Ekocan Report: Germany’s First-Year Cannabis Legalization Review

More than a year after the introduction of the historic Cannabis Legalization Act (CanG), Germany has published the first official report assessing the impact of this reform. The document, dubbed Ekocan, is at the center of a heated political debate. The new government, skeptical of legalization, was waiting for this data to decide the future of cannabis in its western neighbors.

Is the black market actually shrinking? Has youth started smoking en masse? Are hospitals bursting at the seams?

What is the Ekocan report and why is it crucial for the future of reforms?

The Ekocan Report is a comprehensive, scientific assessment of the impact of the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG). It focuses exclusively on recreational cannabis use, including private cultivation and the operation of cannabis clubs. The project is being conducted by a research consortium led by the prestigious University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

Why is this document so important? The current ruling coalition, led by the Christian Democratic CDU party, has publicly announced that further decisions—including possible tightening of regulations or even reversing reforms—are contingent on the results of this evaluation. The Ekocan report is essentially the first official review of one of Europe’s most high-profile legislative experiments.

Interestingly, even though the Ekocan report concerns recreational cannabis, the government has already announced restrictions on the medical market. This has sparked opposition from experts, who accuse politicians of confusing the rules and making decisions based on ideology rather than facts.

The cannabis market after changes. What do the hard numbers say?

Let’s get down to specifics. What does the German cannabis market look like after the first year of the new regulations?

Market size and the fight against the black economy

The total demand for cannabis in Germany is estimated to be between 670 and 823 tons in 2024.

How is this enormous demand being met?

Medical cannabis accounts for approximately 9–13% of the market

Cannabis clubs , which are still in their infancy, meet only less than 0.1% of demand

The rest comes from private, home cultivation and, still largely, the black market

The Ekocan report clearly states that legal sources are gaining importance, while the black market is slowly shrinking. However, this is a gradual process. By comparison, in Canada, it took four years after legalization to reach a 78% legal market share.

Prices and power – what is legal and what is not?

Analysis shows that the cheapest way to obtain cannabis is to grow it at home. Surprisingly, medical cannabis from a pharmacy is, on average, cheaper than that purchased at cannabis clubs or from dealers.

THC concentration is also a key observation. Legal sources, especially medical cannabis, are characterized by significantly higher and more predictable potency than black market products. This is an important argument from a harm reduction perspective.

Youth Protection and Public Health: Were Concerns Valid?

This was one of the main arguments used by opponents of legalization – fear of an “epidemic” of cannabis use among young people. Data from the Ekocan report seems to completely dispel these fears.

Young people smoke less – the downward trend continues

The most important conclusion of the Ekocan report is this: cannabis consumption among young people in Germany has been steadily declining since 2019, and legalization has not reversed this trend .

Here are the key facts:

The age of first contact with cannabis remained stable at 15-16 years.

About 10% of young users exhibit risky consumption (daily or almost daily) – this percentage has not changed after legalization.

Interestingly, the number of cannabis-related social service interventions for minors has decreased.

The perceived availability of cannabis among youth has not increased.

Everything indicates that legalization did not cause the disaster predicted by its opponents.

Adults and safety – no sudden changes

Among adults, there has been a slight increase in the percentage of people who have ever tried cannabis, but no dramatic increase in consumption. Furthermore:

Hospital and emergency number data do not show a significant increase in cannabis-related health problems.

Preliminary analyses have not shown a significant increase in the number of road accidents caused by drivers under the influence of cannabis.

Legalization and Crime: Fewer Arrests, But What About Gangs?

As expected, the change in the law had an immediate effect on police statistics. The number of recorded cannabis-related crimes dropped significantly,as shown by the Ekocan report. This primarily applies to possession of small amounts for personal use, which was no longer considered a crime.

The Ekocan report notes, however, that it is too early to assess the reform’s impact on organized crime. Researching this phenomenon will be a key task in the coming years.

Summary: The first year is just the beginning of the journey

The first official report, Ekocan, following the legalization of cannabis in Germany doesn’t bring revolutionary news, and that’s perhaps the best news. There hasn’t been a social, health, or criminal catastrophe. Changes are evolutionary, and goals like curbing the black market and protecting consumers are being slowly but steadily implemented.

The most important conclusion from the Ekocan report is simple: fears about the negative impact of legalization on young people have proven unfounded. The data shows that a regulated market and education work better than prohibition.

The future of German reforms remains uncertain and depends on political will. However, the debate will now be based on facts and figures, not myths and prejudices. And the facts, at least for now, seem to support the decision made over a year ago.

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(Featured image by Jinsoo Choi via Unsplash)

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