Cannabis in Luxembourg: the 2023 law and its limits for people living in France

The law allows up to four cannabis plants to be grown per "domestic community", meaning a household with a shared budget. Plants must be grown from seed by an adult. Growing has been allowed since 21 July 2023 (Luxembourg government, 2023).

The growing site is limited to the home or usual residence of an adult in the household. The plants must not be visible from the public road. Any adult may use and keep at home the cannabis grown this way, but the law creates no way of buying it.

Seeds are no longer narcotics: according to the government health portal, they can therefore be bought in shops or online (Luxembourg Health Portal, page updated on 5 January 2026). Having more than four plants, or growing anywhere other than at home, remains a criminal offence. The penalty ranges from eight days to five years in prison and from 500 to 250,000 euros in fines.

Outside the home, use, possession, transport and purchase remain prohibited. For up to 3 grams for personal use, the offence is punished by a fine of 25 to 500 euros, which the law classes as a police penalty, the lowest tier. Police and customs officers can issue an on-the-spot fine (avertissement taxé) of 145 euros, which ends the proceedings if it is paid within 45 days.

Failing that, the State Prosecutor declares the offender liable for a fixed fine of 300 euros. A warning paid on the spot leads to the product being destroyed. The personal data linked to a settled warning is anonymised within one year.

Above 3 grams, transport, possession or purchase becomes a criminal offence. The penalty ranges from eight days to six months in prison and from 251 to 2,500 euros in fines. The same penalty applies to use in front of a minor, at school or at a workplace. Offering cannabis to a minor carries six months to two years in prison and a fine of 500 to 25,000 euros.

The original project went further. In April 2023, the government of the day presented an experimental scheme meant to let people buy cannabis from state-run points of sale. A bill was to follow (Health Portal, 2023).

The next government made a different choice. Under the 2023-2028 coalition agreement, cultivation for personal use is to be kept as legally framed. The government will observe the position of the three neighbouring countries on legalising cannabis, with no mention of a point of sale (coalition agreement 2023-2028, 2023).

Since then, it has been evaluating. On 17 March 2025, it announced an analysis of how the law has worked, planned for 2026 (Luxembourg government, 2025). On 11 June 2025, Health Minister Martine Deprez told a parliamentary committee that no study yet made it possible to assess the law's impact. She announced an update and a review in 2026 (Chamber of Deputies, 2025).

The three neighbours follow different routes, presented in our articles on CBD in Belgium and on CBD in Germany and France. Further afield, other European states have chosen other models: see our articles on Malta, the Czech Republic and Portugal. As of 6 October 2026, no official source consulted mentions a bill on sales, nor the results of the evaluation. The 2023 framework therefore remains the rule, subject to any later announcement.

Luxembourg's threshold is higher than France's. According to the Grand Ducal Police, only CBD products containing less than 1% THC are permitted (Grand Ducal Police, 2026). This threshold derives from the Grand Ducal regulation of 26 March 1974 on narcotics. A hemp-based smoking product must contain no trace of tobacco, and selling it to people under 18 is prohibited.

These products follow the tobacco regime. Since 19 March 2019, hemp flowers, resins and cigarettes with less than 1% THC have been subject to excise duty and VAT (Customs and Excise Administration, 2026). The rate applied is that of comparable tobacco products.

Anything swallowed counts as an unauthorised novel food. According to ALVA, the Luxembourg food safety authority, any marketing of foodstuffs containing CBD remains strictly prohibited in Luxembourg and in Europe (ALVA, 2026). In France, the Ministry of Agriculture stated on 20 May 2026 that these foods must be withdrawn from the market (Ministry of Agriculture, 2026).

In France, the threshold is 0.30% Δ⁹-THC, for varieties listed in the European or French catalogue (order of 30 December 2021, Légifrance). A flower with, say, 0.8% THC, legal in Luxembourg, is therefore a narcotic in France. Our article on the authorised THC level in France details this threshold. The one on Swiss CBD in France describes the same gap with Switzerland.

The table summarises the texts cited in this guide, as read on 6 October 2026.

Not cannabis. Possessing, transporting or bringing narcotics into France is illegal, the French public service website points out (Service-Public, page checked on 24 November 2025). Article 222-36 of the Criminal Code punishes the illegal importation of narcotics with ten years in prison and a fine of 7,500,000 euros. Legal home growing in Luxembourg changes nothing.

Use is also a criminal offence, punishable by one year in prison and a fine of 3,750 euros. Since 20 August 2026, the fixed fine that ends the prosecution has been 500 euros (article L3421-1 of the Public Health Code, Légifrance). It is reduced to 400 euros if paid early and increased to 1,000 euros if paid late. Our article on police checks with CBD describes what officers check.

The border is still checked. France has notified the European Commission of temporary controls at its internal borders, including the one with Luxembourg, from 1 May to 31 October 2026. A new period runs from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027 (European Commission, consulted on 6 October 2026).

For CBD, the French rule applies to the product held, wherever it was bought. A flower or a resin must contain at most 0.30% Δ⁹-THC, which only an analysis of the batch can confirm. Our guide to flying with CBD covers longer journeys.

Home growing has no equivalent in France. The 2021 order reserves the cultivation of hemp flowers and leaves for "active farmers", using certified seed. Outside that framework, growing cannabis can be prosecuted as the illegal production of narcotics. The Criminal Code punishes it with twenty years of criminal imprisonment (Criminal Code, articles 222-34 and following, Légifrance). Our article on CBD seeds explains why buying them does not allow you to plant them.

In 2024, the Grand Duchy had 489,000 employees, 47% of them cross-border workers, mainly from France: 126,000 people (STATEC, 2025). For them, the practical question is the drive home.

In Luxembourg, driving under the influence of cannabis is prohibited. The Health Portal gives a threshold of 1 ng/ml of THC in the blood, which in practice amounts to zero tolerance. The penalty ranges from eight days to three years in prison and from 500 to 10,000 euros in fines, or one of the two.

In France, the law sets no threshold. Article L235-1 punishes driving as soon as a blood or saliva test shows narcotics use (article L235-1 of the Highway Code, Légifrance). The penalty is three years in prison and a fine of 9,000 euros, or five years and 15,000 euros with alcohol. The licence automatically loses half its points.

Legal use in Luxembourg therefore does not rule out the French offence. Screening looks for THC, including the THC in full-spectrum CBD products, as our guide on saliva tests and CBD explains. The article on CBD and driving details the penalties.

Worked example An employee who lives in Thionville spends the evening at a colleague's home in Esch-sur-Alzette, where the colleague grows his four plants. The law only allows use at one's own home or usual residence: read literally, it does not cover the guest. If he then drives back to France and a test reveals THC, the offence under article L235-1 is made out. Taking part of the harvest home would add an importation of narcotics.