Bavaria’s highest regional court set aside the sentences for both possession offences and the overall sentence of a man convicted over hashish and marijuana kept at several homes, and sent the case back to a different criminal panel of the Passau Regional Court.[1] The decision of 1 October 2026 is case no. 206 StRR 264/26.[1] It changed the verdict of the Passau Regional Court of 13 May 2026.[2] Passau District Court convicted the defendant in August 2025 and the Regional Court upheld the conviction on appeal in May 2026, treating the cannabis as a large quantity possession.[1] Hashish and marijuana were found distributed across several homes and his habitual residence, together with methamphetamine and driving without a licence.[1]
Up to 50 grams of cannabis at home is legal.[1] Possession becomes criminal above 60 grams, while 50 to 60 grams carries an administrative fine.[1] A large quantity means 7.5 grams of THC, and the court held that the 60 grams exempt from punishment must be deducted before that threshold is assessed.[1] Where the cannabis differed in strength, the most potent product counted towards the allowance, in this case hashish with 26.4 percent THC.[1] After the deduction the remaining cannabis fell well below 7.5 grams of THC, so the large-quantity element was dropped.[1]
The court ruled that cannabis kept at several homes and a habitual residence at the same time is added together, so the allowance is not granted separately for each address.[1] The verdict now reads possession of more than 60 grams of cannabis, without the addition of large quantity.[1] His conviction for driving without a licence and the six-month individual sentence for it remain.[1] The court also held that weighing methamphetamine as a hard drug as an aggravating factor, without specific justification for the particular substance, was legally defective.[1] The defendant had possessed the methamphetamine only for personal consumption, so the danger of the drug could at most be weighted lightly.[2]
