Cannabis consumption before and after partial legalization in Germany: Early trends, consumption patterns, and motives

BACKGROUND: Germany experienced a steady rise in the prevalence of past-12-months cannabis use from 2012 to 2021. In 2024, cannabis was partially legalized for recreational use. Against this background, it is important to systematically examine consumption patterns in the early phase after legalization. METHODS: Data are from the 2012 (n2012 = 9084), 2015 (n2015 = 9204), 2018 (n2018 = 9267), 2021 (n2021 = 9046), and 2024 (n2024 = 7534) waves of the Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse (ESA), a repeated cross-sectional survey of Germanspeaking adults in private households. RESULTS: The prevalence of past 12-month cannabis use rose steadily from 4.6% in 2012 to 8.8% in 2021. The prevalence in 2024 was 9.8%, an additional increase compared to 2021, but the difference is not statistically significant. Most cannabis users consumed marijuana (92.3%), predominantly in the form of joints (88.6%). One-quarter of them (25.7%) also belonged to a cannabis social club. The most frequently stated motivation for using cannabis was "to get high or have fun" (66.8%), followed by "to reduce stress or relax" (61.3%). CONCLUSION: In the early post-legalization period, there was a small, non-significant increase in the prevalence of cannabis use in Germany compared with 2021. Given the legalization is very recent, it is too soon to observe any clear effect.