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Poland allowslegalises medical cannabis infrom pharmacies

Any doctor may prescribeA bill from the Kukiz'15 club, driven by the rapper and MP Piotr Liroy-Marzec, passed the Sejm on 22 June 2017 by 440 votes to 2. Its first draft would have let patients grow their own; that was removed. The law lets cannabis flowerherb, resin and extracts be registered as a pharmaceutical raw material from which pharmacies prepare and dispense. The programme has grown into one ofmedicines on a doctor's prescription, with the largest in Europeraw material imported. It took effect on 1 November 2017, but no product was registered for another year.

Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 7 lipca 2017 r. o zmianie ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii oraz ustawy o refundacji leków Drugreporter — Polish Parliament says yes to medical cannabis (22 June 2017) Forsal / DGP — Lecznicza marihuana wreszcie w aptece (9 September 2018) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Poland 1 unchanged

A newAn amendment passed on 1 April 2011 added article in the drug law allows62a: a prosecutor tomay discontinue a case involving a small, even before opening an investigation, when the amount is small, it was for personalthe person's own use and punishment would serve no purpose. ItThe same act raised the maximum for possessing a large quantity to ten years. The new article is discretionary and has beenwas used sparingly: in 2012 it ended 2,307 cases, and prosecutors applied it in 11.6% of those they handled.

Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 1 kwietnia 2011 r. o zmianie ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii Wikipedia — Drug policy of Poland Wikipedia — Cannabis in Poland 1 unchanged

2000-12-12

An amendment removedpassed on 26 October 2000 deleted the rule that a small amount for personal use went unpunished. Police had argued that dealers carrying one dose could not be touched; treatment workers warned that the change would fall on users. Possession of any quantity became a crime with up to three years in prison, and recorded possession offences rose from 1,896 in 1999 to 31,260 in 2007.

Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 26 października 2000 r. o zmianie ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii Alkoholizm i Narkomania — Justyna Konikowska-Kuczyńska, Odpowiedzialność karna za posiadanie narkotyków (2008, PDF) Institute of Public Affairs — Drug policy in Poland: time for a change (June 2010, PDF) Wikipedia — Drug policy of Poland 1 unchanged

1997-10-15

Under the 1985 lawThe Act on counteracting drug addiction, passed on 24 April 1997, made possessing drugs had not been an offence at all. A new law made it onefor the first time since 1985, but exemptedwith up to three years in prison. Article 48(4) left unpunished anyone holding a small amount for their own use. Growing cannabis other than fibre hemp carried up to two years. The act also provided for substitution treatment. The exemption lasted three years.

Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 24 kwietnia 1997 r. o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii Alkoholizm i Narkomania — Justyna Konikowska-Kuczyńska, Odpowiedzialność karna za posiadanie narkotyków (2008, PDF) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Poland 1 unchanged

Poland passes its firsta drug prevention act that does not punish possession

The actWritten after a decade of home-made opiates from poppy straw, the Act on preventing drug addiction treated addiction as a health problem: treatment was voluntary and free. It punished producingmaking, smuggling and supplying drugs, but notset no penalty for possessing them, which in any quantity; unlawfully held drugs could only be confiscated. For the plant it was unusualstricter than before: hemp could be grown only for the textile industry with a permit, growing it otherwise carried up to two years in Europeprison, and collecting cannabis herb or resin was allowed only for science. It took effect on 1 March 1985.

Alkoholizm i Narkomania — Justyna Konikowska-Kuczyńska, Odpowiedzialność karna za posiadanie narkotyków (2008, PDF) Institute of Public Affairs — Drug policy in Poland: time for a change (June 2010, PDF) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Poland 1 unchanged

possession 3 · cultivation 4 · enforcement 5 · sharing 1 · consumption 2 · access 0

1951-01-08

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Poland classifieslists cannabis herb as a narcotic

Cannabis had been named in Polish law since 1930 asThe Act on pharmaceutical and narcotic agents listed the herb of Indian hemp and its preparations, and hashish, among narcotics. Making, processing, importing, storing or trading them without a harmful substancepermit carried up to five years in prison. It was now classed asUsing a narcotic without a doctor's advice in the company of another person carried up to a year of detention. The act said nothing about growing the plant, which restricted its production and tradepoppy and hemp could still be grown legally. Possession itself was not an offence until 1997.

possession 104 · cultivation 105 · enforcement 106 · sharing 101 · consumption 106 · access 81

Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 8 stycznia 1951 r. o środkach farmaceutycznych i odurzających oraz artykułach sanitarnych Alkoholizm i Narkomania — Justyna Konikowska-Kuczyńska, Odpowiedzialność karna za posiadanie narkotyków (2008, PDF) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Poland

Possession isof any amount has been a crime since December 2000, though prosecutors may drop small-amount cases. Medical flower has been available in pharmacieslegal on any doctor's prescription since 2017 and in pharmacies since late 2018. A bill to stop punishing 15 grams and one plant has waited in the Sejm since March 2026.

Article 62 of the drug law punishes possession of any quantity with up to three years in prison, or up to one year in minor cases, and one to ten years for a large quantity. From 1985 to 1997 possession was not an offence at all, and until December 2000 a small amount for personal use went unpunished. Article 62a, added in force since December 2011, lets prosecutors drop a case involving a small amount for personal use —, but it is discretionary and has been used sparingly: in 2012 it ended 2, so thousands are still convicted each year307 cases, 11.6% of those prosecutors handled. In 2014 the Constitutional Tribunal held that punishing possession and growing is constitutional.

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Growing cannabis is a crime with up to three years, more for larger crops. Patients may not grow their own: the first draft of the 2017 medical law would have allowed it, and that part was removed. A bill filed in March 2026 would stop punishing one plant; it has not been debated.

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No adult-use source. But medicalMedical cannabis flower has been dispensed by pharmacieslegal since November 2017, and withbut the first product reached pharmacies only in December 2018: seven kilograms, sold in three cities. With over 100,000 patients in 2025 it is now one of Europe's largest medical markets. In November 2024 the government required an in-person first consultation, which sharply cut online prescribing.

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Domestic cultivation for medical use is restricted to stateSince May 2022 research institutes supervised by the agriculture minister may grow cannabis for pharmaceutical raw material, under a permit from the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector valid for up to five years and with each plant tracked. Nobody else may; almost all supply is imported. Fibre hemp, with no more than 0.3% of THC and THCA together, is a legal crop.

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Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 1 kwietnia 2011 r. o zmianie ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii Sejm (ISAP) — Ustawa z dnia 24 marca 2022 r. o zmianie ustawy o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii Constitutional Tribunal — press release after the hearing, SK 55/13 Drugreporter — Polish Parliament says yes to medical cannabis (22 June 2017) Bankier.pl / PAP — 15 gramów, jeden krzak i zero kary (27 March 2026) Spider's Web — Medyczna marihuana: nowe stężenie THC (22 March 2019) Institute of Public Affairs — Drug policy in Poland: time for a change (June 2010, PDF) 8 unchanged

Recorded possession offences rose from 1,896 in 1999, the last full year before any amount became a crime, to 31,260 in 2007 and 30,548 in 2008, and stood at 18,441 in 2012. In 2008 possession made up 53% of charges under the drug act and trafficking 24%; 65% of charges involved marijuana. A study of Kraków court files from 2008 found 79% of marijuana cases involved less than three grams. In 2007, 714 people were in prison for possession. These are the latest figures found; all cover every drug, not cannabis alone.

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