Cannabis Legalization by Country

Uruguay (2013), Canada (2018), Malta (2021), Luxembourg (2023) and Germany (2024) have legalised adult possession nationally, though only Uruguay and Canada run commercial retail markets; Malta, Luxembourg and Germany rely on home growing and non-profit clubs. South Africa legalised private use in 2024 without sales. In the United States, around half of the states have legalised adult use while federal law still prohibits it.

More than 50 countries have some form of legal medical cannabis access, ranging from established prescription markets such as Germany, Canada, Israel and Australia to narrow programmes that permit only a handful of approved pharmaceutical products. This page tracks the 45 markets that matter most to the industry; the Germany hub covers Europe's largest market in depth.

There is no EU-wide cannabis law; each member state sets its own rules. Medical cannabis is available in most European countries, with Germany the largest market by far. Adult possession is legal in Germany, Malta and Luxembourg, and regulated sales pilots run in Switzerland and the Netherlands. Elsewhere adult use ranges from decriminalised (Portugal, Czech Republic) to strictly prohibited.

No. Cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, even though most states permit medical use and around half permit adult use. A federal rescheduling process to move cannabis to Schedule III has been under way since 2023 — follow it on our cannabis rescheduling tracker.

Statuses are reviewed quarterly by the Business of Cannabis editorial team and updated whenever a law changes. European entries come from our jurisdiction snapshot, last refreshed 25 September 2026. The last review date is shown at the top of the page; for the latest developments in any market, follow its news link.