Overview

• Initial prescriptions would require an in‑person visit, with at least one on‑site consultation every four quarters for follow‑ups before telemedicine can be used in the other quarters.
• Mail‑order sales of cannabis flowers would be banned, while pharmacy delivery services would remain permitted after mandatory in‑pharmacy counselling.
• Official data show medical cannabis imports jumped from about 19 to 80 tonnes in the first half of 2025, while statutory‑insurance prescriptions rose only in the single digits.
• Health Minister Nina Warken frames the measure as curbing misuse and improving patient safety, a position echoed by federal drug commissioner Hendrik Streeck.
• Greens and Left Party lawmakers criticize the plan as stigmatizing and harmful to patient access, and the draft now heads to parliamentary debate alongside a broader review of the 2024 partial legalization.