According to a survey from Germany-based medical cannabis company Bloomwell GmBh, 94% of respondents that consumed cannabis did so for at least one medical or health reason. The most common reason cited by respondents for consuming cannabis was for stress relief (about 60%), followed by sleeping disorders (50.4%) and pain relief (35%).
However, just 10% of respondents said they had acquired cannabis exclusively from licensed pharmacies within the past year, while the vast majority – 79.6% – said they have had negative experiences with the unlicensed market.
In a statement, Niklas Kouparanis, Co-Founder and CEO, Bloomwell Group GmbH, the holding company for Bloomwell Gmbh, said the survey response illustrates the “immense potential and room for growth of the country’s rapidly expanding medical cannabis industry following the implementation of the Cannabis Act on April 1, 2024, which rescheduled cannabis as a non-narcotic.” He added that according to the data, “more than 20 million people in Germany could benefit from access to medical cannabis therapy.”
The survey found that 30.9% reported purchasing cannabis that was of poor quality, 29% were afraid that illegally acquired cannabis will have a negative impact on their own health, 39.7 % are afraid of unwanted side effects from illegally acquired cannabis, 14.8% said they had problems dosing correctly, and 26.3% had purchased contaminated cannabis.
The survey also found 91.7% of respondents said they would prefer cannabis treatment via an app complete with delivery of medical cannabis from a German pharmacy at low prices. Kouparanis said that “Patients no longer need to rely on the illicit market and also should not be pushed in that direction.”
Additionally, the survey found that third of the consumers surveyed have already been diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition by a doctor, while 21.2% had already spoken to a doctor about medical cannabis, but the doctor did not prescribe medical cannabis to them as a treatment. More than a quarter (25.2%) said that doctors were unable to help with their health problems, while just 9.2 percent of those surveyed had “no issues” finding a doctor who could competently support them in their therapy with medical cannabis.
Dr. Julian Wichmann, M.D., Co-Founder of Bloomwell Group and CEO of Bloomwell, noted that the “findings underscore the need for medical cannabis to be treated on an equal footing as other modern medical therapies.”
“However, for too many doctors in Germany, medical cannabis is still a taboo subject,” added Wichmann. “Education in cannabis medical treatment is needed, not just for patients, but also for medical professionals in order to normalize use and dispel outdated stigmas.”
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