Is CBD legal in Cuba?

Legal status

Prohibited in Cuba when it is cannabis plant material, and [Likely] prohibited at the border and in the post when it is an extract. Resolución 23/2020 of the Ministerio de Salud Pública, resuelvo primero, declares «para los viajeros, la paquetería y el tránsito de mercancías nacionales e internacionales, la prohibición de importar, tener, transportar y exportar con fines terapéuticos o recreativos la planta Cannabis (marihuana)», and the plant itself carries no qualifier, «aun cuando se porten certificados médicos que justifiquen su consumo». The same resuelvo reaches «flores, semillas, productos o sustancias, componentes derivados de estos que produzcan efectos similares a las drogas», and whether a non intoxicating cannabidiol extract is a derivative «que produzcan efectos similares a las drogas» the text does not say. Two further routes make the extract [Likely] inadmissible. First, the INCB Lista Amarilla, 64th edition, July 2025, places «RESINA DE CANNABIS y EXTRACTOS y TINTURAS DE CANNABIS» in Lista I of the 1961 Convention; a whole plant or full spectrum cannabidiol oil extracted from the plant is such an extract on its face, while an isolate or a synthetic cannabidiol is named nowhere in the List and whether it counts as an extract is not established. Resolución 104/2022 resuelvo decimoquinto prohibits «la modalidad de envíos para los estupefacientes de la Lista I», and no cannabis product is among the 1961 Lista I products its Anexo I lets a traveller bring. Second, the same resolution's recital describes the 2020 measure as «la prohibición de entrada al territorio nacional de los preparados farmacéuticos que contienen marihuana o sus derivados», which reaches a cannabidiol medicine entering Cuba; that is a recital, and it does not repeal Resolución 23/2020. Resuelvo segundo of Resolución 23/2020 separately bars goods «que incite, estimule o propague el uso de la planta Cannabis (marihuana)», «aunque estos no contengan en sí los principios activos de la droga o sustancia que represente o haga alusión, pero que la incitación, el estímulo o la propaganda en su conjunto se consideren nocivos para la salud humana». Inside Cuba, article 235.1(d) of the Código Penal punishes whoever, «sin estar autorizado», «a sabiendas, posea semillas o partes de dichas plantas», with no test of effect, so hemp flower sold for its cannabidiol is caught whatever its THC content. For an extract, the live Cuba rows for cannabinol, delta 8 THC, HHC and THC P read «o sus derivados» in article 236(b) as reaching any cannabis constituent, and on that reading cannabidiol is caught too; but article 236 opens «La simple tenencia de drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares», and whether a non intoxicating constituent is one no text read settles. The Code sets no THC threshold and distinguishes no cannabinoid from another, and cannabidiol is not one of the 26 entries of Resolución 25/2022. The Código Penal names only two drugs: across all 470,392 characters of the gazette text (pdftotext layout extraction, measured on 3 October 2026) cocaína appears once, at article 236(a), and Cannabis twice, at articles 235.1(d) and 236(b), and the words estupefaciente and psicotrópico appear zero times. The lists sit with the Ministerio de Salud Pública: Resolución 25/2022 resuelvo segundo approves a «LISTA DE SUSTANCIAS CONSIDERADAS DE EFECTO SIMILAR A LAS DROGAS, ESTUPEFACIENTES Y PSICOTRÓPICAS SOMETIDAS A CONTROL NACIONAL» of 26 entries, and Resolución 104/2022 governs the medicines of the 1961 and 1971 Convention Lists a traveller may bring, List by List.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: Ley 151/2022 article 235.2, «privación de libertad de diez a treinta años, privación perpetua de libertad o muerte», reaches this row. It reaches it through cannabis plant material: article 235.1(d) punishes whoever «cultive la planta Cannabis, conocida por marihuana, u otras de propiedades similares o, a sabiendas, posea semillas o partes de dichas plantas», at four to ten years and with no test of effect. Five limbs of article 235.2 reach such a case without asking whether the thing held is a drug: limb (a) where «los hechos a los que se refieren los apartados anteriores» are committed by a public official, limb (d) where «en la comisión de los hechos previstos en el apartado anterior» a person under eighteen is used, limb (e) where «los hechos descriptos en el apartado 1» take place near a school, limb (f) a link to organised crime, and limb (h) a prior record for a similar offence. For a cannabidiol extract the exposure is not established: the 1961 Lista I placement of cannabis extracts points toward an extract being one of the «drogas ilícitas», but the Code never cross refers to the Conventions, so whether article 235.1(a) on introducing a drug into the national territory or article 236(b) on possession reaches it no text read settles. Resolución 23/2020 sets no penalty of its own: resuelvo tercero provides that on detection the competent authorities «actúan según sus facultades y en cumplimiento de la legislación vigente». Trafficking, production, transport, introducing into or taking out of the national territory, possession with intent to traffic, cultivation of cannabis, and knowingly possessing its seeds or parts are article 235.1, punished by four to ten years. Simple possession «sin la debida autorización o prescripción facultativa» is article 236, which sets three tiers, each a prison term or a fine «o ambas»: article 236(a) one to three years «cuando se trate de cocaína o de otras sustancias de efectos similares o superiores», article 236(b) six months to two years «cuando se trate de Cannabis, conocida por marihuana, o sus derivados», and the residual limb article 236(c) six months to one year «cuando se trate de drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares no comprendidas en los apartados anteriores». Article 237.1 covers a professional prescribing outside therapeutic purposes and an official who permits a drug's introduction into or extraction from the country, and article 238 covers breach of the control measures. Article 235.5 adds confiscation of assets «si procede». Article 235.2 provides: «La sanción es de privación de libertad de diez a treinta años, privación perpetua de libertad o muerte» where any of eight aggravating circumstances applies, among them «si los hechos se realizan con cantidades relativamente grandes de drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares», international trafficking, commission by a public official, use of a person under eighteen, commission near a school, a link to organised crime, and a prior record for a similar offence. The quantity that triggers the large quantities limb is not stated as a number anywhere in the Code: the phrase is «cantidades relativamente grandes» and no gramme figure appears in the Code. Death is not mandatory: article 33.1 provides that «La sanción de muerte se ejecuta por fusilamiento y solo se aplica, excepcionalmente por el tribunal, en las formas más graves de consumación de los delitos para los que está establecida», and article 33.2 excludes persons under twenty and women who were pregnant at the time of the act or at sentencing.

If prescribed or medical

A prescription does not open the border for cannabis plant material. Resolución 23/2020 resuelvo primero applies «aun cuando se porten certificados médicos que justifiquen su consumo», and it bars import, possession, transport and export «con fines terapéuticos o recreativos». A cannabidiol medicine falls under the recital in Resolución 104/2022 on «los preparados farmacéuticos que contienen marihuana o sus derivados» [Likely], and no cannabis preparation is among the products its annexes admit. Inside Cuba, article 236 begins «La simple tenencia de drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares sin la debida autorización o prescripción facultativa», and article 237.1(a) punishes the authorised professional who prescribes or administers for purposes other than strictly therapeutic ones.

Documentation

No document read makes a cannabis or cannabidiol product admissible. Resolución 23/2020 covers travellers, parcels and goods in transit alike and applies to the plant «aun cuando se porten certificados médicos», and Resolución 104/2022 authorises travellers to bring only the controlled preparations its annexes and resuelvos name, none of which is a cannabis product. Advice, not a rule: leave cannabidiol products, and cannabis branded goods, out of luggage and parcels to Cuba.

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