Who Supports — and Who Actually Grows — Cannabis at Home After German Legalization?
Support for legalization is driven by broad societal expectations, while actual home cultivation is driven by personal cannabis experience and individual motivation.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Sociodemographic associations with support and cultivation are largely explained by cannabis experience. Age and consumption were the most consistent correlates. Expectations about legalization consequences strongly predicted support but showed little relation to actual cultivation behavior. The only consistently negative expectation across all groups was that legalization may increase cannabis use in society.
Key Numbers
1,500 respondents in representative panel. People who have cultivated expressed substantially higher support and more favorable expectations. Overall evaluations of legalization tended positive. Only shared negative expectation: legalization may increase societal cannabis use.
How They Did This
Hierarchical regression analyses of representative online panel survey data (n=1,500) examining factors associated with support for legalization and self-reported home cannabis cultivation in post-legalization Germany.
Why This Research Matters
As the largest EU country to legalize home cultivation, Germany's experience will shape cannabis policy across Europe. Understanding the gap between public support (driven by beliefs) and actual behavior (driven by experience) helps predict real-world policy outcomes.
The Bigger Picture
Germany's home cultivation experiment reveals a fundamental insight for cannabis policy: what people believe about legalization and what they actually do are driven by different factors. Supporters aren't necessarily users, and users aren't necessarily supporters.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Cross-sectional survey early after legalization — attitudes and behavior may evolve. Self-reported cultivation may be underreported even after legalization. Online panel may not perfectly represent German population. Social desirability bias possible.
Questions This Raises
- ?Will home cultivation rates increase as post-legalization novelty wears off?
- ?Do cultivation experiences change attitudes?
- ?How will Germany's experience influence other EU countries' cannabis policies?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Evidence Grade:
- Representative national survey with robust statistical analysis, limited by cross-sectional design early in the legalization period.
- Study Age:
- Published 2026, first empirical evidence on German home cultivation after 2024 legalization.
- Original Title:
- Public attitudes and lifetime home cannabis cultivation - a survey after legalization in Germany.
- Published In:
- The International journal on drug policy, 148, 105121 (2026)
- Authors:
- Lehberger, Mira, Kleih, Anne-Katrin, Sparke, Kai
- Database ID:
- RTHC-08420
Evidence Hierarchy
A snapshot of a population at one point in time.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Are many Germans growing cannabis at home since legalization?
Personal cannabis experience is the strongest predictor of actual home cultivation, not general support for legalization. Many supporters don't grow, while those who do grow tend to have prior cannabis experience.
What do Germans think about cannabis legalization?
Overall evaluations tend positive, but nearly all groups — supporters and non-supporters alike — share one concern: that legalization may increase cannabis use in society.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-08420APA
Lehberger, Mira; Kleih, Anne-Katrin; Sparke, Kai. (2026). Public attitudes and lifetime home cannabis cultivation - a survey after legalization in Germany.. The International journal on drug policy, 148, 105121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105121
MLA
Lehberger, Mira, et al. "Public attitudes and lifetime home cannabis cultivation - a survey after legalization in Germany.." The International journal on drug policy, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105121
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Public attitudes and lifetime home cannabis cultivation - a ..." RTHC-08420. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/lehberger-2026-public-attitudes-and-lifetime
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.