some cases with more far-reaching demands. The German Medical Association fundamentally questioned the evidence for prescribing flower, and the pharmacy profession called for extracts to be included as well. A cannabis industry association and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Cannabis als Medizin (Working Group on Cannabis as Medicine), by contrast, warned of over-regulation and gaps in care, while a patient organisation saw advertising as the main problem.⁷ A petition against the amendment gathered around 58,500 signatures.⁸
The position of the German Medical Assembly 2026
The 130th German Medical Assembly (Deutscher Ärztetag) in Hanover in May 2026 came out in favour of stricter rules than the government draft. The delegates call for at least one personal doctor–patient contact per quarter for prescribing flower. They reject prescriptions via commercial online platforms without personal contact, want the state medical associations to pursue breaches of professional law, and want the shipping ban extended to extracts and other preparations.¹⁵
Resolutions of the German Medical Assembly are political demands of the medical profession. They change neither the MedCanG nor, directly, the professional codes. They do, however, show the direction in which pressure on the legislator is heading.
What a decision would mean for ongoing treatment
If the draft were passed in its current version, it would probably have the following consequences for patients who have so far been treated exclusively via telemedicine:
- Next flower prescription only after a practice visit: the four-quarter rule requires an earlier prescription after personal contact. According to its wording, treatment that has so far been purely telemedical would not meet this condition.
- No transitional period: the draft would enter into force on the day after promulgation and contains no specific transitional provision for ongoing therapies.⁴
- No shipping of flower: collection at the pharmacy or courier service would remain possible.
- Extracts: not covered by the new rules according to the draft.
The draft does not answer how prescriptions issued before entry into force but not yet redeemed would be handled. In addition, the text may still change in committee. This affects all telemedicine services equally, including Medicanova. What the process currently looks like is described in the article Requesting a cannabis prescription online.
The BGH ruling: advertising, not telemedicine
Anyone searching for a “ruling” on online prescriptions usually comes across the decision of the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) of 26 March 2026 (Az. I ZR 74/25). The BGH ruled that an internet platform advertising medical treatment with medical cannabis violates the ban on advertising prescription-only medicines to the general public, even if no specific preparation is named.¹⁶ The ruling concerns advertising law. The BGH did not thereby decide whether cannabis may be prescribed after remote treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cannabis prescription after online treatment still legal?
Yes, under the current legal situation it is not prohibited. The doctor must decide in each individual case whether remote treatment is justifiable. There is no entitlement to a prescription.
When does the ban take effect?
No ban has been passed, so there is no date. The draft would enter into force on the day after promulgation. Before that, the Bundestag and Bundesrat would have to complete the procedure.
Is medical cannabis on prescription being abolished?
No. The draft changes how flower is prescribed and dispensed, not whether cannabis may be prescribed by a doctor. For the difference between a medical prescription and recreational use, see Recreational cannabis vs. medical cannabis.
Does the amendment also apply to cannabis extracts?
Not according to the government draft. The practice visit and the shipping ban relate only to flower. However, the pharmacy profession and the German Medical Assembly call for extracts to be included.
Do I need to do anything now?
Not legally. It makes sense to follow the progress of the procedure. You will find more answers in the frequently asked questions.
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This article is for general information only and does not replace legal advice. It reflects the status of the legislative procedure on 14 September 2026. There is no entitlement to a prescription.
Sources
- § 3 Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz (MedCanG), gesetze-im-internet.de
- Bundesärztekammer: Änderung § 7 Abs. 4 MBO-Ä (Fernbehandlung), synopsis of 21 March 2018
- Bundesministerium für Gesundheit: Kabinett beschließt Änderung des Medizinal-Cannabisgesetzes, press release of 8 October 2025
- Deutscher Bundestag: Drucksache 21/3061 of 3 December 2025, government bill with the opinion of the Bundesrat and the Federal Government's counter-statement
- Bundesministerium für Gesundheit: Gesetz zur Änderung des Medizinal-Cannabisgesetzes, status of the procedure
- Deutscher Bundestag: Novellierung des Medizinal-Cannabisgesetzes geplant, first reading on 18 December 2025
- Deutscher Bundestag: Experten für Nachbesserungen am Medizinalcannabis-Gesetzentwurf, hearing on 14 January 2026
- Deutscher Bundestag, hib: Deutschlandtakt und Medizinal-Cannabisgesetz im Fokus, 16 February 2026
- Deutscher Bundestag: Sitzungswochen 2026 (sitting weeks 2026)
- Deutscher Bundestag: agenda of the 95th to 97th sittings, 23 to 25 September 2026, as of 10 September 2026
- Pharmazeutische Zeitung: SPD will Gesetzesverschärfung nicht zustimmen, 15 January 2026
- Legal Tribune Online: Medizinal-Cannabis – Union will Warkens Gesetz ändern, 19 January 2026
- Ärzte Zeitung: Medizincannabis-Gesetz – Union und SPD liegen bei Verschärfungen über Kreuz, 23 February 2026
- Pharmazeutische Zeitung: Knackpunkt Cannabis-Versandverbot, 4 February 2026
- Deutsches Ärzteblatt: Delegierte stimmen für stärkere Einschränkungen bei Cannabistherapie, 13 May 2026
- Bundesgerichtshof: Werbung für ärztliche Behandlungen mit medizinischem Cannabis verstößt gegen das Heilmittelwerberecht, press release on the judgment of 26 March 2026, I ZR 74/25
Change log
- 14 September 2026: First publication. Status of the procedure checked against Bundestag printed paper 21/3061, the Ministry of Health's procedure page and the plenary agenda for 23 to 25 September 2026.