--- title: "Germany’s biggest cannabis club still has… | Cannabivo" description: "Germany’s biggest cannabis club has 18,000 members, 180 branches and only one licence, leaving many members waiting after a year." canonical: https://cannabivo.com/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet language: en robots: index, follow og_type: article type: research-article language_alternates: en: https://cannabivo.com/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet.md cs: https://cannabivo.com/cs/novinky/politika/nejvetsi-nemecky-konopny-klub-ma-stale-18000-clenu-a-zatim-zadne-konopi.md de: https://cannabivo.com/de/news/politik/deutschlands-groesster-cannabis-club-hat-noch-immer-18000-mitglieder-und-noch-kein-cannabis.md es: https://cannabivo.com/es/noticias/politica/el-club-de-cannabis-mas-grande-de-alemania-sigue-teniendo-18000-miembros-y-todavia-no-reparte-cannabis.md fr: https://cannabivo.com/fr/actualites/politique/le-plus-grand-club-de-cannabis-dallemagne-compte-toujours-18000-membres-et-pas-encore-de-cannabis.md hu: https://cannabivo.com/hu/hirek/szabalyozas/nemetorszag-legnagyobb-kannabiszklubjanak-meg-mindig-18000-tagja-van-es-meg-nem-osztottak-ki-kannabiszt.md it: https://cannabivo.com/it/notizie/politica/il-piu-grande-club-di-cannabis-della-germania-ha-ancora-18000-membri-e-ancora-nessuna-cannabis.md nl: https://cannabivo.com/nl/nieuws/beleid/de-grootste-cannabisclub-van-duitsland-heeft-nog-steeds-18000-leden-en-nog-geen-cannabis.md pl: https://cannabivo.com/pl/aktualnosci/polityka/najwiekszy-klub-cannabis-w-niemczech-wciaz-ma-18000-czlonkow-a-cannabis-nadal-nie-ma.md pt: https://cannabivo.com/pt/noticias/politica/o-maior-clube-de-cannabis-da-alemanha-ainda-tem-18000-membros-e-continua-sem-cannabis.md ru: https://cannabivo.com/ru/novosti/politika/krupneyshiy-kannabis-klub-germanii-vse-eshche-naschityvaet-18000-chlenov-i-kannabisa-po-prezhnemu-net.md tr: https://cannabivo.com/tr/haberler/politika/almanyanin-en-buyuk-cannabis-kulubunde-hala-18000-uye-var-ve-henuz-cannabis-yok.md zh: https://cannabivo.com/zh/news/zhengce/deguo-zuida-de-dama-julebu-reng-you-18000-ming-chengyuan-que-zhijin-wei-fafang-dama.md ja: https://cannabivo.com/ja/news/seisaku/doitsu-saidai-no-kannabisu-kurabu-wa-ima-mo-kaiin-18000-nin-kannabisu-wa-mada-kubarareteinai.md ar: https://cannabivo.com/ar/akhbar/siyasat/akbar-nadi-lilqanb-fi-almanya-la-yazal-yadumm-18000-udw-wala-qanb-hatta-alan.md ko: https://cannabivo.com/ko/news/jeongchaek/dogil-choedae-kanabiseu-keulleob-hoewon-18000myeong-inedo-ajik-kanabiseuneun-eobsda.md pt-br: https://cannabivo.com/pt-br/noticias/politica/o-maior-clube-de-cannabis-da-alemanha-ainda-tem-18000-membros-e-continua-sem-cannabis.md hi: https://cannabivo.com/hi/samachar/niti/jarmani-ka-sabase-bada-kainabis-klab-abhi-bhi-18000-sadasya-rakhata-hai-aur-abhi-tak-kainabis-nahin.md generated: 2026-07-29 --- > **Machine-readable Markdown rendering.** This is a Markdown representation of a web page, > served for AI agents and crawlers as a token-efficient alternative to the full HTML. > Full interactive HTML version: https://cannabivo.com/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet > Canonical URL: https://cannabivo.com/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet > Available languages: en, cs, de, es, fr, hu, it, nl, pl, pt, ru, tr, zh, ja, ar, ko, pt-br, hi [![Mariana Cannabis headquarters in Göttingen with membership folders and licence paperwork on a desk](/images/uploads/270c4e67-971c-418a-8f82-19d202247699/news-hero-germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet-1920x1080.jpg)](/images/uploads/270c4e67-971c-418a-8f82-19d202247699/news-hero-germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet-1920x1080.avif "View image full size") [Policy](/news/policy "Policy") 4 min read # Germany’s biggest cannabis club still has 18,000 members — and no cannabis yet ![Portrait of Rob Harley, Cannabivo news desk](/images/uploads/5f094d99-3443-4907-8555-2910851fd38a/rob-harley-1920x1920.jpg)By [Rob Harley](/user-profile?u=a65dddce-73db-40b5-8660-fe93612a7384 "View the author's member profile")Published June 29, 2026in [Policy](/news/policy "Policy") Germany’s biggest cannabis club has 18,000 members, 180 branches and only one licence, leaving many members waiting after a year. ![Portrait of Rob Harley, Cannabivo news desk](/images/uploads/5f094d99-3443-4907-8555-2910851fd38a/rob-harley-1920x1920.jpg)By [Rob Harley](/user-profile?u=a65dddce-73db-40b5-8660-fe93612a7384 "View the author's member profile") Rob Harley has reported on cannabis law and the non-profit association movement across Europe for the past decade. He focuses on how regulation actually reaches the members who use cannabis social clubs — the paperwork, the limits, and the slow build of public trust. His work for Cannabivo aims to be accurate, sourced, and free of hype. [More articles by this author](/news/author/rob-harley "See all articles by this author")Published June 29, 2026in [Policy](/news/policy "Policy") In this article1. [Germany’s biggest club grew faster than its licence](/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet#germany-s-biggest-club-grew-faster-than-its-licence "Germany’s biggest club grew faster than its licence") 2. [A year of payments, postponements and waiting](/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet#a-year-of-payments-postponements-and-waiting "A year of payments, postponements and waiting") 3. [Mariana’s explanation and the wider rollout](/news/policy/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet#mariana-s-explanation-and-the-wider-rollout "Mariana’s explanation and the wider rollout") In [Germany](/germany "711 Cannabis Social Clubs in Germany (2026)"), the country’s largest cannabis social-club network is facing member anger a year after clubs were first allowed to start operating under the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG). A [WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis](https://www1.wdr.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/cannabis-club-mariana-mitglieder-kritik-100.html "WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis") says the association has collected contributions since spring 2024, but cannabis still has not been handed out. ## Germany’s biggest club grew faster than its licence Mariana Cannabis Social Clubs Deutschland e.V. is a federation of **180 branch clubs**, most of them in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), and it says it has nearly **18,000 members**. The main office is in Göttingen, but the membership base is spread across Germany, which is why the group describes itself as the largest cannabis club in the country. The gap between that scale and the legal model looks like this: Mariana Cannabis versus Germany’s club model | Aspect | Mariana Cannabis | Germany’s KCanG club model | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Scale | Nearly 18,000 members | Maximum 500 members per club | [WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis](https://www1.wdr.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/cannabis-club-mariana-mitglieder-kritik-100.html "WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis") | | Structure | 180 branch clubs, most in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) | Non-profit cannabis social clubs | [WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis](https://www1.wdr.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/cannabis-club-mariana-mitglieder-kritik-100.html "WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis") | | Licensing | One Göttingen branch licensed; 16 more applications pending | A written cultivation authorisation is required before growing can begin | [WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis](https://www1.wdr.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/cannabis-club-mariana-mitglieder-kritik-100.html "WDR investigation into Mariana Cannabis") | The numbers that matter most are straightforward: Mariana by the numbers 18,000members 180branch clubs 1licensed branch so far 16licence applications pending ## A year of payments, postponements and waiting The frustration comes from the club’s own promises. Members were told in spring 2024 that cultivation should begin in July 2024, then saw the target move to November and then to early 2025. Petra, a former member who found Mariana online while looking for a local club in Stralsund, said she liked the idea of helping to build something new. The sequence of announcements reads like this: Mariana’s shifting deadlines 1. April 2024Contributions begin Mariana starts taking member contributions after the rollout opens. 2. 1 July 2024Club rollout begins Cannabis social clubs are first allowed to start operating in Germany. 3. November 2024First supply target slips Mariana moves its planned first distribution date to November. 4. Early 2025Target slips again The club later says it expects first distribution at the beginning of 2025. 5. End of March 2025Website still shows early 2025 Mariana’s website still lists early 2025 as the expected first distribution window. 6. Mid-June 2025One licence arrives A Mariana branch in Göttingen receives a cultivation licence. 7. 1 July 2025Members still waiting A year after rollout began, members are still paying without receiving cannabis. On the ground, the bottleneck is mostly paperwork at the Göttingen headquarters: [![Membership folders and cultivation licence papers on a desk at Mariana Cannabis headquarters in Göttingen.](/images/uploads/3ba6155e-b865-4e8e-bd66-d4e6e42d0477/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet-mariana-canna-1920x1080.jpg)](/images/uploads/3ba6155e-b865-4e8e-bd66-d4e6e42d0477/germany-s-biggest-cannabis-club-still-has-18-000-members-and-no-cannabis-yet-mariana-canna-1920x1080.avif "View image full size") Paperwork at Mariana Cannabis headquarters in Göttingen, where only one branch has been licensed. ## Mariana’s explanation and the wider rollout Mariana told the WDR that the delay stems from long processing times and that it had planned around the three-month period written into Germany’s cannabis law. The association also says some authorities are treating the reform politically, but that explanation sits uneasily beside the fact that many smaller clubs have already reached distribution under the same rules. More than **200** clubs nationwide have already received cultivation licences. We covered the wider transparency debate around Germany’s club rollout in [our earlier report on CSC lists in four states](/news/policy/germany-four-states-publish-cannabis-social-club-lists-as-csc-rollout-turns-to-transparency "our earlier report on CSC lists in four states"). Mariana says it was working to the following framework: - clubs must be non-profit associations; - each club may have no more than 500 members; - authorities have three months to process cultivation applications. For members, the legal framework has become a test of patience rather than a source of supply. What the Mariana case shows - Mariana has scaled up to \*\*18,000 members\*\* and \*\*180 branch clubs\*\* before most of its network was licensed. - Only one branch had a cultivation licence by mid-June 2025, while 16 more applications were still pending. - Members began paying from April 2024, but promised distribution dates kept sliding from July 2024 to early 2025. - Mariana blames long processing times, yet many smaller clubs and more than 200 licensed associations have moved ahead. For Mariana Cannabis, the central problem is now straightforward: the association has built a huge member base, but supply still lags far behind the promises made when Germany’s club rollout began. ## Sources 1. [Mitglieder sauer: Noch kein Gras in Deutschlands größten Cannabis-Club (www1.wdr.de)](https://www1.wdr.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/cannabis-club-mariana-mitglieder-kritik-100.html "Open source in a new tab: https://www1.wdr.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/cannabis-club-mariana-mitglieder-kritik-100.html") 2. [Mitglieder sauer: Noch kein Gras in Deutschlands größten Cannabis-Club (facebook.com)](https://www.facebook.com/Highperformer420/posts/-18000-mitglieder-aber-noch-kein-gramm-gras-gestern-j%C3%A4hrte-sich-die-er%C3%B6ffnungsm%C3%B6/1411964453625073/ "Open source in a new tab: https://www.facebook.com/Highperformer420/posts/-18000-mitglieder-aber-noch-kein-gramm-gras-gestern-j%C3%A4hrte-sich-die-er%C3%B6ffnungsm%C3%B6/1411964453625073/") 3. [Mitglieder sauer: Noch kein Gras in Deutschlands größten Cannabis-Club (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/weedmob/comments/1lotxyi/mitglieder_w%C3%BCtend_warum_es_im_gr%C3%B6%C3%9Ften/ "Open source in a new tab: https://www.reddit.com/r/weedmob/comments/1lotxyi/mitglieder_w%C3%BCtend_warum_es_im_gr%C3%B6%C3%9Ften/")