European Union

France has taken a key step toward legalizing medical cannabis by formally notifying the European Commission of its plans to legalize and regulate the practice.

Canada-based Aurora Cannabis has announced the launch of IndiMed, its first line of medical cannabis products grown and manufactured in Germany, which is the latest EU member state to adopt cannabis legalization policies.

French health officials recently extended the country’s experimental medical cannabis provisions with the stated goal of giving patients participating in the program extra time to taper their cannabis consumption or find alternatives.

Nearly 60% of German citizens support the broad legalization of adult-use cannabis, according to a recent poll. Cannabis is currently legal for adults to possess and consume but the country stopped short of establishing a regulated marketplace.

Italy’s conservative leadership is planning to crack down on the country’s nascent — and already highly restricted — cannabis industry by banning products made from hemp flower, the industry’s only real source of cannabinoids.

Voters in Slovenia last weekend approved two non-binding cannabis measures: one to legalize adult-use cannabis, and another to let medical cannabis patients grow their own cannabis plants at home.

Adults in Germany will be allowed to possess and cultivate cannabis starting April 1 after lawmakers gave their final approval to the country’s cannabis legalization proposal last week.

After much anticipation, Germany became the third EU country to legalize adult-use cannabis following a decisive vote in the Bundestag, marking a significant shift in drug policy and setting a precedent that may influence other EU nations.

The Czech Republic’s current draft of a plan to legalize adult-use cannabis stops short of establishing a regulated market, focusing instead on possession and home cultivation, amid strategic governmental maneuvers and existing EU legal constraints.

The first legal — albeit experimental — cannabis dispensary in Europe received final approval last week from Swiss regulators; the dispensary was approved as part of a study on the retail of adult-use cannabis.

The Cabinet of Germany on Wednesday passed a bill to legalize the adult use and cultivation of cannabis; the measure still requires approval from parliament.

Albania’s Parliament voted 69-23 last week to legalize medical cannabis and industrial hemp but the law focuses primarily on product exports, rather than establishing a domestic market.

Luxembourg this week became the second European Union member nation to legalize adult-use cannabis. Under the new law, adults can home-grow up to four cannabis plants and publicly possess up to three grams of cannabis flower.

Malta, which became the first European Union country to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2021, still hasn’t licensed any non-commercial cannabis clubs despite having received 26 applications since the application window opened about four months ago.

With multiple EU members looking to legalize cannabis at the national level, the influence of Europe’s cannabis social clubs as the region’s earliest legal retailers is more important than ever.

European cannabis advocates their eyes on the Czech Republic, where officials have expressed support for legalizing adult-use cannabis but also recently took measures to crack down on the sale of CBD products.

While Germany’s efforts to legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis suffered a minor blow following last week’s revelations, the country remains on track to launch a five-year adult-use cannabis pilot program and, in the meantime, intends to decriminalize cannabis possession and home growing.

Germany announced the watering down of its cannabis legalization efforts after talks with EU officials but the plan is to still legalize possession, allow limited home grows, and establish members-only “cannabis clubs.”

Switzerland’s government approved a cannabis legalization trial with legal consumption and sales for 2,100 Zurich residents.