Is CBD legal in Germany & Where to Buy it

Here are our key findings

• CBD derived from industrial hemp containing no more than 0.2% THC is legal for purchase and consumption in Germany.
• A wide range of hemp-derived CBD products, including oils, tinctures, and capsules, are available over the counter from German speciality stores and online.
• CBD edibles are illegal under the EU Novel Food Regulation, which extends throughout Europe.
• Hemp flower containing CBD is also prohibited.
• CBD containing higher concentrations of THC for medical use are available with a doctors’ prescription.

Germany has often been viewed as one of the more progressive European nations. When it comes to purchasing and consuming CBD, Germany is definitely ahead of the curve. On the 10th March 2017, Germany became one of the first countries in Europe to legalize medical cannabis by amending its narcotics legislation.

This legislative shift also made an exemption for industrial hemp and its derivatives–including cannabidiol derived from industrial hemp (CBD). The upshot is that CBD derived from hemp is legal in Germany, so long as it contains less than 0.2% THC and isn’t retailed as an edible, hemp tea, or in flower format. These retail restrictions are strictly enforced: the recent Braunschweig case saw the owners of a CBD shop sentenced to several months imprisonment after selling hemp tea with 0.33% THC content or less.

Since the passage of these amendments, Germany has entered the European cannabis market with a bang. Germany has been estimated to constitute over half of the European cannabis market until 2024. CBD culture is currently taking off in Germany, with specialized CBD storefronts popping up in major cities like Berlin.

This Leafreport guide will unpack the best CBD brands and products that are currently available in Germany (or willing to ship there!) We’ll also dive deeper into the laws surrounding CBD and explore the best places to purchase CBD.

Is CBD oil legal in Germany?

Germany has dabbled with hemp cultivation throughout its history, with records tracing the introduction of the plant as far back as the 17th century. In more recent history, however, the European superpower banned the general production of the plant. In 1996, industrial hemp cultivation was made legal–with the restriction that Delta-9- Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content did not exceed 0.2 percent.

Germany amended its narcotics laws in 2017. These changes reflected the increasing global popularity of the cannabis and hemp market, and growing medical research supporting the benefits of these plants. The legislative amendments also meant law surrounding the use and retail of CBD became clearer.

Similar to the US legislation, CBD is now legal in Germany–provided that it is sourced from industrial hemp. Unlike the US, which allows for 0.3% THC content or lower in its hemp or CBD products, German hemp and CBD products must contain less than 0.2% THC. CBD products containing higher concentrations of THC are only available as medical cannabis products with a doctor’s prescription. For Germans ordering CBD products from the US, broad-spectrum CBD products and CBD isolate represents the safest options–neither contain THC.

CBD is available for purchase in Germany in diverse formats, with the exception of edibles, hemp tea, and raw flower. German law only permits the sale of processed products, not raw hemp itself. Even though hemp flower might contain less than 0.2% THC, raw buds look very similar to marijuana buds. This makes it difficult to differentiate between legal hemp plants with little to no THC, and illegal recreational marijuana plants that have a higher concentration of THC.

CBD edibles are also illegal in Germany. The European Commission added cannabinoids to the EU Novel Food Catalogue in January 2019. According to the German courts, edibles containing CBD are considered Novel Foods and can only be retailed once they have been authorized by the European Commission.

Best CBD products in Germany

CBD is popular in Germany, so it figures that there are a number of reputable brands that ship to the region. Here’s our pick of some of the best CBD oils available on the German market–based on Leafreport’s comprehensive rating system.

Leafreport’s scoring categories

Our standardized scoring system is calculated using our database, which collects third-party lab test results, prices, additional ingredients, extract types, and other data. We add all of these up to provide an unbiased total score out of 100 points.

We specifically score the following criteria, with each category contributing to the overall score.

• Transparency, Accuracy & Reputation checks the brand’s potency and purity results, verifying the accuracy of their CBD levels and whether they test for contaminants.
• Hemp quality checks whether the ingredients used in the CBD formulation are organic, vegan, non-GMO, USDA, and derived from sustainable sources.
• Variety of products confirms the range of products available and different variants of each product–such as extract concentrations, or flavors.
• Customer experience explores how user-friendly the brand’s website is, checking for educational information for consumers, ease of navigation, the detail of the product information supplied, and the availability of consumer support if needed.
• Price and discounts checks value for money by calculating the price per milligram of CBD, and how the brand’s pricing compares to industry averages.

Medterra CBD

Medterra is regarded as a leader in the CBD space and is well-known for its very high Google reviews, Facebook reviews, and over 2000 reviews on their website.

All Medterra products are third-party laboratory tested for both purity and potency. The brand extracts CBD using CO2 extraction, a clean and safe extraction method

Medterra offers a fairly broad range of products, however, vape cartridges are not available and broad-spectrum products are limited.

The brand has limited customer service hours, which could be problematic if you’re looking to receive guidance on a product and want immediate feedback.

Medterra CBD product pricing is very reasonable when compared with competitors– ranging from $0.04 to $0.07 per mg of CBD for tinctures, and $0.05 to $0.07 for their capsules.

Medterra CBD is a Californian-based brand that ships worldwide–including Germany. The brand’s point of difference in a saturated CBD market are the credentials behind the brand. With a team of medical experts, a pharmacist, and veterinarians comprising the brand’s advisory board, there is a significant level of expertise backing product research and development.

Another point of difference that distinguishes Medterra CBD from other brands is that mostall its products are free of THC. For German consumers who want reassurance that products contain less than 0.2% THC as stipulated by German law, these THC-free CBD product formulations are ideal.. When it comes to drawbacks, however, the website can be overwhelming to navigate due to the high volume of content and reviews on the product pages.

R+R Medicinals CBD

There’s very little information about the team running the operation, or the organic farms where the hemp is grown–leaving the consumer feeling a little disconnected from the brand’s story and mission.

The third-party CoA (Certificate of Analysis) potency and purity tests can be easily accessed for each product lot, providing consumers with reassurance about the quality of the CBD.

The brand has a relatively wide selection of products available, including a THC-free line–which may appeal to German consumers seeking products below the legal 0.2% THC threshold.

R+R’s website offers insightful educational material and abundant product information so prospective purchasers can make informed decisions.

The brand boasts a great price point when it comes to CBD–tincture costs $0.03 per mg while gummies cost $0.09 per mg.

R+R Medicinals is a US-based CBD brand that ships all over the world–including Germany. The brand is scrupulous in ensuring potency and purity testing results for each product are available, reassuring consumers about the integrity and quality of the products.CBD consumers looking for products with aesthetic appeal are likely to appreciate the brand’s rustic, down-to-earth packaging.

If there are any drawbacks associated with R+R Medicinals, it’s that there’s a lack of information in certain areas. While the website claims that the brand’s hemp farms and extraction facility earned USDA organic certification in 2019, there isn’t evidence of this supplied on the website. There’s also little information supplied about the team running the operation.

CBD ReThink

CBD ReThinkroducts are all third-party tested for potency. Lab results are available on a dedicated page on the brand’s website. Some of the products are tested for purity, but it appears that not all are subjected to purity tests.

The brand claims to use CBD derived from the highest quality hemp, but there’s no clear mention on the website where the hemp is sourced, and whether it’s organic.

The CBD ReThink product range is relatively extensive, covering bases such as tinctures, creams, topicals, gummies, sapsules, and a pet product. All products are broad spectrum, and 100% THC free.

CBD ReThink offers a thirty-day money-back guarantee. While the brand offers a reassuring online shopping experience for customers, with multiple ways to make contact with representatives, the website is saturated with information, rendering it a little difficult to navigate.

CBD ReThink products have an average price point of $.15, meaning that their prices are higher than average compared to other brands on the market.

CBD ReThink is based in Miami, Florida, but ships across the globe, including Germany. The brand prides itself on creating affordable CBD products that are broad-spectrum and completely free of THC. Broad spectrum products means the formulation also contains a range of beneficial non-intoxicating cannabinoids and terpenes. As all the products created by the brand are free of THC, they’re perfect for athletes or individuals who are looking for the benefits of CBD and hemp without the potential legal issues of THC. According to the CBD ReThink website, the brand uses CBD extracted from hemp with supercritical CO2 extraction, one of the cleanest and safest extraction methods. Their softgels and hydro tinctures are crafted using nanoemulsion, another cutting edge technique that enhances CBD bioavailability.

While the brand subjects its products to independent third-party testing, the accuracy of the potency of the products we reviewed varied–one tested above the accepted 10% variance level, while another tested significantly lower. It’s also unclear whether all products undergo purity testing. It could be worth closely checking the product certificates of analysis, if precise cannabinoid concentration levels are important to you.

Endoca

Endoca subjects all of their products to laboratory testing to check purity and potency. These checks include heavy metals, microorganisms, molds, pesticides, E. coli, organic residues, solvent residues, yeasts, CBD quantity, and THC concentration.

The hemp seeds Endoca uses to cultivate their plants are all non-GMO, and the CBD extraction process is solvent-free, using supercritical CO2 extraction to draw the cannabinoids from the hemp fibers. Supercritical CO2 extraction is one of the cleanest and most advanced forms of cannabinoid extraction.

The Endoca product line includes CBD oils, capsules, crystals, topicals, extracts, suppositories, food supplements, and CBD items for pets–but no edibles. Some of the products can be purchased together in a CBD Pack which is an innovative way to experiment with several products at a time.

Endoca offers a live online chat which is quick and easy to use, or you can also email them using the form on their contact page.

Endoca’s prices range from $0.09 to $0.10 per milligram of CBD–which is very competitive for high quality products.

Endoca is a European CBD brand that uses hemp cultivated in Northern Europe. This Danish-based CBD giant was founded in 2006, and ships all over the globe–including Germany. As the first CBD brand to ever be sold online, Endoca is well-known, and reputable, in the CBD world. Endoca is also known for its reasonably-priced CBD products that are high quality with respect to purity and potency.

One of the more significant drawbacks associated with Endoca’s product range is a lack of edibles–although CBD gum is available. From a German perspective, however, this may not be a bad thing, considering the EU-wide prohibition on the retail of novel foods such as CBD edibles.

Nuleaf Naturals

Nuleaf Natural upholds a policy of transparency with respect to product quality, and the website makes it easy to find batch information from third-party potency and purity tests.

NuLeaf’s CBD is derived from Colorado-grown industrial hemp cultivated at their organic, licensed farms in Colorado. It should be noted, however, that they do not have a USDA certification.

At this point, Nuleaf Naturals focuses on a limited selection of softgels, oils, topicals and pet products. Vapes are not available, nor are edibles.

It’s easy to get in contact with a Nuleaf representative who can answer your questions, however, if you’re looking for educational information or guidance about using CBD, the website is limited in its scope.

Nuleaf has an average price point in comparison with other brands in the field, ranging from $0.09-$0.16 per mg of CBD.

Nuleaf Naturals is a US-based CBD brand that uses Colorado hemp. The brand ships to most countries worldwide including Germany. Some of the products also contain CBC, CBG, and CBN, which are beneficial cannabinoids in their own right.

There are a few notable limitations when it comes to aspects of NuLeaf’s offering. The product range is limited to a handful of products. The brand does not stock CBD isolate, which may be a problem for German customers seeking a pure CBD experience. Finally, if you’re looking to learn the brand’s backstory, there’s very little information about the team behind the brand.

CBD brands that ship to Germany

In addition to Absolute Nature CBD, Medterra, Endoca, R+R Medicinals, and Nuleaf Naturals listed above, there are a number of other reputable companies (including pet-focused brands) that ship to Germany. These include:

• Extract Labs
• Reakiro
• King Kanine
• Penelope’s Bloom
• Alpinols
• Batch CBD
• Betoken
• Big Sky Botanicals
• Cannaunion
• CBD American Shaman
• CBDfx
• CBDistillery
• CBDmd
• CBD Medic
• CBD Pure
• CBD Rethink
• Chronic Candy
• Cibdol
• Coastal Clouds
• Diamond CBD
• Drop of Sunshine
• Elevate CBD
• Elixinol
• Endoca
• Envy CBD
• Earth Hemp
• Evolution CBD
• Fab CBD
• Farmacy Bliss
• Formula Swiss
• Four Five CBD
• Funky Farms
• Green Garden Gold
• Green Gorilla
• Green Lotus
• Green Path
• Half Day CBD
• Hemp for Pets
• Hemp Fusion
• Hempland USA
• Hemp Meds
• Honest Paws
• Ignite
• Irwin Naturals
• Joy Organics
• Jupiter
• Just CBD
• Kanibi
• Karibo
• Kats Botanicals
• Kushly
• Lazaros Naturals
• Leafwell Botanicals
• Lily Hill CBD
• Made by Hemp
• Max CBD
• Medical Mary
• Medterra CBD
• Minted Leaf
• Mint Wellness
• Nanocraft CBD
• Naternal
• Nature Can
• Nuleaf Naturals
• One Farm
• Palm Organix
• Penguin CBD
• Phenopen
• Plant People
• Plant Power
• Premium Jane
• Provacan
• Pure Hemp Botanicals
• PureKana
• Pure Elix Wellness
• Root Wellness
• Seabedee
• Smile CBD
• Smilyn
• Social CBD
• Steve’s Goods
• Stigma Hemp
• Tommy Chong
• Tonic CBD
• Transcendlabs
• Tree of Life Seeds
• Uncanna
• Verified CBD
• Veritas Farms

Where can I purchase CBD in Germany?

Germans (and those visiting Germany) can purchase CBD from storefronts and online retailers.

As discussed above, there is a wide diversity of CBD brands that ship to Germany, offering consumers access to a range of high quality, reputable products. Many Germans prefer to shop for CBD online to access a greater selection, and review products and brands prior to purchasing. That being said, Berlin is seeing the rise of specialized CBD stores–some of the better-known shops include Tom Hemps, Grinsekatzen, and Grünes Gold.

If you do decide to purchase CBD online in Germany, it’s important to check the product’s THC levels to ensure you’re not buying something that would be considered illegal (given that the THC limit in Germany is less than 0.2%. Full spectrum CBD products shipped from the US often contain 0.3% THC or less, which exceeds Germany’s legal THC limit.

Whether you’re buying online or in store, it’s vital to do your due diligence. Many reputable brands print a QR code on the brand packaging that will take you directly to their certificates of analysis, so you can verify whether the potency levels are accurate. Some brands also conduct purity testing, which checks for contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants. Leafreport also publishes extensive independent reviews from customers and from staff about diverse CBD brands. By doing your homework before you purchase, you’ll know how to identify high-quality products.

Summary

Germany is one of the more cannabis-savvy countries in Europe, with 2017 ushering in the legalization of CBD derived from industrial hemp.

There’s a range of reputable CBD brands that ship to Germany, but it’s important to remember when purchasing CBD online that German law only permits CBD with less than 0.2% THC content. Raw hemp flower, hemp tea, and edibles are also banned in Germany.

If you’re looking for a more intimate purchasing experience, check out one of the country’s many CBD speciality stores.