Germany's Most Populous State Approves First Cannabis Cultivation Application

First cannabis cultivation association license in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) western Germany has been is approved by Detmold district. With more than 18 million inhabitants, NRW is the most populous state in the country.

Across the state, 80 applications are pending, and many are incomplete, writes Born 2 Invest. The first license was granted to the cannabis association "Joints Venture," which confirmed it plans to start cultivation immediately.

A spokesman for the association said that cannabis cuttings and seeds were ordered immediately after approval, that cultivation is scheduled, and that the first harvest is expected at the end of November.

Joints Venture established a distribution point in Bielefeld city center where 500 members will be able to choose their marijuana.

Cannabis clubs became legal on July 1, 2024, and Joints Venture submitted its application on the same day. The first such marijuana social clubs opened their doors on July 8 in Lower Saxony. However, across many other states, applications for cannabis cultivation associations faced multiple setbacks. In August, Berlin granted its first permission for cannabis cultivation.

Read Also: How Cannabis Legalization In Germany Boosted This Company’s Revenue, Will Spain’s Medical Marijuana Framework Do The Same?

• Get Benzinga’s exclusive analysis and the top news about the cannabis industry and markets daily in your inbox for free. Subscribe to our newsletter here. If you’re serious about the business, you can’t afford to miss out.

Previous statements from the Ministry of Health implied NRW could permit up to 3,000 cultivation licenses, allowing one cannabis club per 6,000 residents. For example, clubs must be located at least 200 meters from schools, youth facilities and playgrounds. A club can have a maximum of 500 adults who have lived in Germany for at least six months.

Under the law, the district governments have three months to decide on an application, but the period starts only once all the required documents have been submitted, which often causes delays.

Incomplete applications are common in the Münster district, Düsseldorf, Cologne district and Detmold.

Read Next:

• 20M Germans Could Benefit From Medical Marijuana But Most Struggle To Find Prescribing Doctors

Photo: Courtesy of Kittyfly via Shutterstock