Marijuana in Romania: what is allowed and what are the consequences (2026)

The Romanian police begin their report with a sentence worth quoting: the belief that possessing a very small amount does not incur criminal sanctions is directly called a myth.

The dimension of the penalty there is determined not by weight, but by the category of the substance, and cannabis belongs to the milder of the two. Below is what follows from the police report on the law, with a caveat about its age.

State checked on September 5, 2026. Romanian services with legal texts are inaccessible to machines, so the material is based on the police report from 2022. This is a description of the regulations, not legal advice.

Is possession of marijuana in Romania punishable?

Yes, and the police state directly that the opposite belief is a myth. In their report, it is stated that it is only a myth that possessing a very small amount does not incur criminal sanctions, and this is the most important information in this entire entry. It is worth starting with this before moving on to the numbers.

Romanian law divides substances into two categories, and the dimension of the penalty depends on them. The first is risky drugs, among which the police specifically mention cannabis and ketamine. The second is high-risk drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy.

Possession for personal use is described separately from trafficking, so it formally has its own provision. However, possession itself also appears in the enumeration of activities constituting the offense of trafficking, so the qualification is determined by the purpose.

A caveat about the currency must be made here. The police report we are working from is from 2022, and a year later, the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs sent a draft amendment to drug regulations for consultation.

The text of the law itself could not be read because Romanian legal services break the connection or do not provide documents. Therefore, it is worth confirming the amounts of penalties at the source. How this threshold looks elsewhere is shown by our map of marijuana legality.

How much marijuana is allowed in Romania?

The report does not provide a quantitative threshold and directly warns that a small amount does not protect against criminal liability. This is a rare situation where an official source itself warns the reader against the most common misunderstanding, instead of leaving it without any comment and without indicating where it comes from.

The distinction that really changes the penalty concerns not weight, but the category of the substance. Cannabis belongs to risky drugs, i.e. the milder of the two groups, and this determines the ranges.

The difference between the categories is significant. For risky drugs, the ranges are half lower than for high-risk drugs, so the belonging of the substance does more than any amount.

There is no weight table here nor a concept corresponding to a negligible amount. Liability arises from the mere possession of a substance from the list, and it is graded by category and purpose.

The practical conclusion is uncomfortable and honest at the same time. In Romania, there is nothing to weigh before leaving the house because the law answers a different question than that about the number of grams.

There is also no concept corresponding to a negligible amount, known from the codes of several neighboring countries. The scale of liability in Romania is built solely from the category of the substance and the purpose of the act.

What are the consequences of exceeding the threshold in Romania?

Possession of risky drugs, including cannabis, for personal use without authorization is punishable by a penalty of three months to two years of imprisonment or a fine. The alternative of a monetary penalty is significant here, as the report does not mention it for the heavier category of substances.

Possession of high-risk drugs for personal use is punishable by six months to three years. The report does not mention the possibility of limiting this category to a monetary penalty.

Providing a location is punished separately and much more severely. Anyone who knowingly, under any title, provides a location, apartment, or other furnished place accessible to the public for the illegal use of drugs is subject to a penalty of two to seven years.

The same sanction applies to tolerating such use in such places, and the penalty includes a prohibition on exercising certain rights. Therefore, the liability of the property owner is higher than that of the user.

Encouraging the use of high-risk drugs, in any way, is punishable by six months to three years. All these numbers come from the 2022 report and require confirmation in the current wording of the law.

Does Romania have a medical marijuana program?

We have not established a national patient access pathway, as Romanian services with legal texts are inaccessible to us, and the police report only concerns criminal liability. These are two different areas of law, and one source cannot replace the other. The police report simply does not cover this.

One pathway bypasses national law because it goes through the EU. A preparation with cannabidiol received central authorization for marketing in September 2019, marked as an orphan drug, and it is valid in every member state.

The indications are strictly enumerated. They concern supporting the treatment of seizures in two epilepsy syndromes, Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet, in combination with clobazam from the age of two, and tuberous sclerosis treated together with other antiepileptic drugs.

However, a Romanian patient should not read this as ready availability. The entry of the drug into sales and its reimbursement depend on the responsible entity and decisions made in the country, which we have not investigated.

The cautious conclusion for the patient is that one must inquire in Romania about the access pathway, as the source used here describes criminal liability, not the rules for issuing prescriptions.

Is it allowed to cultivate cannabis for personal use in Romania?

Cultivation does not have a milder provision for personal use in Romania, which distinguishes it from several neighboring countries in the region. The police list it as the first of a long list of activities constituting the offense of drug trafficking, without any exception for domestic scale.

The list of these activities is long, and it is worth seeing in what company cultivation has found itself. Next to it are production, manufacturing, experimenting, extraction, preparation, processing, and offering.

Further, the enumeration includes offering for sale, sale, distribution, delivery under any title, and shipping and transport. It closes with acquisition, purchase, and possession, which are activities on the recipient’s side.

The effect is that home cultivation falls into the same category as trafficking. There is no threshold for the number of plants or exclusion for harvest intended solely for oneself.

Here too, the caveat about the age of the source applies. The report is from 2022, and the draft amendment to drug regulations was sent for consultation a year later, so the state may be different today.

It is worth comparing this with neighboring Serbia, where cultivation has its own provision with a lower penalty than trafficking. The Romanian legislator did not make such a distinction, and both activities fell into one category.

Frequently asked questions

Does a small amount of marijuana protect in Romania from penalty?

No. The Romanian police state directly that it is only a myth that possessing a very small amount does not incur criminal sanctions. The report does not provide any quantitative threshold.

What are the consequences in Romania for possessing marijuana?

Cannabis belongs to risky drugs, and possessing it for personal use without authorization is punishable by a penalty of three months to two years of imprisonment or a fine.

How do the two categories of drugs differ in Romania?

Risky drugs, among which the police mention cannabis and ketamine, have ranges half lower than high-risk drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy. The category does more here than the amount.

What are the consequences in Romania for providing a location for drug use?

From two to seven years of imprisonment and a prohibition on exercising certain rights. The same sanction applies to tolerating such use in a publicly accessible place.

Is cultivation for personal use punished more leniently in Romania?

No. The police list cultivation as the first of the activities constituting the offense of drug trafficking, alongside production, sale, and distribution, without a separate provision for personal use.

Why is there a caveat about the currency of Romanian regulations?

The police report is from 2022, and a year later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent a draft amendment for consultation. The text of the law itself could not be read because legal services do not respond.

Sources

This article is for informational and educational purposes only 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 a decision, consult a lawyer or current legal acts.

Author: Michał Waluk