How many cannabis clubs hold a licence across Germany?

Status: December 2024. The nationwide figure from the federal government comes from a reply to a minor interpellation in January 2025: 83 licences granted to cannabis associations, status December 2024. Current figures come from the federal states, whose authorities issue the licences.

The figure from the reply of January 2025

The federal government’s reply to minor interpellation 20/14335 from the Die Linke parliamentary group (printed paper 20/14626) was reported by the Bundestag on 24 January 2025. For December 2024, it gives:

• more than 400 applications for a licence,
• 83 licences granted, most of them in North Rhine-Westphalia (25) and Lower Saxony (20),
• 12 rejected applications, six of them in Lower Saxony,
• 349 decisions still outstanding.

Taken together, the figures add up to 444 cases. That matches the figure of more than 400 applications. For the question of how many clubs are operating today, however, the figure from December 2024 is already old.

Why the date matters for this figure

Months pass between application, review and decision. In the reply of January 2025, a large part of the procedures was still open. Anyone who needs a figure today should therefore check the date of the source and ask for current information.

Under § 11 KCanG, the competent authority of the state grants the licence. The states have designated different bodies for this, for example the Landwirtschaftskammer (agricultural chamber) in Lower Saxony, the Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt in Hesse or the Regierungspräsidium Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg.

How the states report their numbers

The states publish their own figures, but at different points in time. The following overview shows the status dates from the announcements checked for this article:

State	Status	Figure
Baden-Württemberg	19.11.2024	two first licences
Lower Saxony	17.08.2026	100 licences from 148 applications
Hesse	29.09.2026	23 licences from 36 applications
Saxony-Anhalt	15.10.2026	19 licences according to the state office, on request

The figures come from different points in time and are therefore only partly comparable. More on the individual states can be found in the article on Lower Saxony and the article on Baden-Württemberg.

What a licence means for members

A licence concerns the association. The rules of the law apply to its members. Only people who are at least 18 years old and have a residence or habitual abode in Germany may become members (§ 16(1) and (4) KCanG). A person may be a member of only one cannabis association (§ 16(2), second sentence, KCanG). An association may have at most 500 members (§ 16(2), first sentence, KCanG).

Only members may grow cannabis together (§ 17(1) KCanG). Passing cannabis on to members requires the licence (§ 11(1) KCanG).

The duties the association carries

The board appoints a member as prevention officer (§ 23(4) KCanG). The association must contribute to comprehensive youth and health protection and draw up a health and youth protection concept for this purpose (§ 23(4) and (6) KCanG). These duties apply regardless of how many associations are approved in the state.

Keeping prevention in view for every figure

A number of licences says nothing about how many people use cannabis or how healthy that use is. According to the BIÖG, roughly one in eight people who use cannabis becomes dependent. With regular use, psychological dependence can develop, as the drugcom specialist service describes.

Young people in particular should know that the legislator bans consumption in the vicinity of schools, playgrounds and youth facilities (§ 5(2) KCanG). This applies regardless of any licence.

Why state figures often help more

Anyone who wants to know the situation locally will find the most precise information at the competent state authority. The applications are held there, and the processing status is recorded there. The nationwide figure from December 2024 shows an order of magnitude, nothing more.

The states use different counting methods and reference dates. A sum of state figures therefore only makes sense if all the figures come from the same period. That is not the case for the figures in this article, because they date from between November 2024 and October 2026.

For interested readers, this means: the figure is a guide to the situation in the country, not information about a particular association. You reach an association through its articles of association and the contact details it provides itself.

As licences grow, so do the obligations of the associations. Every association must appoint a prevention officer and draw up a health and youth protection concept (§ 23(4) and (6) KCanG). Youth protection is therefore part of the licence itself.

How to cite a figure

Anyone passing on the figure from January 2025 should name the date of the reply and the status of December 2024. Without these two details, it quickly appears to be a current overall total. The source is the publication of the Bundestag.

State figures should also appear in the text together with their respective dates. That keeps visible which figures refer to which point in time.

What you can do

• For a current figure, check the date of the source and ask the state authority.
• Read § 11 and § 16 KCanG yourself if you want to become a member.
• For questions about your own use, call the Sucht und Drogen Hotline: 01806 313031.

For individual cases, a specialist lawyer can help. The section on current affairs and legal developments keeps an eye on the figures and the legal position. The article on shares of demand shows what share of total demand the associations cover.