THE German Cannabis Industry Association (BvCW) has described as ‘incomprehensible’ a raid by over 25 police officers on a farm that led to the confiscation of hemp products and the impounding of almost four hectares of crop.

This comes despite recent rulings in the German courts that acknowledge the legality of the country’s long-established hemp industry – and as the country’s measured progress towards a regulated adult-use market continues.

The police raid took place in the Schleswig-Holstein region on 1 September 2022, after the Itzehoe District Court ordered the confiscation of all industrial hemp goods from a farm belonging to the Thomassek family.

The pretext for the raid being that ‘hemp tea that is sometimes produced after the harvest is suitable for producing an intoxicating pastry and could violate the Narcotics Act’, says the BvCW in a press release.

‘All Farms Would Be Affected‘

However, the cultivation of industrial hemp has been legal in Germany since 1996, and a recent Government commission acknowledged the legality of industrial hemp products, as reported last year by BusinessCann.

Dr Stefan Meyer, President of the BvCW, said: “In the current case, the livelihood of a farm is endangered, the cultivation of which has been officially approved and the harvest has even already been released.

“If the Itzehoe public prosecutor’s office were to prevail with their new legal opinion, the existence of the majority of the 863 farms in the hemp sector and numerous processing companies and thus thousands of jobs nationwide would be threatened.

“It is absolutely incomprehensible why the public prosecutor’s office and the district court of Itzehoe are now, 26 years after the legalisation of hemp cultivation in Germany, starting with such measures, although there have been no legal changes.

“As we debate the future of recreational cannabis cultivation, attempts are being made elsewhere to turn back the wheel of progress.”