Luxembourg
Framework: Law of 21 July 2023 amending the 1974 Narcotics Law. (CMS Expert Guide — Luxembourg)
Personal possession: Carrying ≤3 grams in public is a civil infraction carrying a €145 on-the-spot fine. Carrying >3 grams without authorization is a criminal offense (8 days–6 months imprisonment and/or a €251–2,500 fine). Adults may possess cannabis at home for personal use without a fixed upper limit, provided it is clearly for personal use. (Cannabis in Luxembourg — Wikipedia)
Home cultivation: Up to 4 cannabis plants per household, by adults 18+ only, grown at the principal residence, not visible from a public space. Seeds must be labeled with the producer's contact details, quantity, and a health warning. Gifting, sale, exchange, and bartering of cannabis remain strictly prohibited. (Prohibition Partners — Luxembourg 2025)
Commercial sale: Prohibited. No retail market exists. In April 2023 the government announced a concept — 14 state-controlled dispensaries supplied by 2 licensed domestic producers — but this has not been introduced as draft legislation. The current government coalition (in office until 2028) has stated it will observe neighboring countries before acting further. (MJBizDaily — Luxembourg OKs legalization without sales) (TheMayor.EU)
CBD/hemp: Legal. Industrial hemp ≤0.3% THC may be grown, processed, sold, and shipped commercially. CBD products may be sold freely online and in retail. No medicinal claims may be made on packaging or advertising. CBD herbal smoking products may not be sold to persons under 18 (amended Tobacco Control Act, 11 August 2006). (Essentia Pura — CBD Luxembourg) (HempKing — CBD and THC in Luxembourg)
Medical cannabis: Legal since 20 July 2018; access program since February 2019. Indicated for: severe chronic pain in advanced/terminal conditions, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and MS spasticity. Prescribers must hold specific pharmacology training; dispensing is exclusively through hospital pharmacies. From January 2025: THC-rich cannabis flower was removed from the program; the dispensable quantity was reduced from 100g to 60g per 28-day period; CBD-rich flower and balanced THC/CBD oil extracts remain available. (Business of Cannabis — LU medical rollback) (WHO Euro Health Observatory)
Advertising: No medicinal claims permitted on CBD products. General EU consumer protection rules apply to all cannabis-adjacent advertising. No specific cannabis advertising law yet enacted for the recreational framework. (Police Grand-Ducale — Drugs Legislation)
Germany
Framework: Cannabisgesetz (KCanG), passed February–March 2024, in force 1 April 2024. (Cannabis Act — Wikipedia)
Personal possession: Adults 18+ may carry up to 25g in public and possess up to 50g at home. Adults 18–21 face a 10% THC cap on club-sourced cannabis. (Goodwin — Germany legalizes adult-use cannabis)
Home cultivation: Up to 3 plants per individual adult; must be kept secure from minors.
Cannabis Social Clubs (Anbauvereinigungen): Legal since 1 July 2024. Non-profit, member-only cultivation associations; maximum 500 adult members, all of whom must be residents of Germany. Members may receive up to 25g/day and 50g/month. By mid-2025, approximately 337 clubs had received licenses, serving roughly 92,000 members. Licensing is managed by individual German Länder; uptake has been uneven, with North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Rhineland-Palatinate leading and Bavaria remaining notably slow. (Prohibition Partners — Germany 2025) (Cannabis Europa)
Commercial retail (Pillar 2): Not implemented. Limited regional pilot projects to test commercial supply chains are under discussion, but no legislation has been enacted as of May 2026. (GrowerIQ — Germany Pillar 2 delay)
Medical cannabis: Removed from the scope of the Narcotics Act in 2024; any licensed physician may now prescribe on a standard prescription, filled at any pharmacy. Telehealth platforms boomed: the market grew from approximately €1 billion in 2024 to ~€2 billion in 2025. However, from October 2025 an amendment mandated in-person consultations for all cannabis prescriptions; home delivery of prescribed medical cannabis is now prohibited. (Bloomberg — Online cannabis sales booming in Germany) (Gleiss Lutz — telemedical prescription ban) (Chambers and Partners — Germany medical cannabis 2025)
Payment and banking: Cannabis social clubs and medical cannabis operators continue to face difficulty obtaining bank accounts and payment processing despite legal status. Conservative banking policy persists.
Belgium
Framework: No specific adult-use cannabis law. Decriminalization guidelines from the public prosecutor's office. (CMS Expert Guide — Belgium)
Recreational possession: Cannabis remains illegal. Adults 18+ found with ≤3g or 1 female plant for personal use are subject to a civil fine (€120–200) rather than criminal prosecution under current prosecution guidelines. Cultivation of a single plant is lowest-prosecution-priority — not legal, but rarely prosecuted. (Cannabis in Belgium — Wikipedia)
CBD: Only CBD products for external use (cosmetics, creams, patches) are legally saleable. CBD food supplements and oils are not legally permitted. Belgian health authorities (FAMHP) conducted enforcement raids on CBD stores in February 2025. (FAMHP — cannabidiol products) (Essentia Pura — CBD Belgium)
Medical cannabis: Sativex (THC+CBD oral spray) is the only registered cannabis-based medicine. Named-patient pathways exist for individual cases.
Cross-border note: Belgium borders both Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Cross-border cannabis transport is illegal in both directions under both national law and Schengen framework obligations.
France
Recreational use: Illegal. Possession is a criminal offense; in practice a flat fine (€200) is often applied, but the criminal framework remains in place. (Cannabis Europa — EU legal overview)
CBD: Operated in a grey zone following a French court ruling aligned with EU case law for products with <0.3% THC. However, in September 2024 France submitted a proposal to the European Commission under the TRIS procedure to ban CBD-based products, citing reproductive toxicity concerns. This EU-level process is ongoing and its outcome will affect CBD operations across all member states. (Prohibition Partners — EU CBD market overview 2025)
Medical cannabis: France's small-scale clinical trial has formally ended. A permanent medical cannabis framework is expected to be fully operational by April 2026, following a TRIS notification to the European Commission in March 2025. Treatment will remain a therapy of last resort, prescribed only by certified physicians. Under 700 patients continue to receive treatment through transitional exemptions. (MMJ Daily — France extends medical cannabis to 2027) (Prohibition Partners — France medical cannabis 2025)
Why it matters: France is the most restrictive neighbouring market. If France's EU-level CBD-ban proposal succeeds, it could severely restrict CBD sales across the entire EU single market — the single largest external regulatory risk to any operator with EU-wide CBD exposure.
Netherlands
Recreational use: Personal possession of ≤5g is decriminalized. Coffeeshop toleration policy in place since 1976. (Government.nl — Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment background)
Regulated supply experiment: Since 7 April 2025, all coffeeshops in 10 participating municipalities (Breda, Tilburg, Almere, Arnhem, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, and Zaanstad) must source 100% of their cannabis from licensed, government-approved cultivators with full seed-to-sale traceability. The experiment runs for 4 years with a possible 18-month extension. (Government.nl — experiment launch April 2025) (RAND — Dutch cannabis experiment analysis)
CBD: Generally tolerated; hemp <0.2% THC (EU standard) is legal.
Why it matters: The Netherlands is running the EU's most advanced test of a regulated commercial cannabis supply chain. Outcomes from this experiment directly influence policy timelines in Luxembourg and Germany.
Switzerland (Regionally Relevant)
Status: Multiple city-level pilot trials are underway (Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich). Zurich's "Züri Can" pilot was extended to 2028. By June 2024, approximately 7,000 adults were enrolled across seven trials. In mid-2025, Switzerland's National Council committee approved a draft law for a national adult-use retail framework — Switzerland may become Europe's first country with fully legal commercial adult-use retail. (Swiss Federal Office of Public Health — pilot trials) (Cannabis Health News — Züri Can results) (Prohibition Partners — Switzerland 2025)
CBD: Legal if <1% THC, more permissive than the EU's 0.2–0.3% threshold.
Why it matters: Switzerland is the leading indicator for the DACH region. The pilot trial outcomes are widely watched as a preview of what licensed commercial retail in Germany and Luxembourg might look like.