Germany has recorded a sharp rise in cannabis-related psychiatric cases in the year since Olaf Scholz’s government legalised the drug, according to new medical data that challenges the coalition’s promise of “harm reduction.” A study by the Psychiatric Clinics of Swabia shows a 40% increase in disorders linked to cannabis use since the law came into force on April 1, 2024, along with a near-doubling of cannabis-induced psychoses.
The study, by the Psychiatric Clinics of Swabia (Bavaria), published in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, analyzed adult hospital admissions between April 2022 and April 2025. The research, covering six hospitals responsible for psychiatric care in a region of 1.9 million inhabitants, found a 40% increase in disorders related to cannabis consumption after legalization. Even more alarming, psychoses induced by the drug almost doubled, rising from 17 to 30 cases per million inhabitants per quarter.
“The increase is evident and forces us to observe the trend with the utmost attention,” explained Professor Alkomiet Hasan, director of the study and Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Augsburg. Although he does not claim a definitive causal relationship between the law and the rise in illnesses, Hasan warns that these data should serve as an “early warning.”
The phenomenon is not exclusive to Germany. In Canada, which legalized cannabis in 2018, hospital admissions for psychosis related to the drug nearly tripled in a few years. A Danish study reached an equally concerning conclusion: almost one in two cannabis-induced psychoses turns into a permanent mental disorder.
Psychiatrist Oliver Pogarell, deputy director of the Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Munich, points out that the risk of suffering a psychosis “doubles with habitual consumption” and may “triple among young people under 25.” He also notes that the risk of addiction is around 10%, but rises to 17% if use begins during adolescence.
The government at the time claimed that legalization would make it possible to control sales and reduce the black market. However, the first data show that consumption has neither decreased nor stabilized but remains at high and socially normalized levels, especially among young adults. According to the Epidemiologischer Suchtsurvey by the Institute for Therapeutic Research in Munich, 9.8% of respondents reported using cannabis in 2024, compared with 8.8% in 2021. Although the increase is not statistically significant, it confirms a steady upward trend.
Experts say that easier access and the belief that cannabis is harmless have made more people try it—including those most at risk. Dr. Hasan insists that “those with a family history of psychotic disorders or who already show mild symptoms should avoid cannabis consumption entirely.”
For now, the most serious effects are concentrated among adults, although psychiatrists fear that in the coming years they will also affect adolescents. “Psychoses are less frequent in minors, but international experience shows that the risk grows with time and exposure,” warns Dr. Katharina Bühren, medical director of the Heckscher Clinic in Munich.
German data confirm the fears of the medical community: the legalization of cannabis does not reduce public health problems—it aggravates them. The rise in psychiatric admissions and psychoses shows that the German experiment, driven by the progressive agenda, is creating a new health and social challenge. Germany has become the first major test case for cannabis legalization in Europe—and doctors say its early results should be a warning to other countries.
