Is Weed Legal in Greece? What Tourists Risk in 2026

A joint on a Cycladic beach and a joint in a Thessaloniki flat sit under the same paragraph of the same statute. Greece has no tourist exception, no tolerated zone and no fine-only ticket for small amounts. What it has is a low ceiling for personal use and a wide gap between that offense and supplying other people.

Ahrefs estimates about 1,300 US searches a month for the question, and many of the answers online are written by CBD sellers. This one is built from the consolidated statute text, the text of Law 5302/2026 and the regulator's and ministry's own notices. It is general information, not legal advice; the official texts are in Government Gazette A' 74/2013 and A' 78/2026.

Recreational use

Illegal

Personal-use possession

Up to 5 months (Law 4139/2013, Art. 29)

Growing for yourself

Same 5-month ceiling

Legal shops

None; hemp flower retail banned since 20 May 2026 (Law 5302/2026, Art. 43)

Medical

Pharmacy, Greek specialist prescription

What the statute says about a few grams

Article 29 of the drug law covers people who hold or grow a narcotic "in quantities justified only for individual use". The penalty is imprisonment of up to five months. The judge is told to weigh the type, purity and quantity of the substance, and also how often the person uses, for how long, the daily dose and any particular needs.

Two softening provisions follow. Under paragraph 2 a court may declare the offender exempt from punishment if the act was entirely incidental and unlikely to happen again. Under paragraph 3, convictions under paragraph 1 are not entered on the copies of the criminal record that get issued for jobs and permits. The consolidated text on Lawspot shows Article 29 unchanged since 2013, and I found no 2025 or 2026 amendment.

How much of "up to five months" do people actually serve?

I could not find published sentencing statistics for Article 29 cases, so I will not pretend to a typical outcome. The statute itself invites leniency in paragraph 2, but that is discretion, not entitlement, and a judge can weigh the purity and quantity against you.

One practical point follows from the wording. Because the test is "justified only for individual use", a quantity that looks like stock for friends, scales or a bag divided into portions moves the case toward supply. That is where the serious exposure begins: Article 20 starts at eight years.

Why the CBD shop on the corner is not a loophole any more

Until this spring the answer to "so where do tourists get something legal?" was a CBD shop selling hemp buds under 0.2% THC. Parliament voted Law 5302/2026 on 15 May 2026 and it was published in Government Gazette A' 78 on 20 May.

Article 43 raises the hemp limit in the drug law from 0.2% to 0.3% THC and, in a new paragraph 3A of Article 1, bans retail sale, distribution to consumers, purchase and use of dried flower from those low-THC hemp varieties. EOF says the ban applies whatever the THC or cannabinoid content. Wholesale of flower meant only for industrial processing is left alone.

What that means for a buyer is spelled out in our guide to what is still legal after the 2026 hemp flower ban. Short version: do not treat a shop sign as a legal opinion.

Medical cannabis exists, but it does not travel

Greece does have a working medical channel, described in our explainer on getting a Greek prescription. It rests on Greek specialists and Greek pharmacies. Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said in July 2024 that a ministerial decision would let visiting patients get their treatment in Greece, but I found no published decision as of September 2026, and no EOF page that recognizes a foreign prescription. Until one appears, plan on none.