Since the partial legalisation of cannabis in Germany, the industry has grown considerably, particularly in the medical sector.
While it was previously quite difficult for patients to obtain the desired medicine via an open-minded doctor using a BtM prescription, a normal prescription is now sufficient.
Since then, online telemedicine has spread at a blistering pace, and a whole host of specialised portals now focus exclusively on the natural medicine.
As the number of cannabis patients and associated treatments has risen sharply, critics of the new way of dealing with cannabis speak of abuse of the system by recreational users.
This has brought the industry into the crosshairs of politicians who are now considering tightening the rules again, potentially making access via online prescription much more difficult.
It is not yet clear how the new Federal Government Drugs Commissioner will react to the forthcoming results of an interim scientific report on the effects of legalisation, for example, but it is already clear that a change in the situation is being sought.
This would have an immense impact on many thousands of people who rely on the services offered by medical cannabis portals.
New data seen by Business of Cannabis from an online provider in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) lays bare the increasing demand, and just how many people are currently benefiting from this simplified online access.
As the German health portal reports, there are clear differences in the living conditions of the customer base, at least in the case of the online provider GreenMedical.
For example, 60% of its customers say they use digital healthcare and the easily available ordering options due to the lack of physical access options available where they live.
If this form of care did not exist, residents in rural areas would often have to accept long journeys and a poor supply situation, negating the benfits of the treatment.
Since the platform was founded, 17,493 adults in North Rhine-Westphalia alone have taken advantage of treatment via the portal, which shows how popular such services currently are. This puts NRW in second place in Germany in terms of digital cannabis treatments.
Only in Bavaria, where the use of cannabis has always been, and still is, viewed very critically by the largest political force, has a higher number of telemedicine patients. In Bavaria, another significantly rural state, the number of patients using telemedicine is 18,522. And the trend is rising.
As previously reported, the amount of imported cannabis tripled between April 2024 and April 2025. During this period, registered patients in the country consumed a full 100 tonnes of cannabis flower.
This increased use has also been made possible by online platforms that want to ‘create safe and compliant treatment pathways (…)’ and, in doing so, eliminate the stigmatisation of patients that still prevails.
Christoph Neumeier, founder and Managing Director of GreenMedical, explained that he still believes that there too many hurdles remain when it comes to care, ‘especially for chronic illnesses such as pain disorders’, which can now be overcome a little more easily with the help of online cannabis medicine providers.
This is likely one of the reasons the company has already been able to arrange over 140,000 doctor-patient contacts digitally in the last twelve months.
Even if the increasing number of patients and the associated growth in cannabis imports could be seen by mostly conservative critics as proof of the potential for abuse of telemedicine, the large number of potential customers lost to the black market trade as a result of this supply should not be forgotten.
The fact that, thanks to regulated medical treatments and legal distribution, the state is able to recoup otherwise lost tax revenue is another advantage of this model. The negative effects that a possible tightening of the rules would have on the import business, the cash flow in pharmacies and the associated jobs are another matter and need to be analysed in more detail.
However, it is the patients who are dependent on their medicine who would suffer the most, as they are now increasingly relying on digital treatments and postal supply since partial legalisation.
The post Cannabis Telemedicine is Becoming Even More Popular in Germany, Especially in Rural Areas appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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While it was previously quite difficult for patients to obtain the desired medicine via an open-minded doctor using a BtM prescription, a normal prescription is now sufficient.
Since then, online telemedicine has spread at a blistering pace, and a whole host of specialised portals now focus exclusively on the natural medicine.
As the number of cannabis patients and associated treatments has risen sharply, critics of the new way of dealing with cannabis speak of abuse of the system by recreational users.
This has brought the industry into the crosshairs of politicians who are now considering tightening the rules again, potentially making access via online prescription much more difficult.
It is not yet clear how the new Federal Government Drugs Commissioner will react to the forthcoming results of an interim scientific report on the effects of legalisation, for example, but it is already clear that a change in the situation is being sought.
This would have an immense impact on many thousands of people who rely on the services offered by medical cannabis portals.
New data seen by Business of Cannabis from an online provider in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) lays bare the increasing demand, and just how many people are currently benefiting from this simplified online access.
60 per cent order because of their remote location
As the German health portal reports, there are clear differences in the living conditions of the customer base, at least in the case of the online provider GreenMedical.
For example, 60% of its customers say they use digital healthcare and the easily available ordering options due to the lack of physical access options available where they live.
If this form of care did not exist, residents in rural areas would often have to accept long journeys and a poor supply situation, negating the benfits of the treatment.
Since the platform was founded, 17,493 adults in North Rhine-Westphalia alone have taken advantage of treatment via the portal, which shows how popular such services currently are. This puts NRW in second place in Germany in terms of digital cannabis treatments.
Only in Bavaria, where the use of cannabis has always been, and still is, viewed very critically by the largest political force, has a higher number of telemedicine patients. In Bavaria, another significantly rural state, the number of patients using telemedicine is 18,522. And the trend is rising.
Almost 150,000 contacts made
As previously reported, the amount of imported cannabis tripled between April 2024 and April 2025. During this period, registered patients in the country consumed a full 100 tonnes of cannabis flower.
This increased use has also been made possible by online platforms that want to ‘create safe and compliant treatment pathways (…)’ and, in doing so, eliminate the stigmatisation of patients that still prevails.
Christoph Neumeier, founder and Managing Director of GreenMedical, explained that he still believes that there too many hurdles remain when it comes to care, ‘especially for chronic illnesses such as pain disorders’, which can now be overcome a little more easily with the help of online cannabis medicine providers.
This is likely one of the reasons the company has already been able to arrange over 140,000 doctor-patient contacts digitally in the last twelve months.
Advantages of the new model
Even if the increasing number of patients and the associated growth in cannabis imports could be seen by mostly conservative critics as proof of the potential for abuse of telemedicine, the large number of potential customers lost to the black market trade as a result of this supply should not be forgotten.
The fact that, thanks to regulated medical treatments and legal distribution, the state is able to recoup otherwise lost tax revenue is another advantage of this model. The negative effects that a possible tightening of the rules would have on the import business, the cash flow in pharmacies and the associated jobs are another matter and need to be analysed in more detail.
However, it is the patients who are dependent on their medicine who would suffer the most, as they are now increasingly relying on digital treatments and postal supply since partial legalisation.
The post Cannabis Telemedicine is Becoming Even More Popular in Germany, Especially in Rural Areas appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
