Cannabis driving incidents rise to nearly 7,000 in Baden-Württemberg after partial legalization, interior ministry says

Rising numbers

Data from Baden-Württemberg's interior ministry shows a sharp increase in cannabis-related driving since partial legalization took effect in April 2024. The number of folgenlose Cannabisfahrten, drives where cannabis was detected but no accident occurred, climbed 11% to nearly 6,900 in the April 2024 to March 2025 period. A further 1.2% rise brought the total close to 7,000 in April 2025 to March 2026, a ministry spokeswoman said.

Traffic accidents under cannabis influence also grew. Between April 2024 and March 2025, 450 such accidents were recorded; a year later the figure stood at 488, an increase of 8.4%. The ministry noted that these accident data have only been collected since the partial legalization.

The interior ministry called the trend a "sprunghafter Anstieg," or a jump, reflecting the impact of the April 2024 reform that legalized possession and cultivation for personal use under certain conditions.

Legal limits and what drivers face

German law sets a THC limit of 3.5 nanograms per millilitre of blood serum for drivers. Anyone exceeding it, confirmed by a blood test, risks fines and driving bans. The ADAC automobile club stressed that the new legal status does not change the rules behind the wheel.

Despite decriminalization and partial legalization, one must not drive under the influence of cannabis.

Broader drug driving picture

The cannabis-specific increase sits within a wider trend. Federal statistics show that drug-related traffic violations excluding alcohol totalled around 48,000 in both 2023 and 2024, then roughly 50,000 in 2025, according to the German Road Safety Council (DVR). In Baden-Württemberg, all road accidents caused under the influence of drugs other than alcohol rose from nearly 9,400 in 2023 to more than 9,500 in 2024 and almost 10,600 last year.

Expert warning on THC metabolism

Forensic medicine specialist Matthias Graw of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München cautioned that THC behaves very differently from alcohol in the body, making it harder for users to gauge impairment.

THC is broken down completely differently than alcohol — and the cannabis user does not know how high the psychoactive ingredient is in the marijuana he has obtained.

Because the potency of illegally or even legally obtained cannabis varies, drivers may unknowingly exceed the 3.5 ng/ml limit hours or even a day after consumption, a risk that the interior ministry's figures suggest is becoming more common on Baden-Württemberg's roads.