Hungary: citations, links, products fold, culture, 2013 Code article

Drogriporter — Diversion of drug offenders to treatment in Hungary, a short overview (PDF) 2012. évi C. törvény a Büntető Törvénykönyvről (Criminal Code), §§ 176–180, consolidated text (Jogtár) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Hungary

Possession or use of a small amount is a crime with up to two years in prison. A small quantity of cannabis is up to 6 grams of total THC, the pure form and the acid form together.[@btk461] It stays a crime unless the person admits it, completes six months of treatment or a prevention programme, and by the time of indictment makes it possible to identify who sold the drug.[@btk] That route is closed once it has been used twice.[@btk461] [Hungary's new criminal code made consumption a crime again in 2013.](/history/hungary-criminal-code-2013/)

label Possession or use of a small amount (up to 6 g total THC) · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 2 years · note Up to two years; diversion via admission, six months of treatment and identifying the seller, closed after two uses

Section 178 of the Criminal Code puts growing in the same offence as producing, acquiring … years where the amount is small. A small quantity of cannabis plants is up to five plants.[@btk461] Under section 180 a person who grows a small amount for their own use is not punished if they admit the act, complete six months of treatment or a prevention programme, and help identify the seller.[@btk] [The constitutional court narrowed diversion exemptions in 2004.](/history/hungary-diversion-constitutional-ruling-2004/)

label Growing (section 178) · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 2 years · prison 8 years · note Two to eight years; up to two years where the amount is small (up to five plants), label Growing a small amount for own use (section 180) · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · note Not punished with admission, six months of treatment and help identifying the seller

Among the EU's strictest regimes, tightened further in 2025 with a 'war on drugs' package that forces users into an informer role to avoid prosecution.[@cms,boc] [Hungary wrote a drug ban into its constitution in 2025.](/history/hungary-constitutional-amendment-2025/)

Offering, handing over or selling is drug trafficking under section 176 of the Criminal Co … a significant amount, and up to two years where a small amount is offered or handed over.[@btk] Supplying a person under 18, or near a school, carries five to ten years under section 177.[@btk] [Hungary's new criminal code made consumption a crime again in 2013.](/history/hungary-criminal-code-2013/)

label Offering, handing over or selling (section 176) · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 2 years · prison 8 years · note Two to eight years; up to two years where a small amount is offered or handed over, label Significant amount · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 5 years · prison 20 years · note Five to twenty years or life, label Supplying under-18s or near schools (section 177) · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · note Five to ten years

Consumption itself is a criminal offence.[@btk] In 2025 the constitution was amended to state that producing, using, distributing and promoting narcotics is prohibited in Hungary.[@boc,cms] [Hungary's new criminal code made consumption a crime again in 2013.](/history/hungary-criminal-code-2013/) [Hungary wrote a drug ban into its constitution in 2025.](/history/hungary-constitutional-amendment-2025/)

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None. The Criminal Code punishes acquiring, holding and consuming a drug as well as supplying it, and names no lawful source.[@btk] [Hungary's new criminal code made consumption a crime again in 2013.](/history/hungary-criminal-code-2013/)

There is no legal recreational supply. Possessing or using a small amount — up to 6 grams … cms,boc] Growing brings two to eight years, or up to two where the amount is small.[@btk] [Hungary reopened diversion for all users in 2003.](/history/hungary-diversion-widened-2003/) [Hungary's new criminal code made consumption a crime again in 2013.](/history/hungary-criminal-code-2013/)

CBD products in a restricted grey zone.

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No medical cannabis programme exists in Hungary.[@wiki,boc] The Criminal Code names no lawful source for patients: acquiring, holding and consuming are punished, as is supplying.[@btk] The 2025 constitutional amendment entrenches the ban on producing, using, distributing and promoting narcotics.[@boc] [Hungary wrote a drug ban into its constitution in 2025.](/history/hungary-constitutional-amendment-2025/)

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A conviction is a criminal record; even diversion involves six months of mandatory weekly sessions.[@wiki,btk] [Hungary reopened diversion for all users in 2003.](/history/hungary-diversion-widened-2003/)

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Government Decree 162/2003 lets only low-THC hemp from the national or EU variety list be grown, sown from sealed certified seed, and only low-THC hemp seed may be put on the market.[@d162] Breeding, research growing and seed production of high-THC hemp are reserved for organisations holding a licence from the public health authority.[@d162] The decree does not mention cuttings.[@d162]

The criminal code punishes driving while impaired and sets no THC limit.[@euda_dd] Police may stop at random and test on suspicion; there is no roadside oral-fluid test, and blood is taken at a police station.[@euda_dd] The penalty is up to one year in prison where there are no aggravating circumstances, and a driving ban of one to ten years or for life.[@euda_dd]

The EU drugs agency's statistical bulletin records 3,845 cannabis-related drug law offences in Hungary in 2024, against 3,478 in 2023.[@euda_dlo] Of the 2024 total, 3,266 were for use or possession for use.[@euda_dlo] Countries count these differently (offences or offenders, criminal or administrative), so the figure is not comparable across borders.[@euda_dlo]

Clubs exist without any legal basis. A Europe-wide survey of cannabis social clubs carried out in 2018 and 2019 received answers from one club in Hungary, and its authors could not say how many more were active.[@pardal20] The study notes that clubs sit in a legally sensitive position and that many have been dissolved after court decisions or police raids.[@pardal20] No law in Hungary provides for them; Malta (since 2021) and Germany (since 2024) license non-profit cannabis associations, but only under their own laws.[@mt_cap628,de_cang] Nothing more recent than that survey was found.[@pardal20] [Malta legalised non-profit cannabis associations in 2021.](/history/malta-legalisation-2021/) [Germany licensed them in 2024.](/history/germany-cultivation-associations-2024/)

There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. Possession or use of a small amount, up to 6 grams of total THC, is a crime with up to two years in prison.[@btk461,btk] [Hungary's new criminal code made consumption a crime again in 2013.](/history/hungary-criminal-code-2013/)

The EU drugs agency's statistical bulletin records 605 kg of herbal cannabis and 34 kg of cannabis resin seized in Hungary in 2024, against 484 kg and 5.6 kg in 2023.[@euda_szr] Herbal cannabis was seized on 2,762 occasions and resin on 121.[@euda_szr] Plant seizures came to 3,926 plants.[@euda_szr] Countries record seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across borders.[@euda_szr]

Euronews — Demonstration in favour of cannabis legalisation takes place in Budapest (20 April 2025) 12 unchanged

Budapest marches for weed: the Two-Tailed Dog Party's Million Marijuana March gathered at Madách Square on 20 April 2025, days after parliament wrote zero tolerance of drugs into the constitution; police banned it, but the Curia overturned the ban because the event predated the amendment.[@euronews25] Co-chair Zsuzsanna Döme argued alcohol and designer drugs cause far greater social harm, yet marijuana use by young people stays criminal.[@euronews25] The march joined the [420](/culture/language/420/) tradition of 20 April cannabis gatherings.[@euronews25] [Hungary's top court let a cannabis rally go ahead in 2025.](/history/hungary-420-rally-2025/) [Hungary wrote a drug ban into its constitution in 2025.](/history/hungary-constitutional-amendment-2025/)

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