Cannabis in Belgium

Belgium has one of Europe's oldest and least talked-about tolerance arrangements, and it rests on a prosecutors' directive, not a statute. Cannabis remains a controlled drug. But under a joint directive of the Minister of Justice and the College of prosecutors-general dated 25 January 2005 (Belgisch Staatsblad, 31 January 2005), issued after the Court of Arbitration annulled the 2003 statutory attempt in October 2004, an adult found with up to three grams or one cultivated plant for personal use, with no aggravating factor and no disturbance of public order, gets the lowest prosecution priority. A 2015 circular, revised in 2018, carries the policy on. The police write a simplified report and, according to VAD, since 2015 seize the cannabis. Disturbance of public order, signs of problem use or minors turn it into a regular case; anything beyond the user amount, or any supply, is prosecuted. The penalty the drug law itself sets for personal-use cannabis is a fine of EUR 200 for a first offence, rising to at most EUR 400 and EUR 800 on repeats within a year, in the texts that apply from 1 September 2026.

Belgium has no legal sale of cannabis for adults. There are no coffeeshops, no dispensaries, no social clubs with legal standing and no home-grow right beyond the single-plant tolerance. The federal coalition that took office in February 2025 is reported to say in its agreement that the government takes no initiative toward legalizing drugs, and, according to press summaries of the 203-page text that I could not check against the agreement itself, the word cannabis does not appear in it. A framework bill for a regulated cannabis market was filed in the Chamber by DéFI's François De Smet on 30 September 2025 (document 56 1068/001), and I found no sign that the government has taken it up.

Medical access is thin. Sativex, a THC and CBD mouth spray for multiple sclerosis spasticity, is the only marketed cannabis-based medicine (FAGG, January 2026), and neurologists prescribe it under strict conditions; RIZIV-INAMI reimburses it only under strict Chapter IV criteria. Pharmacists may compound CBD oil on prescription under a federal agency circular dated 16 July 2019, with THC capped at 1 microgram per kilogram of body weight per day; the Belgian Centre for Pharmacotherapeutic Information (BCFI) said in 2019 that this oil is not reimbursed and costs about 550 euro per 100 ml. Cannabis flower and dronabinol are not authorized as magistral preparations, and the federal medicines agency (FAGG-AFMPS) says preparations containing tetrahydrocannabinols are prohibited. Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke rejected broader medical access in 2022, according to a 2026 industry guide that I could not check against the parliamentary record.

CBD is where most Belgians actually meet cannabis law, and it is fragmented by product type. Since 1 June 2024 the Royal Decree of 24 April 2024 (Belgisch Staatsblad, 22 May 2024) sets the line at 0.3% of THC plus THCA, up from 0.2%: cannabis above it is a narcotic. Below it, the product's fate depends on the sector: CBD and CBD extracts are novel foods and cannot be sold as food or supplements, while hemp seed oil is allowed; smoking products such as CBD flowers must be notified to FPS Public Health, carry health warnings and excise markings and make no therapeutic claim, and VAD says the notification needs a lab certificate showing THC below 0.3%; CBD is not allowed in e-liquids (retail rules since 11 January 2024); and in cosmetics only CBD from stems and leaves without flowers, or synthetic CBD, is allowed. FPS Public Health is the competent authority for CBD products that are not medicines, according to FAGG.

There is also one thing that the tolerance does not cover: driving. Belgium applies zero tolerance to illicit drugs at the wheel, testing saliva at the roadside and, since November 2023, routinely testing drivers after crashes, according to the European Transport Safety Council.

Verdex lists no Belgian sellers. Belgium has no register of licensed cannabis retailers, medical prescribers or dispensing pharmacies that we could use for verification, and CBD shops are ordinary retailers rather than licensed cannabis businesses. We do not list them as sellers.