Is CBD legal in Malta?

Legal status

CBD is dealt with by the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 101, and the way it is dealt with is an exclusion rather than a control. Malta runs two drug ordinances and a cell that answers from one when the substance sits in the other is wrong. Here Chapter 101 answers. Article 2 and Part I of the Fifth Schedule classify CBD as a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid, and the statutory definition of cannabis excludes qualifying products. The text reads "CBD, Cannabidiol"; cannabis excludes products "derived from non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids containing not more than zero point two (0.2) percent of psychoactive cannabinoids". CBD is expressly classified as a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid, but the statutory cannabis exclusion depends on the 0.2 percent psychoactive-cannabinoid ceiling. The exclusion is conditional on that ceiling rather than on the product being sold as CBD, so a product that exceeds it, or that carries a controlled cannabinoid, falls back into the cannabis rules. The power to amend the Fifth Schedule is article 34(3).

Consequences if caught

Capital and life exposure. Malta has no death penalty and no Maltese drug offence can bring one. No drug law penalty and no diversion analysis is triggered while the product meets the quoted classification and stays at or under the 0.2 per cent psychoactive cannabinoid ceiling, so there is no ceiling to state for a compliant product. Above that ceiling, or where a controlled cannabinoid is present, the exclusion falls away and the cannabis rules have to be reassessed, and those carry life under Chapter 101 article 22 for dealing or possession not for the exclusive use of the possessor. The exposure therefore turns on the composition of the specific product rather than on its label, and a traveller cannot verify that ceiling at the border.

If prescribed or medical

No prescription question arises under the two drug ordinances, because a compliant product is excluded from the definition of cannabis rather than controlled within it, so there is nothing for a prescription to authorise. The condition is the 0.2 per cent psychoactive cannabinoid ceiling and the non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid classification, not the product's description. Where a product fails that condition the cannabis position applies instead, and Chapter 537 is a treatment statute rather than a prescribing one. What this source does not establish is the prescribing and dispensing conditions themselves. The dossier read the two controlled drug ordinances and Chapter 537 and says in terms that it ‘did not attempt to decide separate medicines, pharmacy, veterinary, poisons, tobacco, alcohol, food, product-safety, or driving laws’. Treat the prescribing route as unread here rather than as absent. The text that fixes the exclusion is "CBD, Cannabidiol"; cannabis excludes products "derived from non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids containing not more than zero point two (0.2) percent of psychoactive cannabinoids".

Documentation

Carry the product's certificate of analysis and its full ingredient declaration, because the exclusion this substance relies on is conditional on composition and a label does not prove composition. The condition is a psychoactive cannabinoid content at or below 0.2 per cent together with the non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid classification, and a product sold lawfully elsewhere may not meet it. No Maltese import permit or advance declaration route for such a product appears in the texts read for this row, so a Maltese mission is the place to confirm a specific product before you travel. The provenance is the consolidated English text of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 101, and the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance, Chapter 31 on Legislation Malta, read on 18 September 2026 at https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/101/eng and https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/31/eng. The amendment horizon is 18 September 2026, and on that date the consolidated texts stood at Chapter 31 through Legal Notice 46 of 2026, Chapter 101 through Legal Notice 97 of 2025, Chapter 537 through Acts VII and XII of 2025, and Chapter 628 through Act XII of 2025. Legislation Malta prints the footer ‘© Dritt tal-awtur: L-Uffiċċju tal-Avukat tal-Istat’ on each page, no open reuse licence was located, and only the words needed to identify the provision are quoted here.

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