Cannabis in Portugal

Portugal is known for decriminalizing the personal use of all drugs under Law 30/2000, but it has never legalized cannabis sales. Buying or holding cannabis for your own use is an administrative offense handled by dissuasion commissions (CDT), which can impose fines or refer people to treatment, rather than a crime. Law 55/2023, published on 8 September 2023, made clear that possession for personal consumption is an administrative matter regardless of quantity: holding more than ten days' average consumption is now only an indication of trafficking that the authorities must prove. The Constitutional Court rejected a challenge to this rule in January 2025. Trafficking remains a crime, and there is no legal home-grow allowance; growing cannabis requires an INFARMED authorization.

Medical cannabis has been legal since Law 33/2018, regulated by Decree-Law 8/2019. Any doctor may prescribe an authorized cannabis medicine, preparation or substance for an indication approved by INFARMED, but only when conventional treatment has failed or caused significant side effects. Products need a market authorization (ACM) and are dispensed only by pharmacies under narcotics rules. The list is short: the Portuguese Medical Cannabis Observatory counted 15 approved products in August 2026, including Tilray's dried flower and oral solutions, the Satalliv oils, Portocanna's Hexacan flower and oil, SOMAÍ botanicals, Sativex and Epidyolex, several not yet on pharmacy shelves.

Production is where Portugal stands out. CannaReporter's summary of INFARMED lists counted 61 licensed companies in March 2025, 25 of them EU-GMP certified, and Global Parques reports that exports reached about 80 tonnes in 2025, mostly to Germany. These producers, from Cantanhede to Setúbal and the Algarve, do not sell to the public.

CBD is tightly limited. INFARMED says cannabinoids obtained from cannabis extracts, tinctures or resin may not be used in cosmetics, leaving only hemp-seed-derived ingredients, and CBD foods are not authorized. For that reason Verdex lists no CBD shops in Portugal. Driving under the influence of psychotropic substances is an offense under Article 81 of the Highway Code.