Cannabis and CBD worldwide: 4 legal models compared

Each national framework is defined in relation to two treaties: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. EU law relies on them to define a narcotic, as the Court of Justice recalls in its press release on case C-663/18.

The treaties have shifted only once, and at the margin. On 2 December 2020, by 27 votes to 25 with one abstention, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Convention. That schedule lists the substances judged most dangerous. Cannabis stays in Schedule I and so remains a narcotic under international control.

Most countries apply the conventions directly and ban the production, sale and use of cannabis. Enforcement varies a great deal. Some countries in Asia and the Middle East punish trafficking very heavily, while others apply the ban more loosely.

For cannabis, France follows this model. Possession and use are criminal offences, even for a product bought abroad. The ban spares only hemp below the THC threshold, described further down.

Many countries, several EU member states among them, allow cannabis-based medicines on prescription for specific indications. Non-medical use keeps its status under this model.

France began a medical cannabis trial in 2021 and has enrolled no new patients since 27 March 2024. The ANSM, the French medicines agency, says that patients already included are in a transition phase. It will end three months after the French health authority (HAS) publishes its opinion. Shop CBD is not a medicine and is untouched by any of this. Epidyolex, on prescription, is the only authorised CBD medicine.

Some countries sit between prohibition and legalisation: they authorise nothing and choose not to prosecute. The Netherlands is the best-known case. The Dutch government states that selling small quantities in coffee shops is a criminal offence. The prosecution service leaves it alone when the shop follows rules, including a cap of 5 grams per transaction and sales only to people over 18.

Luxembourg took another route on 21 July 2023. An adult may grow up to four plants per household, from seed, for consumption at home. In public, possessing up to 3 grams remains an offence, punished by a fine rather than a prison sentence. There is no legal sale. Our article on cannabis in Luxembourg details this framework and what it means for cross-border workers.

Portugal decriminalised drug use in 2001, and Thailand decriminalised the plant in 2022 before allowing its sale only on prescription in 2025. Our articles on Portugal and Thailand describe these two routes.

A handful of countries have legalised adult use nationally, each within its own limits.

Uruguay led the way with Law 19.172, which gives the state control over production and distribution. In Canada, Health Canada regulates licensed production, and each province organises retail sale. Malta was the first EU state to legalise personal use, through the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis Act. Our article on Malta's law describes its limits and its associations. Germany followed with the CanG law, which allows personal and collective growing without opening commercial sale; our Germany and France comparison details its effects on the CBD market.

In the United States, cannabis remains illegal at federal level, while many states have legalised it for medical use, adult use or both. Elsewhere, recent reforms are often partial: our overview of the Caribbean and our article on Morocco's legal cannabis sector describe two of them. Since 2026, the Czech Republic has allowed people over 21 to keep 3 plants and 100 g at home, without opening any sales: our article on the Czech Republic details its limits.

None of the four models covers CBD. It comes from hemp, cannabis varieties bred for a very low THC content, which is grown legally even where cannabis is prohibited.

In case C-663/18, decided on 19 November 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU held that CBD extracted from the whole plant is not a narcotic within the meaning of the 1961 Convention. As a result, a member state cannot ban CBD lawfully produced in another member state without a proportionate public health justification. In France, the order of 30 December 2021 caps the Δ⁹-THC content of hemp, its extracts and the products containing them at 0.30%. The same order banned the sale of raw flowers and leaves until the Conseil d'État struck down that ban on 29 December 2022. Our article on the 0.3% threshold explains the calculation.

A buyer should remember that thresholds differ between countries. Switzerland treats cannabis containing 1% THC or more as a narcotic, so a flower sold legally in Geneva can be over the French threshold. The 2018 Farm Bill in the United States defined hemp as cannabis with no more than 0.3% Δ⁹-THC on a dry weight basis. Our article on Switzerland and France compares the two frameworks.

For anything brought into the country, they change nothing. French law applies at the border, whatever status the product had where it was bought. Cannabis bought legally in Montreal or Berlin remains a narcotic in France. A product sold abroad as "CBD" is accepted only if it meets the 0.30% Δ⁹-THC threshold and the other French rules, in particular those on products meant to be swallowed. Our update on CBD regulation in 2026 covers them.

Two cases come up often. If you order a parcel from outside France, our guide to customs and CBD parcels explains what gets checked. If you travel, our article on flying with CBD goes through the rules in France, in Europe and beyond the EU.