Expand Moldova: facilitation and smuggling tiers, driving and quantity history

Small personal possession without intent to supply is a contravention; since 28 August 202 … es the maximum to four years; especially large amounts carry one to six years.[@reform26] The ministry was preparing replacementReplacement quantity tables reached the [government-promotion stage in JulySeptember 2026](/history/moldova-quantity-tables-draft-2026/), so the old reported 2 g figure is not used here as a verified current ceiling.[@transition26]

Unauthorised cultivation without intent to supply, where it falls below the criminal offen … tion for drugs is prohibited; authorised industrial hemp follows a separate route.[@l201] Group or repeat contraventional cultivation within the same calendar year carries a MDL15,000–25,000 fine, community work or ten–fifteen days of administrative arrest.[@reform26,units]

label Personal cultivation below the criminal classification · treatment civil · term Contravention, Article 87(1) · fine min 10000 · fine 20000, label Group or repeat cultivation remaining a contravention · treatment civil · term Contravention, Article 87(2) · fine min 15000 · fine 25000 · prison min 10 days · prison 15 days · note Fine, community work or administrative arrest; repeat within same calendar year, label Large personal cultivation · treatment criminal · term Article 217(1) · fine min 10000 · f … cle 217-1(1) · prison min 2 years · prison 6 years · note Community work is an alternative

Giving or otherwise transferring drugs falls under unlawful supply, whose ordinary penalty … fifteen; especially large quantities or organised crime fifteen to seventeen.[@reform26] Organising illegal use carries two to five years or a MDL37,500–52,500 fine; maintaining or providing drug-use premises carries five to seven years or MDL75,000–100,000.[@reform26,units] The premises range rises to eight–twelve years for group or official-position aggravation, and twelve–fifteen for organised crime.[@reform26] Drug smuggling carries eight–ten years, rising to ten–twelve under specified aggravations and twelve–twenty for organised crime or especially large quantities.[@reform26]

reform26, units

label Ordinary supply or handling for supply · treatment criminal · term Article 217-1(2) … crime · treatment criminal · term Article 217-1(5) · prison min 15 years · prison 17 years, label Organising illegal drug use · treatment criminal · term Article 217-5(2) · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine min 37500 · fine 52500 · note Prison or a fine, label Maintaining/providing drug-use premises · treatment criminal · term Article 219(1) · prison min 5 years · prison 7 years · fine min 75000 · fine 100000 · note Prison or a fine, label Premises offence — group or official position · treatment criminal · term Article 219(2) · prison min 8 years · prison 12 years · note Occupational disqualification may also apply, label Premises offence — organised crime · treatment criminal · term Article 219(3) · prison min 12 years · prison 15 years · note Organised group, organisation or their benefit, label Drug smuggling · treatment criminal · term Article 248(6) · prison min 8 years · prison 10 years · note Separate border offence, label Aggravated drug smuggling · treatment criminal · term Article 248(7) · prison min 10 years · prison 12 years · note Specified group, position, value or large-quantity circumstances, label Drug smuggling — organised crime or especially large amount · treatment criminal · term Article 248(8) · prison min 12 years · prison 20 years · note Organised group, organisation or their benefit; or especially large amount

Distributing cannabis to other people falls under the criminal supply offence.[@reform26] Providing premises for illegal drug consumption is itself punishable under Article 219.[@reform26] The premises offence carries five to seven years or a MDL75,000–100,000 fine, with higher prison ranges for group or organised conduct.[@reform26,units]

reform26, units

Adults have no legal recreational supply, and passing cannabis to another person is a crim … separately criminalised even when the ordinary use offence is a contravention.[@reform26] Quantity classifications separate the tiers; the [2015 court ruling](/history/moldova-quantity-tables-upheld-2015/) upheld the government’s role in setting them.[@court15]

reform26, court15

Moldova Constitutional Court — Judgment 25, 13 October 2015 Moldova Constitutional Court — Decision 61, 5 June 2025 Moldova Constitutional Court — Decision 81, 14 May 2026 13 unchanged

MDL

impairment

Driving in a state of intoxication produced by narcotic or similar substances is criminal under Article 264-1.[@road26] Since [7 September 2024](/history/moldova-drug-driving-penalties-2024/), the ordinary offence carries a fine of 1,500–2,500 conventional units, MDL75,000–125,000, or one to three years in prison, with cancellation of the right to drive in either case.[@road24,units] Consuming drugs after an accident before testing or biological sampling is a separate offence, carrying 2,000–3,000 units or one to four years, again with cancellation.[@road26] The reproduced provisions do not state a numerical THC allowance.[@road26]

road26, road24, units

word Canabis · lang Romanian · meaning cannabis; official police usage · sources lab26, word Marijuana · lang Romanian · meaning herbal cannabis; police and ministry usage · sources lab26, hearing26, word Hașiș · lang Romanian · meaning hashish; ministry usage · sources hearing26, word Cânepă · lang Romanian · meaning hemp; legal crop term · sources l201

limited

Fine or criminal proceedings

Small personal possession brings MDL10,000–15,000; higher quantity classes or aggravation can be criminal