Expand Albania: current drug tiers, industrial permits and legal history

2023-07-21

Albania legalises medicaladopts an export-only cannabis cultivationproduction framework

Parliament allowed cannabis to be grown under licenceadopted separate routes for medical cannabis licences and industrial purposes, incannabis permits. Medical licences last fifteen years; industrial permits last five years and cover varieties containing no more than 0.8% THC. The scheme does not give consumers a country long known for illegal productiondomestic purchase route.

Licensed growing for export and industry; no patient or consumer access.

Albania — Law 61/2023 on medical and industrial cannabis Wikipedia — Cannabis in Albania

A 2023 law legalised licensed cultivation forLicensed medical and industrial purposes, largelyproduction is for export, with a separate industrial permit scheme. Personal use remains illegalA small personal dose is exempt from the possession offence; unlicensed growing and supply carry prison terms.

Possession is anArticle 283 excludes personal use in small doses from its possession offence under the Criminal Code, but the Code has long exempted.[@code2026] The Supreme Court interpreted that as a small single dose held for personal -use quantity, assessed case by casethrough evidence rather than by a fixed gram limit.[@shtegnikolli2015] Anything more is prosecuted, with prison terms of severalPossession outside the exemption carries five to ten years; complicity, repetition, large quantities or specified serious-harm circumstances bring seven to fifteen, while organising, directing or financing the activity carries ten to twenty.[@shtegcode2026]

shtegcode2026, nikolli2015

label Small single dose for personal use · treatment toleratedlegal · term Personal dose · note Statutory exemption, assessed case by caseExcluded from Article 283; case-specific single-use assessment, no fixed gram limit, label More than a small Possession outside the personal-dose exemption · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · note Prosecuted;Article 283(1), label Aggravated possession · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison terms of severalmin 7 years in practice· prison 15 years · note Article 283(2): complicity, repetition, large quantities or specified serious-harm circumstances

Unlicensed cultivation is a serious crime — Albania spentgrowing carries three to seven years eradicatingunder Article 284.[@code2026] Complicity, repetition, large illegal plantationsquantities or specified serious-harm circumstances bring five to ten years; organising, notablydirecting or financing the activity carries seven to fifteen.[2014 Lazarat operation@code2026] The [2023 law](/history/albania-lazaratmedical-operation-20142023/).[@shteg] Since July 2023 companies can be licensed to grow for provides separate medical licences and industrial purposes, but by April 2026 no licence had been issuedpermits for authorised production.[@kp,gitoc26law2023]

kpcode2026, shteg, gitoc26law2023

label Unlicensed cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 3 years · prison 7 years · note Serious crime; eradication campaigns ongoing; tariff not stated in retained sourcesArticle 284(1), label LicensedAggravated cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · note Article 284(2): complicity, repetition, large quantities or specified serious-harm circumstances, label Organising, directing or financing cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 7 years · prison 15 years · note Article 284(3), label Authorised medical or industrial growingcultivation · treatment legal · term Licensed/permitted cultivation · note Fifteen-year renewable licencesMedical licence: fifteen years; industrial permit: five years; renewable, export-oriented; none issued as of April 2026

The personalsmall-dose exemption protects users in principle; growers and dealers face long sentencesexclusion is statutory, while possession beyond it and policing remains heavy after years of antiunlicensed growing carry prison terms.[@code2026] The single-cultivation campaignsuse interpretation makes the quantity and expert assessment important.[@shtegnikolli2015] Crop eradication continues nationally, and police also target imports: in October 2025 they reported two arrests and 61 kg seized at Rinas airport.[@a2n25,quality2025]

shtegcode2026, nikolli2015, a2n25, quality2025

SupplyGiving or selling drugs falls under Article 283, carrying five to ten years; the aggravated range is traffickingseven to fifteen and organising, directing or financing carries ten to twenty.[@shtegcode2026] Unlawful import, export or transit carries seven to fifteen years, rising to ten to twenty in aggravated cases and at least fifteen for organisers, directors or financiers.[@code2026] A professional entrusted with drugs who illegally facilitates their intake or use faces three to seven years; organising a drug criminal organisation carries ten to twenty and state officials facilitating it face five to fifteen.[@code2026]

shtegcode2026

Use is not separately punished where only aThe possession offence excludes personal dose is involveduse in small doses; this does not authorise growing or supplying cannabis.[@shtegcode2026] The cannabis agency confirms that general use has not been legalised and that the production framework serves export.[@faq2026]

shtegcode2026, faq2026

NoThere is no legal source for consumersrecreational retail route; the 2023 law is aimed atagency describes authorised medical and industrial products as exclusively for export.[@kp,mjbfaq2026]

kp, mjbfaq2026

word Bar · lang Albanian · meaning colloquial for weed, marijuana · sources wiktionary-bar … meaning hemp; the ancient word kin to hemp and hanf · atlas cannabis · sources cannabislg, word Kanabis · lang Albanian · meaning cannabis; official police usage · sources quality2025

There is no legal recreational supply. A small single dose for personal usedose is exemptexcluded from Article 283, with the single-use interpretation assessed case by case with no fixed gram limit; anything more brings prison terms of several years.[@shtegcode2026,nikolli2015] Use alone is not punished within the doseOutside that exception, but growingpossession and supply are serious crimes, andgiving or selling drugs carry five to ten years.[@code2026] Home growing has no personal-dose exception under Article 284.[@code2026] The cannabis agency says the [2023 licensingproduction law](/history/albania-medical-2023/) aims at export — with no consumer products and, as of April 2026, no licence issuedhas not legalised general use.[@shteg,kp,mjb,gitoc26faq2026]

shtegcode2026, kpnikolli2015, mjb, gitoc26faq2026

The law passed on 21 July 2023 creates a national cannabis agency that grants 15Medical production uses renewable fifteen-year renewable licences to cultivate and process cannabis for medical and industrial use, with products destined for exportproduction units of five to ten hectares and a national cultivation ceiling of 200 hectares.[@kp,mjblicensing] NearlyThe health minister approves the licence after the agency procedure; licence conditions are reviewed every three years later no licence had been issued.[@law2023, despite the frameworklicensing] Industrial production instead uses renewable five-year permits for at least one hectare.[@permits] Products are intended exclusively for export.[@faq2026] A [national register decision](/history/albania-cannabis-register-2026/) in July 2026 and cultivation zones being[inspection rules](/history/albania-cannabis-inspections-2026/) in placeOctober added implementation measures.[@gitoc26registry2026,inspection2026]

kplicensing, mjblaw2023, gitoc26permits, faq2026, registry2026, inspection2026

The 2023 law concernsmedical production forlicence covers cultivation, transport and export. A[@licensing] The agency says products and by-products are exclusively for export, so this framework does not provide a domestic patient treatmentpurchase route was not verified in the reviewed sources.[@mjbfaq2026] The licence conditions include controlled premises and qualified staff,shteg rather than a personal home-growing permission.[@law2023]

mjblicensing, shtegfaq2026, law2023

A conviction carries aneed not remain permanent for criminal-record purposes: Article 69 provides rehabilitation after a period without another criminal offence following completion of the sentence.[@shtegcode2026] No spent-convictionThe periods are two years for imprisonment up to six months or expungement routea lighter punishment, five years for cannabis offences was found in the retained sourcessix-month-to-five-year sentence bracket, seven years for the five-to-ten-year bracket and ten years for the ten-to-twenty-five-year bracket.[@code2026] These are the code’s general rehabilitation rules, rather than a cannabis-specific pardon.[@code2026]

shtegcode2026

standardhigh

No blanket hemp regime was found: industrial growing exists only inside the licensed medicalIndustrial cannabis is defined as varieties containing no more than 0.8% THC.[@law2023] It requires a separate renewable five-year permit, covering at least one hectare, with registered varieties, security and-industrial scheme traceability conditions.[@law2023, whichpermits] Permitted activities can include seed or seedling import, propagation, cultivation, processing, transport and export.[@permits] The industrial route is therefore distinct from the fifteen-year medical licence, while its products remain export-oriented and had issued no licence as of April 2026.[@kplaw2023,gitoc26faq2026]

kplaw2023, gitoc26permits, faq2026

Enforcement is aimedPolice reported two arrests at the cropRinas airport in the field: the 2024 joint surveys destroyed 191,000 plants, and a year later a Tirana laboratory was set up to process the survey data[Operation Quality in October 2025](/history/albania-rinas-cannabis-import-2025/).[@a2n25quality2025] No accountThey said 61 kg of routine user-levelsuspected cannabis had arrived from Bangkok for sale in Albania.[@quality2025] This is one trafficking operation, rather than a national total or a count of arrests was foundfor personal use.[@quality2025]

a2n25quality2025

bannedregulated

bannedregulated

Ordinary cannabis seed supply falls within Article 283 of the criminal code punishes selling, offering, giving, receiving, transporting or keeping narcotic substances "and seeds of narcotic plants" with five to ten years in prison, apart from small doses for personal usewhile growing requires permission under Article 284.[@cmsgcode2026] The 2023 law onauthorised medical and industrial cannabis allows cultivation onlyschemes allow seed or seedling imports after approval by licensed companiesthe state seed authority.[@kplaw2023] Only registered planting material may be used, and operators must notify the authorities before sowing.[@law2023] Industrial permits can also cover propagation of seeds and seedlings.[@permits]

cmsgcode2026, kplaw2023, permits

No cannabis clubs are knownThere is no licensed recreational club route in the export-only production framework.[@faq2026] Growing without permission is punishable under Article 284, and the law leaves no room for them: growinggiving cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibitedis covered by Article 283.[@kp,shtegcode2026] The small personal-dose possession exception does not provide a collective growing or distribution permission.[@code2026]

kpfaq2026, shtegcode2026

Policing of the illegal market is aimed at the crop in the field.[@a2n25] Each summer the … houses, and in 2025 a laboratory was set up in Tirana to process the survey data.[@a2n25] In October 2025, police reported 61 kg of suspected high-THC cannabis arriving from Bangkok for sale in Albania, illustrating an import case alongside the domestic crop.[@quality2025]

a2n25, quality2025

There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. Possession is an offencevisitors under the Criminal Code, which exempts a small single dose held forexport-only production scheme.[@faq2026] The personal use,-dose exception is assessed case by case rather than by aand provides no fixed gram limitallowance.[@shtegcode2026,nikolli2015] Unlawful import, export or transit carries a separate seven-to-fifteen-year range before aggravations.[@code2026]

shtegfaq2026, code2026, nikolli2015

Albanian Ministry of Justice — Criminal Code, Albanian consolidation through Law 8/2026 Albania — Law 61/2023 on medical and industrial cannabis National Agency for Cannabis Control — Frequently asked questions National Agency for Cannabis Control — Medical licensing procedure National Agency for Cannabis Control — Industrial permit procedure Albanian Council of Ministers — Decision 630 of 30 July 2026 Albanian Council of Ministers — Decision 748 of 2 October 2026 Albanian State Police — Operation Quality seizes 61 kg of cannabis, 21 October 2025 Aleks Nikolli — The Severe Criminal Punishment of Drug Consumers in Albania (2015) 10 unchanged

label Giving or selling · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · note Article 283(1), label Aggravated supply · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 7 years · prison 15 years · note Article 283(2): complicity, repetition, large quantities or specified serious-harm circumstances, label Organising, directing or financing supply · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · note Article 283(3), label Unlawful import, export or transit · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 7 years · prison 15 years · note Article 283/a(1), label Aggravated import, export or transit · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · note Article 283/a(2): complicity, repetition, large quantities or specified serious-harm circumstances, label Organising, directing or financing trafficking · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 15 years · note Article 283/a(3); statutory minimum, no specific maximum in this paragraph, label Professional facilitation of intake or use · treatment criminal · term Facilitating use · prison min 3 years · prison 7 years · note Article 283/b; persons entrusted with administering controlled drugs, label Organising, directing or financing a drug criminal organisation · treatment criminal · term Criminal organisation · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · note Article 284/a(1), label State official facilitating such organisation activity · treatment criminal · term Facilitation · prison min 5 years · prison 15 years · note Article 284/a(2)

limited

Only a small single-use personal dose is excluded; no fixed gram allowance

limited

Dose assessment or prison

The personal-dose exception is assessed case by case; possession outside it carries five to ten years before aggravations