- Cannabis that is eaten takes effect late and lasts a long time. Anyone who takes more because nothing is happening yet risks an overdose.
- Edibles are especially dangerous for children: they mistake them for sweets, and severe poisoning is possible.
- Cultivation associations may only pass on flowers and hashish in pure form. Edibles remain banned.
- “Legal” gummies from shops are not harmless: CBD is not approved as a food, and HHC is banned.
What are edibles? Meaning of the word
Edibles, literally “things you can eat”, are foods containing THC, such as cakes, biscuits, gummy sweets or tea. The Federal Ministry of Health gives THC gummy bears and biscuits as examples, and the BIÖG speaks of cannabis that is eaten or drunk.
How long do edibles last?
Edibles take effect late and last a long time. According to a review of the pharmacology of cannabis, the effect usually only sets in after half an hour to an hour and a half. It is strongest after two to three hours and, depending on the amount, lasts four to twelve hours. In a controlled study with THC brownies, the effect peaked after one and a half to three hours and lasted six to eight hours. ToxInfo gives these figures too.
The reason is the route through the body. When smoked or vaporised, THC reaches the blood via the lungs within a few minutes. When eaten or drunk, it first has to pass through the stomach and intestines and then through the liver. There, a large part of it is converted before it reaches the blood. One of the substances this produces is 11-hydroxy-THC. Health Canada refers to reports that this substance is as intoxicating as THC or even more so.
When the effect will come and how strong it will be can therefore hardly be predicted. It varies greatly from person to person. The professional societies for traffic psychology and traffic medicine write that no safe time frames can be given for cannabis that has been eaten.
This leads to the most common trap: after an hour nothing can be felt yet, so people take more. Then both portions take effect almost at the same time and for many hours. The BIÖG warns that this can lead to overdoses and considerable side effects because the dose is hard to judge. Typical symptoms are then anxiety and panic, a racing heart and vomiting.
An analysis from Colorado (USA) shows what this means in practice. From 2014 to 2016, edibles accounted for only 0.32 per cent of the THC sold there. Yet at a large university hospital, 10.7 per cent of emergency department visits due to cannabis were caused by edibles. People who came in after edibles more often had acute psychiatric symptoms and cardiovascular problems than those who had smoked.
On top of that, you cannot tell how much active ingredient a product contains by looking at it. For black-market products, the BIÖG says, the active ingredient content and composition are usually unknown. They may also contain synthetic cannabinoids. According to ToxInfo, these cause much more severe and longer-lasting poisoning.
The effect wearing off does not mean you are sober. If you have eaten cannabis, the professional societies advise waiting more than 24 hours before getting behind the wheel. More on this in Road traffic and the law.
What can happen in an overdose and what helps is covered in the module When it gets too much.
Are edibles stronger than a joint?
Not in themselves. When cannabis is eaten, less THC reaches the blood than when it is smoked, because the liver breaks down part of it first. According to drugcom, smoked cannabis usually takes effect more immediately and more intensely.
What makes edibles riskier is the delay. Because the effect sets in late, drugcom says it is easy to end up taking a higher dose than intended. Once eaten, it cannot be taken back, and the effect lasts for many hours.
Danger for children
Edibles look like ordinary sweets. The BIÖG writes that children in particular are at acute risk of poisoning if they eat cannabis flowers or edibles. According to ToxInfo, the effect in children usually sets in within two hours and in children under six often lasts longer than eight hours. Even small amounts can cause moderate or severe poisoning in them; severe cases with coma and breathing problems are possible.
Canada shows what this means. After edibles were legalised there, around nine times as many young children per month were taken to emergency departments in the province of Ontario with cannabis poisoning as before legalisation. 39% of them had to be admitted to hospital. Their average age was three years and nine months.
Edibles therefore need to be locked away, out of children’s reach. How to manage that at home is explained in the article Home and children.
Are edibles legal in Germany?
No. Under the Consumer Cannabis Act (KCanG), nobody may sell, pass on, import or manufacture edibles containing THC. The Federal Ministry of Health sums it up: so-called edibles, such as THC gummy bears and biscuits, remain banned.
Are cultivation associations allowed to pass on edibles?
The KCanG only allows cultivation associations to pass on cannabis in pure form, as marijuana or hashish (§ 19 para. 1 KCanG). They may not pass on cannabis that has been mixed or combined with food (§ 21 para. 1 KCanG).
The explanatory memorandum to the bill names edibles explicitly: they may not be passed on, so that other forms of cannabis do not create an incentive to consume. According to the memorandum, the restricted range is necessary above all to protect the health of children and young people.
Can you buy edibles or bring them back from holiday?
Sale and trade are prohibited (§ 2 para. 1 no. 4 KCanG), as are shipping and delivery (§ 19 para. 4 KCanG). Anyone who brings edibles back from abroad is importing cannabis. This is also prohibited (§ 2 para. 1 no. 5 KCanG), even if they are sold legally in your holiday destination. Trade and import are criminal offences (§ 34 para. 1 nos. 4 and 5 KCanG).
And what about “legal” gummy sweets from online shops?
Online shops sell gummy sweets, biscuits or chocolate as “legal” edibles, for example with CBD or with semi-synthetic cannabinoids that resemble THC. The best-known example is HHC.
CBD is not considered intoxicating. However, it is not approved as a food: the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety currently knows of no case in which CBD in food would be legally marketable, in other words allowed to be sold.
Since 27 June 2024, HHC has been covered by the New Psychoactive Substances Act. Trading in it and producing it for sale are criminal offences, and even buying and possessing it are prohibited (§§ 3 and 4 NpSG). According to the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, psychoactive effects are to be expected at the usual amounts. More on this in What are synthetic cannabinoids and HHC?
So “legal” on the label says nothing about whether a product is permitted or harmless.
Are you allowed to make edibles yourself?
Making them yourself is not allowed either. The law prohibits manufacturing cannabis (§ 2 para. 1 no. 3 KCanG) and extracting cannabinoids from the plant (§ 2 para. 2 KCanG). Both are criminal offences (§ 34 para. 1 nos. 3 and 13 KCanG). For adults, possession, private home growing and cultivation associations are exempt from the ban, as is research with a licence. Manufacturing for your own consumption is not exempt (§ 2 para. 3 KCanG).
The law does not mention cooking and baking explicitly. For the term “manufacturing”, however, the explanatory memorandum refers to the Narcotic Drugs Act (BtMG). There, preparing and processing also count as manufacturing (§ 2 para. 1 no. 4 BtMG). Where the cannabis comes from makes no difference: cannabis you have grown yourself is not exempt either.
Anyone who passes edibles on to others commits a criminal offence (§ 34 para. 1 no. 7 KCanG). This also applies to cannabis from your own home growing or from a cultivation association (§ 9 para. 2 KCanG, § 19 para. 4 KCanG).
We do not give any information on how to make or dose edibles.
In an emergency
If a child has eaten something that might contain cannabis, call the poison control centre for North Rhine-Westphalia on 0228 19240. If the child is unconscious, struggling to breathe or having a seizure, call 112 immediately.
Sources
- BIÖG (2025): information on cannabis, information sheet for members of cultivation associations
- ToxInfo (Björn Steiger Foundation): cannabis, as of 27 August 2026
- Grotenhermen (2003): Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids. Clinical Pharmacokinetics 42(4)
- Vandrey et al. (2017): Pharmacokinetic Profile of Oral Cannabis in Humans. Journal of Analytical Toxicology 41(2)
- Health Canada: For health care professionals: Cannabis and cannabinoids, sections 2.2.1.3 and 2.2.3.2
- Monte et al. (2019): Acute Illness Associated With Cannabis Use, by Route of Exposure. Annals of Internal Medicine 170(8)
- DGVP and DGVM (2024): recommended waiting time after using cannabis before taking part in road traffic
- ICES: Cannabis poisoning in young children increased nine times after legalization (Myran et al., JAMA Network Open 2022)
- Konsumcannabisgesetz (Consumer Cannabis Act, KCanG), §§ 2, 9, 19, 21, 34
- Betäubungsmittelgesetz (Narcotic Drugs Act, BtMG), § 2
- German Bundestag, printed paper 20/8704, draft act on the controlled handling of cannabis, explanatory memorandum on § 2 para. 1 no. 3, § 18 para. 4 and § 21 para. 1, pp. 94, 115 and 117
- Federal Ministry of Health: FAQ on the Cannabis Act
- Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen Bonn (poison control centre for North Rhine-Westphalia)
- drugcom.de (BIÖG): Rauchen oder Essen - Wirkung unterschiedlicher Konsumformen
- BVL (Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety): Sind Nahrungsergänzungsmittel mit Cannabidiol (CBD) verkehrsfähig?
- BfR (2025): statement 019/2025, Psychoaktive Wirkungen durch den Konsum von Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC)-haltigen Erzeugnissen zu erwarten
- Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz (New Psychoactive Substances Act, NpSG), §§ 3 and 4, Annex 1 no. 2.3