Marijuana in Luxembourg: what is allowed and what has changed (FAQ)
Luxembourg has allowed use at home, but only from personal cultivation and without a legal source of purchase. We check the text of the law and the amounts of fines.
Luxembourg has allowed the use of cannabis at home, but it has done so with two conditions that work exclusively together. It must be a private home and it must be a personal cultivation, as the law has not created any legal source of purchase.
This leads to an asymmetry that is easy to overlook: the plant can be grown and consumed at home, but it cannot be legally taken outside the threshold of what has grown from it.
| Use in one’s own home | legal, but only from personal cultivation |
|---|---|
| Legal source of purchase | does not exist, acquisition remains punishable |
| Outside the home up to 3 grams | offense, fine from 25 to 500 euros |
| Fine | 145 euros, only with the consent of the punished |
| Above 3 grams | from eight days to six months |
| Cultivation | 4 plants per household, from seeds |
| Medical program | open, but after doctor training |
Legal status checked in September 2026 in the text of the Luxembourg law. This is a description of the regulations, not legal advice.
Is possession of marijuana in Luxembourg punishable?
It is legal, but only in one’s own home and only from personal cultivation, and these two conditions work exclusively together. The regulation allows an adult to use and possess cannabis in their home or usual place of residence, but only those grown in accordance with the regulation of four plants.
The law has not created any legal source of purchase. Acquisition, whether paid or unpaid, remains punishable, as does transportation, so the only permissible way to obtain cannabis is through personal cultivation.
This leads to an asymmetry that is easy to overlook when reading headlines. The plant can be grown and consumed at home, but it cannot be legally taken outside the threshold of what has grown from it.
Outside the home, possession of up to 3 grams is an offense, not a permitted act. This distinction is lost in discussions describing Luxembourg as a country with legalization, as legalization there only covers private space.
Thus, Luxembourg falls into a narrow group along with Malta, but under different conditions. How this boundary looks in other countries is shown by our map of marijuana legality.
How much marijuana is allowed in Luxembourg?
There are two numbers, namely three grams outside the home and four plants at home, with neither indicating legality. Both set boundaries of responsibility, not boundaries of permitted behavior, and that is why they are often misread. Both are in the same law and must be read together.
An amount of up to 3 grams inclusive, transported, possessed, or acquired for personal use, is subject to a police fine. Above 3 grams, however, the regulation provides for a prison sentence.
Four plants count per household, which the law defines as people living in a common household and having a common budget. The number does not increase with the number of residents, similar to Malta.
Cultivation must start from seeds, not from seedlings, and this is a condition often overlooked. The seeds must have a label containing at least the producer’s or breeder’s data, the number of seeds, and a health warning.
The practical conclusion is that the legal path in Luxembourg starts with the purchase of seeds, not with the purchase of dried cannabis. The latter remains punishable regardless of the amount.
What are the consequences of exceeding the threshold in Luxembourg?
For use in a place other than one’s own home or for transporting, possessing, or acquiring an amount of up to 3 grams inclusive, a fine from 25 to 500 euros is imposed, which is of a police nature. This is the lowest level of responsibility in the entire law. The police nature distinguishes it from a judicial fine.
The police and customs administration can instead issue a fine of 145 euros. However, the condition is the consent of the punished to pay, so the fine is not imposed unilaterally.
Above 3 grams for personal use, the penalties change in nature. It then threatens from eight days to six months of imprisonment and a fine from 251 to 2500 euros, or one of these penalties.
The most severely punished in this group is the violation of cultivation rules or possession of more than four plants per household. This carries a penalty of eight days to five years of imprisonment and a fine from 500 to 250,000 euros.
Three further acts are listed separately. Use in the presence of minors, at school, or in the workplace carries a penalty of eight days to six months and from 251 to 2500 euros; selling or offering to minors carries a penalty of six months to two years and from 500 to 25,000 euros; and a fine from 251 to 25,000 euros also threatens anyone who facilitates others’ use, for example by providing a location.
Does Luxembourg have a medical marijuana program?
The program is operational and open to any doctor authorized to practice in Luxembourg, but under two conditions that must be met simultaneously. The first concerns the patient, and the second the doctor themselves, and neither replaces the other. Both must be fulfilled before a prescription can even be created.
The patient must be seriously ill, in an advanced or terminal stage, or suffer from a disease whose symptoms significantly and permanently worsen the quality of life and which can be alleviated by administering medical cannabis.
The doctor, on the other hand, must have previously undergone special training. This includes the pharmacology of medical cannabis, its forms, indications, and side effects, as well as the principles and scientific foundations of prescribing, and the law limits its duration to twenty-four hours.
The definition of medical cannabis is broad. It includes dried flower tops with a specified content of active substances and cannabidiol, as well as all components and compounds from the plant, including extracts, tinctures, and oils of standardized and certified quality, other than industrial hemp.
Issuance is reserved for hospital pharmacies, so the channel remains narrow. A patient with a prescription is excluded from punishment for possession, which closes the structure from the side of responsibility.
Is it allowed to cultivate cannabis for personal use in Luxembourg?
Cultivation is allowed for up to four plants per household, from seeds and only by an adult. All three elements of this condition are equally important, and omitting any of them takes cultivation outside the permitted scope. The regulation lists them together as one set of admissibility conditions.
The place of cultivation is limited to the home or usual residence of an adult member of that household. The plants must not be visible from the public road, so the condition also concerns their placement.
Violation of the place condition is punished the same as exceeding the number of plants. In both cases, up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of up to 250,000 euros threaten, which is the highest penalty in this part of the law.
The equal treatment of these two violations is telling. The legislator has recognized that cultivation in an improper place is as serious as cultivation in excessive numbers, thus protecting not only the scale but also the private nature of the undertaking.
The requirement to start from seeds cuts off the trade in seedlings. Since legal cultivation must start from seeds with a label, the purchase of a ready plant does not fall within this regulation.
What exactly did the law of July 10, 2023 change?
The reform is an amendment, not a new law. It amended the law of February 19, 1973, on the sale of medicinal substances and the fight against drug addiction, adding articles 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3. The text was published in the official journal on July 17, 2023, and came into force on July 21.
Art. 7-2 para. 1 allows the cultivation of up to four cannabis plants per household, with the law defining a household as people living together and managing a common budget. Cultivation must be conducted from seeds and only by an adult. The seeds themselves are subject to labeling requirements: the label must contain the producer’s or breeder’s data, the number of seeds, and a health warning.
Paragraph 2 of the same article limits the place of cultivation to the residence or permanent residence of an adult household member and requires that the plants not be visible from the public road. They may be grown indoors and outdoors. Paragraph 3 allows an adult to consume and possess at home what they have grown themselves. Outside of this place, the Luxembourg police list as still prohibited: consumption and possession, smoking in the presence of minors, and transporting and purchasing marijuana.
Was Luxembourg really the first in the EU?
No, it was not. Malta added four plants and fifty grams of dried cannabis to its law by act LXVI of 2021, effective from December 18, 2021, and also allowed associations to distribute the raw material among members. Details of that model are described in a separate entry about regulations in Malta.
Germany has gone further and in a different direction. The cannabis law allows there cannabis clubs, which issue up to 50 g per month to persons aged 21 and over, and up to 30 g to persons aged 18 to 20. The breakdown of German thresholds is in the entry about legalization of marijuana in Germany. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, has not passed any law opening stores: the amendment to law no. 167/1998 Sb. made by law no. 270/2025 Sb. and effective from January 1, 2026, treats exceeding 100 g in the apartment, 25 g outside it, or three plants as an offense, with a fine of up to 50,000 crowns.
Thus, Luxembourg falls in the middle: it has gone further than countries punishing mere possession, but not as far as Malta and Germany, which have built a legal access channel. It is also worth remembering that comparative data on drug policy is now published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), which, under regulation 2023/1322, replaced the EMCDDA and has been operating under a new name since July 2, 2024.
Frequently asked questions
Is marijuana legal in Luxembourg?
Use and possession are legal in one’s own home or usual place of residence, but only from personal cultivation. Acquisition, whether paid or unpaid, remains punishable, as does transportation.
Where can I legally buy marijuana in Luxembourg?
Nowhere. The law has not created any legal source of purchase, so the only permissible way is personal cultivation started from labeled seeds.
What are the consequences in Luxembourg for 3 grams outside the home?
A fine from 25 to 500 euros of a police nature. The police and customs administration can instead issue a fine of 145 euros, but only with the consent of the punished to pay.
How many plants are allowed to be grown in Luxembourg?
Four per household, understood as people living in a common household and managing a common budget. The number does not increase with the number of residents.
Why must cultivation start from seeds?
This is stipulated by the law, and the seeds must have a label with the producer’s or breeder’s data, the number of seeds, and a health warning. The purchase of a ready seedling does not fall within this regulation.
Who can prescribe medical cannabis in Luxembourg?
Any doctor authorized to practice, but only after undergoing special training covering pharmacology, forms, indications, and side effects. Issuance is reserved for hospital pharmacies.
Sources
| Act or document | Address | Checked | Degree of proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loi modifiée du 19 février 1973 concernant la vente de substances médicamenteuses et la lutte contre la toxicomanie, wersja skonsolidowana obowiązująca od 21 lipca 2023 r. (Legilux oznacza ją jako „version consolidée d’application”), art. 7-2 ust. 3 oraz art. 7-1 ust. 2 i art. 7-3 ust. 1 | legilux.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | text of the legal act |
| Loi modifiée du 19 février 1973 concernant la vente de substances médicamenteuses et la lutte contre la toxicomanie, wersja skonsolidowana obowiązująca od 21 lipca 2023 r. (Legilux oznacza ją jako „version consolidée d’application”), art. 7-1 ust. 2, art. 7-2 ust. 1 i art. 7-3 ust. 1 | legilux.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | text of the legal act |
| Loi modifiée du 19 février 1973 concernant la vente de substances médicamenteuses et la lutte contre la toxicomanie, wersja skonsolidowana obowiązująca od 21 lipca 2023 r. (Legilux oznacza ją jako „version consolidée d’application”), art. 7-1 ust. 1-5 oraz art. 7-3 ust. 1 i 2 | legilux.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | text of the legal act |
| Loi modifiée du 19 février 1973 concernant la vente de substances médicamenteuses et la lutte contre la toxicomanie, wersja skonsolidowana obowiązująca od 21 lipca 2023 r. (Legilux oznacza ją jako „version consolidée d’application”), art. 30-2 oraz wyłączenia w art. 7-1 ust. 3 i art. 7-3 ust. 1 | legilux.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | text of the legal act |
| Loi modifiée du 19 février 1973 concernant la vente de substances médicamenteuses et la lutte contre la toxicomanie, wersja skonsolidowana obowiązująca od 21 lipca 2023 r. (Legilux oznacza ją jako „version consolidée d’application”), art. 7-2 ust. 1 i 2 oraz art. 7-1 ust. 1 | legilux.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | text of the legal act |
| the law of February 19, 1973, on the sale of medicinal substances and the fight against drug addiction | legilux.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | text of the legal act |
| Luxembourg police | police.public.lu | 2026-09-05 | official position |
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
