Marijuana in Austria: regulations and enforcement practice (FAQ)

Austria is often described as a country with a lenient approach, and this impression has its source, just not where one might expect. Possession is punishable in any amount, and the leniency comes from what happens to the case after it has been initiated.

The second matter concerns Grenzmenge, which is often confused with the threshold of legality. It does not legalize anything; it only differentiates between criminal provisions of varying severity, and it is based on the pure active substance, not the weight of the dried material.

Legal status verified in September 2026 on government websites and in the ministry’s position for parliament. This is a description of regulations, not legal advice.

Is possession of marijuana in Austria punishable?

Possession is punishable in Austria in any amount, and there is no threshold below which it ceases to be a prohibited act. The law prohibits the acquisition, possession, and production of narcotic substances, as well as their transportation and import/export. Hemp is included in the list covered by this prohibition.

There is no mention of use on the list of prohibited acts, and the government portal explains why this does not change anything. One can only use what one possesses, so consumption is indirectly subject to punishment through possession.

What is commonly referred to as the Austrian threshold is something entirely different from the boundary of legality. We describe this construct in the next section, as its name confuses more often than any other term in this set.

The lenient conclusion of the case comes from the mechanism of suspension of prosecution. It operates after the proceedings have been initiated, so it does not change the assessment of the act itself, only its consequences for the individual.

Austria thus falls into the group of countries without decriminalization, despite its lenient practice. How this boundary looks elsewhere is shown by our map of marijuana legality.

How much marijuana is allowed in Austria?

There is no such amount because Austria has not established a threshold below which possession is legal. However, Grenzmenge operates there, which is a completely different legal device. This number does not separate legal from illegal; it only differentiates between criminal provisions of varying severity, and its effect is only visible in the qualification of the act.

Below Grenzmenge, a lighter provision regarding unauthorized handling of narcotic substances applies. Above it, provisions regarding preparation for trade and the trade itself come into play, and exceeding fifteen times this value results in grosse Menge with an even higher threat.

More important than the number itself is what it refers to. Grenzmenge concerns the pure active substance, not the weight of the dried material, so the qualification is determined by the result of laboratory analysis, not the weight of the found bag.

We do not provide the value for THC here and it is worth explaining why. It stands in a separate regulation on threshold values, which could not be read in the official legal information system, and transcribing the number from secondary sources would be guesswork.

The practical conclusion for the reader is twofold. The weight of the material does not itself determine the qualification, and any compilation providing the threshold weight for Austria describes something that does not exist in their law.

What are the consequences of exceeding the threshold in Austria?

One risks imprisonment or a fine, and exceeding Grenzmenge raises the threat. In practice, however, in cases of personal use, there is often no conviction. The case usually ends with a temporary suspension of prosecution by the prosecutor’s office or a temporary dismissal by the court, with a probation period of one to two years.

This lenient procedure has conditions that must occur simultaneously. The amount must not exceed Grenzmenge, and the act must concern only personal use or the use of another person.

Additionally, there is a condition on the part of the individual. They must submit to an examination at a medical facility of the justice system or at a health office, and refusal to appear results in the case being referred to court.

The result of the examination determines the further course. The case can be postponed if the examination sees no need for health measures, or if the individual agrees to undergo such measures.

Separate solutions are provided for addicted individuals. The execution of the penalty can be postponed, and after undergoing health measures, the court converts the unconditional penalty to a conditional one.

Schools and the military have their own crisis procedures. They are conducted without notifying the justice system and without notifying the health office, so the case does not leave the institution.

Does Austria have a medical marijuana program?

There is no program with dried material in Austria, and the ministry states this explicitly: prescribing dried flowers and fruiting bodies of hemp is prohibited. The regulation on narcotic substances prohibits in paragraph 14 the prescription of cannabis preparations, and there are only two exceptions to this prohibition.

The first exception includes preparations from hemp extracts approved as ready-made medicines. The second concerns isolated delta-9-THC extract with a standardized purity above 95 percent, intended for pharmacy compounding.

There are three approved medicines. Sativex in an oral spray is used for spasticity in multiple sclerosis, Canemes with nabilone for nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy in adult cancer patients, and Epidyolex with cannabidiol for childhood epilepsy in Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

Aside from these medicines, dronabinol remains as a pure substance. The pharmacy makes capsules or drops from it, so the compounding route exists, just not through dried material.

The Federal Health Council recognizes three evidence-based areas. These are appetite stimulation and suppression of nausea in severe wasting diseases, increased spasticity, and pain treatment, including neuropathic and in palliative medicine.

For a patient from Poland, the practical conclusion is clear. An Austrian prescription will not cover dried material, so comparing the local program with solutions based on flowers leads to dead ends.

Is it allowed to cultivate hemp for personal use in Austria?

No, because cultivating hemp for the purpose of obtaining a narcotic substance is prohibited and punishable by law. The law treats it the same as the cultivation of medicinal poppy and coca plants, so a home pot does not have any milder category there. The number of plants does not change this assessment.

A milder conclusion of the case is possible under the same conditions as with possession. If the amount does not exceed Grenzmenge, and the cultivation is solely for personal use, the same mechanism of temporary suspension of prosecution applies.

It is worth noting what this construct does not provide. The suspension is temporary and conditioned on examination, so it does not turn cultivation into a permitted act, but merely postpones its criminal consequences.

The difference compared to Malta and Luxembourg is thus fundamental. There, the number of plants sets the boundary of permitted behavior, while in Austria, no number of plants creates such a boundary.

For a reader from Poland, the practical question is rather what can be legally purchased. In our store, we offer hemp oils and other products from industrial hemp, and we describe their Austrian status in the next section.

What is the status of CBD in Austria?

Aside from one medicine, trade is not permissible in Austria, and this results from food regulations, not narcotic ones. Cannabidiol is treated there as a novel food, so introducing products like CBD oil as a dietary supplement is not allowed. The only exception concerns a ready-made medicine.

The reason is the lack of approval under the EU regulation on novel food, namely act 2015/2283. The ministry clarified this interpretation with a circular in 2018 and repeated it in its position for parliament.

The exception remains Epidyolex, which is a medicine, not a supplement. Its status comes from being approved as a medicinal product, so it does not transfer to consumer products with the same substance.

Austria is thus closer to Finland than Ireland, though from a completely different angle. There, the status is determined by drug regulations, while here it is determined by food regulations, yet the outcome for the buyer is similar.

The practical conclusion for travelers is cautious. A product legally purchased in Poland does not become legal in Austrian trade, and these are two separate matters worth considering separately.

How does Switzerland differ from Austria?

By three things at once: quantity threshold, THC threshold, and studies on sales. Switzerland is not part of the European Union, so it conducts its own drug policy and does not have to adhere to the EU value of 0.3%. The result is a system where an adult consumer risks a fine, not criminal proceedings.

Since October 1, 2013, an adult caught consuming marijuana, having no more than ten grams on them, receives a fine of 100 francs instead of criminal proceedings; the basis is articles 19b and 28b of the Swiss narcotic substances law. The mere preparation of a small amount for personal use is not punishable there, and juvenile law still applies to minors. This solution relieves the justice system but does not make marijuana legal, as trade remains a crime.

The threshold for hemp products stands separately. In Switzerland, products with THC content below 1% are not treated as narcotic substances, and this limit has been in place since the amendment of 2011, not from 2022, as is sometimes stated. Since 2023, studies on regulated recreational sales under the supervision of the federal health office have also started: the Weed Care project in Basel launched in January 2023, and sales in pharmacies for the SCRIPT study in Bern and Biel in the fall of the same year (Bundesamt für Gesundheit).

What is the law in Liechtenstein and Slovenia?

Both countries are often added to the alpine map briefly and are described least accurately. Liechtenstein is modeled on Swiss solutions but has not adopted the Swiss threshold of ten grams. Possession and cultivation remain punishable regardless of the amount, trade is also punishable, and products with THC content above 1% are prohibited.

Slovenia is an EU country and maintains a ban on recreational marijuana. Minor possession for personal use has been handled there for years in an administrative rather than criminal manner, which is often confused with formal decriminalization. Cannabidiol itself does not appear in the Slovenian list of narcotic substances, while hemp herb along with its extracts remains prohibited, so the status of a single product depends on its form, not just the name of the ingredient.

The regulations of these two countries change less frequently than the information about them on the internet, but they also less frequently make it into comparative publications. Before traveling, it is safer to check the status with the local authority than to rely on a compilation with an unknown date of creation.

What THC threshold applies when returning to Poland?

In Poland, the threshold for industrial hemp is 0.3%, but it is calculated differently than most travelers assume. It is the sum of delta-9-THC and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), rounded to one decimal place, not just delta-9-THC. This difference changes the result of laboratory testing.

The basis is article 4 point 5 of the act of July 29, 2005 on counteracting drug addiction (consolidated text Journal of Laws 2023 item 1939), as amended by the act of March 24, 2022 (Journal of Laws 2022 item 763), effective from May 7, 2022. Until May 6, 2022, the national threshold was 0.20%.

It is worth separating two regulations with the same numerical value today. The Polish threshold arises from the act on counteracting drug addiction, while the EU one comes from agricultural regulation 2021/2115. The national threshold corresponds to the EU one, but does not derive from it. The practical conclusion for someone returning from the Alps: you can legally buy in Poland hemp flower that fits within the Polish threshold, while the Swiss product with a potency of up to 1% THC does not meet that threshold. More in posts about cannabis regulations in Switzerland and about cannabis law in France.

Frequently asked questions

Is marijuana legal in Austria?

No. Possession is punishable in any amount because the law does not recognize a threshold below which it ceases to be a prohibited act. The act of using is not mentioned, but it is indirectly subject to punishment through possession.

What is the Austrian Grenzmenge?

It is a value that differentiates criminal provisions of varying severity, not a threshold of legality. It refers to the pure active substance, not the weight of the dried material, and its fifteenfold value gives grosse Menge with a higher threat.

What are the consequences in Austria for possession for personal use?

Imprisonment or a fine, but in practice, the case most often ends with a temporary suspension of prosecution or a temporary dismissal, with a probation period of one to two years.

What conditions must be met for the case to be postponed?

The amount must not exceed Grenzmenge, the act must concern personal use or the use of another person, and the individual must submit to an examination at a medical facility of the justice system or at a health office.

Will an Austrian doctor prescribe hemp flower?

No. Prescribing dried flowers and fruiting bodies of hemp is prohibited. Three ready-made medicines and dronabinol as a pure substance for pharmacy compounding are allowed.

Is it allowed to sell CBD oil in Austria?

No, as a dietary supplement. Cannabidiol is treated there as a novel food without the required approval, and the exception remains Epidyolex, which is a medicine.

Sources

This article is for informational and educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The legal status described in the article is valid as of the date of publication: regulations regarding cannabis may change. Before making decisions, consult a lawyer or current legal acts.

Author: Michał Waluk