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Bavarian Zoning Rules and Low Hamburg Demand Expose Uneven Cannabis Club Rollout

A zoning fight between Bavaria and the federal government is now determining where clubs can function.

Overview

  • Hamburg has approved only 13 cultivation associations, with Altona’s 10.5 new oversight posts leaving 4.2 positions unfilled due to low application numbers.
  • Authorities there have conducted four cultivation-site and seven dispensing-point inspections, citing one case of weak documentation and one without required addiction-counseling information; average processing currently takes four to five months.
  • Hamburg’s oversight costs include about €103,000 this year for additional office space and a one-time €55,000 for an electric service vehicle and charger.
  • In Bavaria, the Buttenheim club Franken Cannabis has suspended operations after a Bayreuth court rejected its emergency bid against a county order stopping cultivation and member distribution, and its chair says no further appeals are planned.
  • The Bavarian government requires clubs to locate in specially designated “sonstige Sondergebiete,” a view the Federal Building Ministry disputes, with eight clubs approved in the state, roughly 300 nationwide led by NRW and Lower Saxony, and several Bavarian cases still before administrative courts.