German Officials Visit California Cannabis Businesses

A delegation of officials from Germany recently took a closer look at California’s cannabis market, Marijuana Moment reports. Consisting of multiple German lawmakers and a top federal (German) drug official, the group toured cannabis businesses and heard from California regulators, experts, and advocates about lessons learned from launching a regulated cannabis industry.

The officials “examined products of dispensaries with equity licenses” to better understand “cannabis legalization opportunities and risks,” according to a tweet from the German consulate in San Francisco.

“It was a really expansive conversation,” said Hirsh Jain, founder of the consulting firm Ananda Strategy.

“What they had said is like, ‘Look, we want to legalize cannabis and we want to do it in the name of public health.’ That’s how they kicked off their conversation with us and that was kind of the framing for the conversation.” — Jain, via Marijuana Moment

During the meetings, California officials shared the importance of a regulated cannabis market where products are tested and age restrictions are enforced, the report says.

“As someone who interacts with a lot of American politicians, I was astounded about the extent to which they at least seemed to be engaged in a policy sense,” Jain said.

In addition to the dispensary tour, the delegation visited Sacramento and met with Nicole Elliott, California’s top cannabis regulator. They also toured a Lowell Farms cultivation facility and an SC Labs testing laboratory.

The California tours come two months after a historic meeting between officials from Germany, Luxemburg, Malta, and The Netherlands where they discussed how Europe could move forward in legalizing adult-use cannabis.