Katy Perry goes to space, the Louvre gets robbed in under seven minutes, Friedrich Merz becomes Chancellor of Germany – and Donald Trump is, well, part of the global equation again. The Youth Word of the Year is “the crazy”: a multi-purpose expression for everything between speechlessness, polite disengagement, and a short “okay.” Chosen by Langenscheidt, narrowly beating “goonen,” somewhere between English influence, maximum abbreviation, and collective overwhelm. In short: everything feels a little surreal. The world is moving fast, contradictory, and not always logical – and that feeling defined 2025. Decisions with global impact collide with pop-culture moments that feel straight out of a parallel universe. Reality and absurdity have never been closer. And while all of this is happening, one other topic refuses to stand still: cannabis. Laws, markets, narratives, and expectations continue to shift – sometimes cautiously, sometimes hastily, often inconsistently. Between partial legalization, regulation, a medical boom, and cultural identity loss, the industry finds itself far beyond trend status, yet still searching for clarity, fairness, and direction. So it’s time to look back At another year shaped by movement, friction, and learning by doing. At what happened across the cannabis and CBD landscape – and what that means for 2025 and beyond.
Industrial Hemp: Between Standstill and a Political Signal
2025 could have been the year industrial hemp finally left Germany’s legal grey zone behind. In spring, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture announced plans to liberalize industrial hemp – an overdue step toward ending the absurd treatment of non-intoxicating hemp and CBD products. Reality, however, looked different. Nothing happened. Progress stalled.
At the same time, momentum grew elsewhere. The EU increasingly recognizes hemp as an agricultural product – a crucial signal for farmers, retailers, and the entire CBD sector. Germany has now picked up that impulse again: the Greens have reintroduced the Industrial Hemp Liberalization Act to parliament. What’s proposed isn’t radical reform – it’s long-overdue normality: higher THC thresholds, the removal of the misuse clause, and legal certainty for CBD flowers, CBD oil, and other hemp products. Will this finally open a new chapter for hemp farmers and businesses? Still unclear. But for the first time in years, the debate is moving – and that alone is progress.
Why this matters
Industrial hemp stands for sustainable agriculture, economic opportunity, and consumer protection. That CBD has been criminalized for years despite having no intoxicating effect remains a political contradiction. 2025 might be the year that finally ends.
You know it:
CBD was our first love – and it will be our last.
One Year of Legalization: Between Couch Prescriptions and System Gaps
One year of cannabis legalization in Germany often feels surprisingly convenient: online questionnaire, prescription, delivery to your door. Telemedicine made it possible – fast, digital, efficient.
And that’s exactly the problem. What feels easy is often too easy to be sustainable. While cultivation associations operate under strict regulations, a market emerged that increasingly treated medical cannabis like a digital consumer product. Criticism followed quickly: limited medical depth, legal grey zones, marketing over medicine. In summer 2025, the Federal Ministry of Health responded with plans for stricter rules – personal doctor contact, shipping restrictions, clearer boundaries.
Necessary steps to separate healthcare from convenience. Still, the imbalance remains. Cultivation associations – originally designed as the backbone of legalization – struggle with bureaucracy and underutilization. The balance between medical access, controlled distribution, and recreational use hasn’t been found yet. One year in, legalization shows one thing clearly: rules change faster than systems – and faster than habits.
Consumption & Reality: Legalization Changes Rules, Not People
One year of legalization also makes one thing clear: consumption doesn’t follow laws – it follows society. Cannabis use in Germany has been rising slowly for years, long before 2024. Legalization neither accelerated nor slowed that trend. What matters isn’t how much, but who. Not teenagers, but adults drive the increase. People in their 30s, 40s, and 50s integrate cannabis into daily life – to unwind, reduce stress, or sleep better. Meanwhile, youth consumption is declining.
Legalization doesn’t mean more youth use – it means visibility without stigma. That’s where regulation comes back into focus. When use is already reality, frameworks matter more than moral debates. Responsibility, education, and product quality outweigh prohibition. Legalization isn’t a free pass – it’s an opportunity to treat cannabis like adults do.
In Germany, just as in the rest of the world.
International: Legalization Is Global – Uneven, but Unstoppable
2025 showed how diverse yet determined global cannabis policy has become. While some countries are still adjusting, others are already moving ahead. Legalization is no longer an exception – it’s part of global reality.
In Europe, Czechia sent a strong signal by approving adult-use legalization with home grow and comparatively high possession limits – one of the most liberal approaches on the continent. Slovenia set new benchmarks medically, with more to come. Switzerland continues moving toward regulated distribution and cultivation models.
Beyond Europe, the picture sharpens. In the United States, President Donald Trump initiated the most significant federal reclassification of cannabis in decades. Countries like Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Morocco, and South Africa continue expanding research, medical programs, and export structures. Even long-established markets like Thailand and Uruguay no longer debate whether to regulate cannabis – but how.
The global direction is clear: Cannabis is being regulated, integrated, and taken seriously – as medicine, agricultural product, and part of a controlled adult-use culture.
Germany: MedCanG at a Crossroads – Between Protection, Practice, and Clear Boundaries
As 2025 comes to a close, Germany once again turns its attention to the Medical Cannabis Act. On December 18, parliament debated proposed amendments aimed at responding to changing supply realities – particularly the sharp rise in imports and private prescriptions.
The proposals include mandatory in-person consultations for first prescriptions, annual in-person follow-ups, and a ban on shipping medical cannabis flowers, while preserving pharmacy delivery services. The stated goals: patient safety, addiction prevention, and responsible medical oversight.
At the same time, the draft faces broad criticism. Industry groups, legal experts, and political voices warn of potential supply limitations, especially in rural areas, as well as constitutional and EU-law concerns. Even within the governing coalition, consensus remains elusive. What must not be lost in this debate is the clear distinction between medical and recreational use. Medical cannabis is healthcare – not a workaround for leisure consumption. This separation is essential to avoid supply bottlenecks and to ensure reliable access for patients who truly depend on therapy. One thing is undisputed: Medical cannabis is medical treatment – and must remain so. The question isn’t if, but how: how to balance patient protection, medical responsibility, and practical access without overloading the system. Germany isn’t rolling back – it’s recalibrating. Moving away from grey zones toward clarity. Away from marketing logic toward medical responsibility. How MedCanG will look in 2026 will be decided in the months ahead.
CIAO 2025: THE WAY DOORS WORK – CLOSE AND OPEN
Less than seven minutes were enough to steal jewelry from the Louvre. So one year should surely be enough to move closer to the vision of an open, fair, and well-regulated cannabis framework – and finally free CBD from years of unjustified treatment that neither science nor society can defend. If this year has shown anything, it’s this: movement is possible. Change happens. Sometimes faster than expected – not always in the right way, but it happens. As the world oscillates between chaos and speed, this industry is finding its footing. Laws, markets, and opinions are in motion. The task now is to recognize opportunity, take responsibility, and not let the moment slip.
No matter the chaos – whatever comes next – one thing remains simple: thank you. Thank you for being part of our journey. Thank you for your trust. Because without you, we’d just be a lonely Tom.
Happy New Year.
Together towards a better green of tomorrow. 🌿
