Is Cannabis / THC legal in Poland?

Also known as: weed, marijuana

Legal status

Controlled. Poland names cannabis material in its own national list in two entries. «KONOPI ZIELE innych niż włókniste» is entry lp. 113 in group I-N of Załącznik nr 2, the narcotic annex, whose entry continues to cover extracts, pharmaceutical tinctures and every other extract of non-fibrous hemp. «ŻYWICA KONOPI» is entry lp. 188 in group I-N of Załącznik nr 2, the narcotic annex. Article 33(1) of the 2005 Act allows group I-N to be used for medical, industrial or research purposes. Article 63 adds a separate cultivation offence for hemp other than fibrous hemp.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Poland has no death penalty, and the heaviest band the 2005 Act reaches for any conduct with this substance is a term of years. Possession is an offence under article 62(1) of the 2005 Act and the band there is up to three years. Where the quantity is considerable, article 62(2) sets a band of one year to ten years. In a case of lesser gravity article 62(3) provides instead for a fine, a restriction of liberty or up to one year. Article 62a lets proceedings be discontinued, even before the decision to open an investigation, where the quantity is insignificant and intended for the holder's own use and a penalty would be inexpedient. That is a power of the prosecutor and not an entitlement of the holder, so it is not decriminalisation. Cultivation is its own offence under article 63(1) and carries up to three years, rising under article 63(3) to six months to eight years where the crop could yield a considerable quantity. Supply offences sit apart from possession. Article 56 punishes putting such a substance on the market with a fine and six months to eight years, and article 56(3) raises that to a fine and two years to twelve years where the quantity is considerable. Article 59(1) punishes supply for gain with one year to ten years. The published Poland entry records that about 24 per cent of possession cases were discontinued under article 62a in 2023, that medical cannabis has been lawful since 1 November 2017 on prescription from pharmacy dispensed imported flower, and that there is no statutory small amount threshold so the courts decide case by case. Those figures are carried forward from the published Poland entry and were not re-derived in this pass. The published entry also warns that a quantity lawful in a neighbouring country, its example being 25 g in Germany, becomes an offence on entry to Poland, and that warning is carried forward on the same terms.

If prescribed or medical

Medical cannabis has been lawful since 1 November 2017 as a pharmacy dispensed raw material on prescription. Recreational possession remains an offence.

Documentation

Carry a prescribed cannabis medicine with its prescription and its original packaging, together with the Schengen article 75 certificate. Schengen removes border controls and does not harmonise national drug law, so a lawful German quantity is not lawful in Poland.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Poland’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.