Is it legal in Germany? Drug law, cannabis and penalties

Three acts, read in order

The Betäubungsmittelgesetz is the drug act. Its three annexes decide everything that follows. Anlage I is not marketable, so nothing in it has a lawful supply or prescription route. Anlage II is marketable but not prescribable. Anlage III is marketable and prescribable, which is where opium, fentanyl, GHB, diazepam and nimetazepam sit. Unauthorised handling carries imprisonment of up to five years or a fine under § 29(1), and that list reaches simple possession at number 3.

The Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz catches what the drug act does not, and it is expressly subordinate to it. § 1(2) provides that the act does not apply to Betäubungsmittel within § 1(1) of the drug act, nor to medicinal products, veterinary medicines or medical devices. So the annexes are read first.

The Konsumcannabisgesetz took cannabis out of the drug act in 2024 and gave it its own rules. It is the source of almost every mistaken English summary of German law.

Cannabis is not legalised. It is prohibited with exceptions.

§ 2(1) of the Konsumcannabisgesetz sets out twelve prohibitions. It is forbidden to possess cannabis, to cultivate it, to produce it, to trade in it, to import or export it, to move it through the country, to hand it over or pass it on, to let another consume it, to administer it, otherwise to put it into circulation, to procure it, or to acquire or receive it. The default position is prohibition.

§ 3 then permits specific quantities. An adult may possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for own consumption, measured after drying for flowers and leaf material. At the person's home or habitual residence the limit is 50 grams and up to three living cannabis plants, and the total held may not exceed 50 grams.

There are then two different sets of numbers and confusing them is the common error. § 34 makes it a crime, punishable by up to three years or a fine, to possess more than 30 grams away from home, more than 60 grams in total, or more than three living plants. § 36 makes the band in between an administrative offence rather than a crime: more than 25 and up to 30 grams away from home, and more than 50 and up to 60 grams in total. Those carry a fine of up to 30,000 euro under § 36(2).

So there are three tiers, not two. Permitted up to 25 and 50 grams. An administrative offence between 25 and 30, and between 50 and 60. A crime above 30 and 60. Cultivation beyond three plants, any trade, and any import or export remain crimes whatever the quantity.

§ 2(2) prohibits extracting cannabinoids from the cannabis plant, with an exception for CBD. That is why concentrates are not covered by the possession allowances.

The new psychoactive substances act catches by group, not by name

Anlage 1 to the Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz defines nine substance groups by chemical scaffold: compounds derived from 2-phenethylamine, cannabimimetics and synthetic cannabinoids, benzodiazepines, compounds derived from N-(2-aminocyclohexyl)amide, compounds derived from tryptamine, compounds derived from arylcyclohexyl(methyl)amine, compounds derived from benzimidazole, compounds derived from 3,3-diphenylpropan-1-amine, and compounds derived from 4-amino-1-benzylpiperidine.

Anlage 2 works differently. It names two substances individually, gamma-butyrolactone and nitrous oxide, and reaches them only when they have the properties set out in column 2. For nitrous oxide those properties are about packaging: a container holding more than 8.4 grams, or the sale of more than ten containers of up to 8.4 grams in one transaction.

There is no general catch-all for psychoactivity. A substance that is psychoactive, sits in no Anlage 1 group and is not named in Anlage 2 is not a new psychoactive substance under this act.

The prohibition and the crime are not the same size. § 3(1) forbids trading, putting into circulation, manufacture, import, export, acquisition and possession. § 4(1) punishes only trading, putting into circulation, administering to another, and manufacture or import for the purpose of putting into circulation, with up to three years or a fine. § 4(3) raises that to one to ten years for commercial or gang conduct, or for supply by a person over 21 to a person under 18. Acquisition and simple possession are forbidden by § 3 and are not among the acts § 4 punishes.

What each provision carries

Every substance confirmed against a primary source

88 substances have a status for Germany verified against a named statute. Each row links to the full entry, with the consequences, the prescription position and the source.

Sources

• Betäubungsmittelgesetz (BtMG), Anlagen I to III and § 29
• Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz (NpSG), §§ 1 to 4 and Anlagen 1 and 2
• Konsumcannabisgesetz (KCanG), §§ 2, 3, 34 and 36
• Urheberrechtsgesetz § 5, official works Laws and ordinances enjoy no copyright protection, which is the basis on which this text is quoted.

Statute text on this page is quoted from the copies linked above. Last verified September 21, 2026.