After 16 Years, Germany Authorises the Growing of Medical Cannabis for the Very First Time

Michael F. is a man of 52 who has been suffering from multiple sclerosis since 1985. This degenerative disease causes such pains in him that only medical cannabis can relieve. Due to this, in the year 2000 he requested the authorities that he should be legally allowed to grow the medicinal marijuana he uses as part of his self-treatment.

Due to the illegality of marijuana flowers, his request faced numerous rejections, obstacles and denials. At an early stage, his harvest was seized, but Michael was to subsequently become the first person in Germany indicted for growing marijuana to be absolved. He was, moreover, returned the confiscated substance. While this represented an obvious advance, the patient’s demands had yet to be fully taken into account by the German authorities.

Following one rejection after the other, Michael decided to submit his application to the German State. Although he won his first two cases in 2011 and 2014, the Health Ministry remained firm in repeatedly appealing against his request.

After a legal battle of 16 years, his application finally proved successful upon reaching the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, which is the final court for proceedings in the country. This court took the decision of ordering the State to grant Michael the possibility of growing at home. The judges in charge of the case have instructed the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) that he should be allowed to exercise his newly-granted right. 

Even if this is a personal case, such a decision has set a legal precedent that is soon to bring consequences in its wake. Following the ruling of the High Court, Germany’s Health Ministry has issued a press release announcing that it would take what steps were needed to legalise medicinal cannabis next year.

Reactions to this event have not been long in coming. For example, the German Association for Cannabinoid Medicines has already recommended those patients within the country who have a permit (the number of which is estimated at approximately 650) to submit the form to the BfArM in order to be able to start growing their own medicine. The court decision has opened a new phase for cannabis users in Germany.