Context not part of the score

Seeds and clones

Whether seeds and cuttings may be bought, kept, planted and sold.

Seeds and cuttings fall between the cracks of drug laws, and countries treat them very differently. Italy’s highest court held in 2012 that offering seeds for sale is not a crime, and in the United States the drug agency wrote in 2022 that seeds within the hemp definition are not federally controlled. Elsewhere seeds are banned outright, as cannabis.

Where adults may grow at home, how they get seeds becomes part of the law: Morocco’s legal programme imported its first seeds in 2023. These sections give four statuses each: whether seeds and clones may be held and planted, and whether they may be sold. The figures differ widely between countries; see the overview of the legality of cannabis.^[1]

profiles with this section: 191
explained as not applicable: 0
not researched yet: 29
of 220 places covered: 87%

Seeds, on the map

Select a country for its section. The interactive map →

LegalGrey areaPermitted purposesLicence onlyIllegalNot researched yet

Seeds: how the 191 researched places divide

29 places have no status yet.

Status	What it means	Places
Legal	Adults may buy, hold and sow them	14
Grey area	Sold or held openly, but germinating them is an offence or the law is silent	82
Permitted purposes	May be held or planted for specified purposes under legal conditions, such as cultivation notification	1
Licence only	Only for licensed growers, such as hemp, medical or registered clubs	41
Illegal	Treated as cannabis or expressly banned	53

Country by country

The opening of each profile's section; the country's page has it in full, with sources.

Only places with a section

Country	Seeds	What the profile says
AbkhaziaAsia	—	Not researched yet
AfghanistanAsia	Grey area	The 2010 law controlled the cannabis plant and made no seed exception; sowing was cultivation and carried the Article 41 penalties.
AlbaniaEurope	Illegal	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 use.
AlgeriaAfrica	Grey area	Law 04-18 defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops, "excluding the seeds and the leaves that are not accompanied by the tops", so seed on its own is not a controlled drug.
AndorraEurope	—	Not researched yet
AngolaAfrica	Grey area	Law 3/99 punishes anyone who, without authorisation, cultivates, sells, buys, transports or holds plants listed in its tables with eight to twelve years in prison. The law does not mention seeds.
Antigua and BarbudaNorth America	Grey area	The 2018 amendment makes it lawful for a household to cultivate up to four plants on its property. It does not mention seeds or say where plants may be obtained.
ArgentinaSouth America	Licence only	Law 23.737 punishes anyone who, without authorisation, sows or grows plants or keeps seeds to produce narcotics, or trades in such plants or their seeds, with four to fifteen years in prison.
ArmeniaAsia	Licence only	Industrial-hemp seed and planting material are available only within the licensed producer system; the law requires approved seed and nursery facilities. Psychoactive cannabis is on List No.
ArubaNorth America	—	Not researched yet
AustraliaOceania	Illegal	Even in the Australian Capital Territory, where adults may grow two plants, selling or supplying cannabis seeds is illegal and there is no legal way to obtain them; the only lawful cannabis is what a resident grows.
AustriaEurope	Grey area	Seeds unmixed with flowering or fruiting tops are excluded from the controlled-drug definition of cannabis. Growing plants or cuttings becomes a criminal offence when the purpose is to obtain the controlled drug;
AzerbaijanAsia	Grey area	The drug law controls plants containing narcotic substances and their parts but names no seed exception, so whether cannabis seed on its own is a controlled drug is not stated.
BahamasNorth America	Illegal	The Dangerous Drugs Act defines Indian hemp as all parts of any plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, and prohibits cultivating or trading it without narrow ministerial authority.
BahrainAsia	Illegal	The law restricts dealing in listed cannabis plants, their parts and seeds, and defines cultivation to include handling seeds. Table 6 exempts cannabis fibre and seeds treated so they cannot germinate;
BangladeshAsia	Grey area	The Narcotics Control Act 2018 defines cultivation as sowing seed, planting or raising seedlings, or grafting any plant that can be a source of a drug, and section 9 bans it along with sale and possession.
BarbadosNorth America	Licence only	Cannabis seeds and immature plants are medicinal cannabis under the licensed system. Growing requires a cultivator licence, while importing seeds, plants or tissue culture requires an import licence, an approval certificate for…
BelarusEurope	Grey area	The narcotics law prohibits sowing or growing drug-containing plants, subject to exceptions in legislation. Growing to obtain drugs is punishable under a separate cultivation offence.
BelgiumEurope	Grey area	The 2017 royal decree says growing cannabis plants "is prohibited and cannot be authorised", apart from hemp grown under EU farm rules, and it does not mention seeds.
BelizeNorth America	Licence only	The Act treats every part of a cannabis plant as cannabis, so drug-type seeds and cuttings remain controlled.
BeninAfrica	Grey area	Article 8 of Law 97-025 bans growing the cannabis plant anywhere in the country and obliges whoever owns or occupies land to destroy any plants that come up. The law does not mention seeds;
BermudaNorth America	—	Not researched yet
BhutanAsia	Illegal	Cannabis includes the plant, flowering tops, seeds and leaves. Planting a seed is cultivation under section 128, and there is no seed-sale, seed-import or hemp-seed exception; even fewer than five plants is a misdemeanour.
BoliviaSouth America	Illegal	The 1988 law prohibits production or keeping of controlled plants and their seeds. Unlawful sowing, planting, harvesting, growing or collecting controlled plants or their parts carries one to two years in prison, rising to two to…
Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope	Licence only	Industrial hemp growing requires a permit for the specified fibre and seed purposes. The medicines agency describes an industrial ceiling of 0.2% THC in dry plant matter.
BotswanaAfrica	Licence only	The Cannabis Act 2025 defines cultivation to include "planting, sowing, scattering the seeds" and gives the National Cannabis Control Authority power to license cultivation and propagation.
BrazilSouth America	Grey area	Law 11.343 does not name seeds. It treats sowing or growing plants for a small amount for personal use like possession, with a warning, community service or an educational course instead of prison (Article 28), and punishes…
British Virgin IslandsNorth America	—	Not researched yet
BruneiAsia	Illegal	The Misuse of Drugs Act defines cannabis as any plant of the genus "or any part of such plant, by whatever name it is called", with no exception for seed, and section 8 makes it an offence to cultivate any plant of the genus…
BulgariaEurope	Licence only	Cannabis plants may be grown only by a registered farmer, for fibre, for seed for feed or food, or for sowing, under a permit from the agriculture minister.
Burkina FasoAfrica	—	Not researched yet
BurundiAfrica	—	Not researched yet
Cabo VerdeAfrica	Grey area	Personal-use cultivation remains criminal under article 20, while Decree-Law 92/92 reserves authorised cultivation to scientific or teaching purposes. Growing cuttings has no recreational exemption.
CambodiaAsia	Grey area	The 2012 law includes cannabis among narcotic plants and makes unauthorised cultivation an offence. Licensed activity is limited to research, clinical, scientific or industrial purposes.
CameroonAfrica	Grey area	Article 8 of Law 97/019 bans growing the cannabis plant anywhere in the country and obliges landholders to destroy plantations that appear on their land. The law speaks of plants and substances and does not mention seeds.
CanadaNorth America	Legal	Licensed sellers may sell cannabis seeds and cannabis plants. An adult may also give another adult up to 30 cannabis seeds, because one seed counts as one gram of dried cannabis toward the 30 gram distribution limit, and up to…
Cayman IslandsNorth America	—	Not researched yet
Central African RepublicAfrica	—	Not researched yet
ChadAfrica	—	Not researched yet
ChileSouth America	Grey area	Law 20.000 punishes sowing, planting or growing cannabis without authorisation from the agriculture service, unless the grower shows the plants are for exclusive personal use or, since 2023, holds a medical prescription.
ChinaAsia	Illegal	The Narcotics Control Law forbids illicitly growing cannabis plants and makes it illegal to trade in, transport, carry or possess seeds or seedlings of drug plants that have not been inactivated.
ColombiaSouth America	Legal	Seeds for planting are handled under a justice ministry licence, and licensed producers may hand up to twenty seeds every six months to an unlicensed person to supply home growing.
ComorosAfrica	Grey area	The 2020 Penal Code punishes the illicit production of narcotics with ten to twenty years (Article 206) and does not name cultivation or seeds separately.
CongoAfrica	Grey area	Article 7 of Law 30-2025 bans growing plants classed as narcotic by the international conventions anywhere in the country, and obliges whoever owns or occupies land to destroy them. The law does not mention seeds.
Costa RicaNorth America	Grey area	Courts require evidence of trafficking before punishing cultivation for personal use, so possessing and planting one's own seed or cutting sits in the same case-specific grey area.
Côte d'IvoireAfrica	Grey area	Article 3 of Law 2022-407 punishes growing a listed drug without authorisation with five to ten years in prison and a fine of 500,000 to 50 million francs. The offence articles do not mention seeds.
CroatiaEurope	Illegal	The Act on Combating Drug Abuse defines growing a plant to obtain drugs as including "acquiring and possessing seed", sowing and planting, and Article 3 bans it outside medical, veterinary, scientific and teaching use.
CubaNorth America	Illegal	Article 235(1)(d) of the 2022 Penal Code punishes unauthorised cultivation of Cannabis, known as marihuana, and knowing possession of its seeds or plant parts with four to ten years.
CuraçaoNorth America	—	Not researched yet
CyprusEurope	Grey area	Supplying cannabis seeds while knowing the recipient plans to grow illegally is an offence; the seed-import restriction was added in 2019. Licensed industrial-hemp production and seed supply have an express statutory exception.
CzechiaEurope	Legal	The Addictive Substances Act defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting top, or an above-ground part containing the top. Seeds and young plants without those tops fall outside that definition.
DenmarkEurope	Grey area	Cannabis seeds are excluded from the controlled-substances order, so possession and sale are lawful; germinating them is not, unless the resulting cultivation is licensed or permitted.
DjiboutiAfrica	—	Not researched yet
DominicaNorth America	Legal	Cannabis is defined as the plant and every part of it, so seeds and cuttings fall within the 28 g possession exception.
Dominican RepublicNorth America	Illegal	Law 50-88 defines marijuana as all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa, growing or not, and "its seeds"; only mature stalks, their fibre and oil or paste made from the seeds are left out.
DR CongoAfrica	—	Not researched yet
EcuadorSouth America	Licence only	The agriculture ministry's Agreement 109 sets up seven licences for cannabis with less than 1% THC. Licence 1 covers importing and selling seeds or cuttings, and Licence 2 sowing and producing them;
EgyptAfrica	Illegal	Law 182 of 1960 bans growing the plants on its Table V and says no one may import, possess, buy, sell or hand over those plants at any stage of growth "or their seeds", apart from plant parts exempted in a separate table.
El SalvadorNorth America	Illegal	The drug law counts as drugs "the seeds, flowers, plants or parts of them" used as raw material for drugs.
Equatorial GuineaAfrica	—	Not researched yet
EritreaAfrica	—	Not researched yet
EstoniaEurope	Grey area	Section 188 of the Penal Code makes the illegal growing of cannabis a crime, punished with a fine or up to five years in prison, and one to ten years for a group or a repeat offender, so a cutting or seedling is covered as a…
EswatiniAfrica	Illegal	The 1922 Act defines cannabis, dagga, intsangu or Indian hemp as "the whole or any portion of the plant" and all its extracts and preparations, under whatever name.
EthiopiaAfrica	Illegal	No seed or cutting exception was found: planting for private use falls under the personal-use offence, with up to seven years' rigorous imprisonment.
Faroe IslandsEurope	Legal	The cannabis definition excludes hemp seeds and isolated hemp fibre. Growing plants is separately regulated and requires a permit, including the specified low-THC commercial route.
FijiOceania	Illegal	Schedule 1 of the Illicit Drugs Control Act lists cannabis seed by name as an illicit drug, alongside the plant, its fruit, resin and oil, and the Act bans importing, cultivating, selling, supplying and possessing them.
FinlandEurope	Grey area	Finnish law punishes growing hemp only when it is grown as a drug. In 2020 the Court of Appeal of Eastern Finland overturned the conviction of a man who grew hemp to collect seed for breeding and had told the police beforehand.
FranceEurope	Licence only	Only certified seed of authorised Cannabis sativa varieties at or below 0.3% THC may be used, and only active farmers may cultivate hemp flowers and leaves.
French PolynesiaOceania	Licence only	The hemp pilot allows approved growers to use five listed low-THC varieties and registered seed, inside quota'd plots.
GabonAfrica	Grey area	The code's drug provisions expressly cover cannabis and its derivatives and punish organising illicit production. They do not specify a personal plant allowance or separately settle possession and trade in ungerminated seeds.
GambiaAfrica	—	Not researched yet
GeorgiaAsia	Grey area	The narcotics law defines cannabis as the flowering and fruiting tops of the hemp plant, leaving out seeds and leaves that come without tops.
GermanyEurope	Legal	Handling cannabis seeds is allowed unless they are meant for unlawful growing, and seeds for home growing may be imported only from other EU member states.
GhanaAfrica	Licence only	Only cannabis with no more than 0.3% THC may be grown, and only under a licence from the Narcotics Control Commission; the regulator repeated in April 2026 that anything above that limit falls outside the law.
GibraltarEurope	—	Not researched yet
GreeceEurope	Licence only	The drug law deals with seeds only inside its licensing regime for medical cannabis. Under Article 2A a producer holding a state approval may import seed for sowing and propagating material of varieties with more than 0.2% THC,…
GreenlandNorth America	—	Not researched yet
GrenadaNorth America	Grey area	The 2026 amendment defines cannabis as any plant of the genus, growing or not, and exempts four or fewer plants found on a household's premises from the cultivation and possession offences.
GuamOceania	Legal	Seeds are part of the legal cannabis definition, and adults may keep and sow them within the six-plant home grow. Immature plants may be gifted, and licensed growers may receive seeds or immature plants from adults.
GuatemalaNorth America	Illegal	The drug law includes drug-producing seeds, flowers, plants and plant parts in its definition. Unauthorised sowing, growing or harvesting carries five to twenty years in prison plus a fine;
GuernseyEurope	Grey area	Seeds separated from the rest of the plant are excluded from the law’s cannabis definition. Cultivating any cannabis plant still needs permission, so seed possession and germination have different legal consequences.
GuineaAfrica	Grey area	The 2016 Penal Code punishes unlawful drug-plant cultivation. Article 832 sets one to three years, a fine equal to three times the value seized, or either punishment alone, for small personal cultivation. It gives no plant limit.
Guinea-BissauAfrica	Grey area	Article 20 covers small personal cultivation without legalising it, while article 3 covers other unauthorised cultivation.
GuyanaSouth America	Grey area	The narcotics act makes it an offence to cultivate any prohibited plant, and defines cultivating to include "sowing or scattering the seed" and planting the plant "or any part thereof".
HaitiNorth America	Grey area	Article 10 of the 2001 drug law bans growing the cannabis plant, apart from medical or scientific permits under Article 43, and obliges landholders to destroy such plantations. The law mentions seeds only for the opium poppy.
HondurasNorth America	Illegal	According to the Transnational Institute's summary of the 1989 drug law (Decree 126-89), Article 7 prohibits producing, planting, cultivating and gathering plants or seeds that contain narcotic or controlled ingredients.
Hong KongAsia	Illegal	Viable cannabis seeds are expressly part of the legal definition of cannabis, so possessing, supplying or importing them is illegal, and germinating them is cultivation.
HungaryEurope	Licence only	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.
IcelandEurope	Licence only	The drug act bans importing, selling, handing over, producing and possessing cannabis. Since 2021 the Food and Veterinary Authority may permit imports of eligible Cannabis sativa seed for industrial-hemp cultivation, with a 0.2%…
IndiaAsia	Grey area	The 1985 Act defines ganja as the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, "excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops", so loose seeds are not a narcotic drug.
IndonesiaAsia	Illegal	The Class I list covers the cannabis plant and all its parts, including seeds, fruit and straw, and its products.
IranAsia	Grey area	The Anti-Narcotics Law punishes growing cannabis only when it is done "for the purpose of producing narcotic drugs" (Article 2).
IraqAsia	Illegal	Article 24 expressly bans the cannabis plant at every growth stage, including seeds, except for medical or scientific purposes under the law.
IrelandEurope	Grey area	Since 1984 the Misuse of Drugs Act has defined cannabis as any plant of the genus Cannabis or any part of it, but not seed separated from the plant. Seeds are therefore not a controlled drug.
Isle of ManEurope	Grey area	Seeds can be imported or exported without a GSC cannabis licence for that activity alone, while shipments outside the UK/Isle of Man route require the plant-health paperwork described by the regulator.
IsraelAsia	Licence only	The Dangerous Drugs Ordinance treats the cannabis plant, all of its components and its derivatives as a dangerous drug.
ItalyEurope	Grey area	The Court of Cassation's united sections held in 2012 that merely offering cannabis seeds for sale is not prohibited: it is an unpunishable preparatory act, since the buyer's use of the seed cannot be known.
JamaicaNorth America	Grey area	The justice ministry's fact sheet on the 2015 amendment says each household may legally grow up to five ganja plants. It does not mention seeds or say where a household may obtain plants.
JapanAsia	Grey area	The Act defines cannabis as the plant excluding its seed and mature stalk, so an adult can buy and hold hemp seed without committing a cannabis offence.
JerseyEurope	—	Not researched yet
JordanAsia	Illegal	The amended narcotics law prohibits controlled plants and their seeds throughout growth, with an exception for licensed handling under regulation. Personal-use cultivation has a separate penalty from cultivation for trade.
KazakhstanAsia	Grey area	The 1998 narcotics law lists the cannabis plant as any plant of the genus containing THC, "with the exception of seeds and roots, if they are not accompanied by the plant itself or other parts of plant".
KenyaAfrica	Grey area	The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops, excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops.
KiribatiOceania	Illegal	Indian hemp includes cannabis plants and their parts; the ordinance separately prohibits importing or exporting cannabis seeds and criminalises cultivation.
KosovoEurope	Illegal	The drug law includes supplying and holding seeds, sowing and growing within cultivation for obtaining narcotics, and prohibits cultivating plants from which narcotics can be obtained. Cannabis is expressly listed in Table I.
KuwaitAsia	Licence only	The drug law allows licensed import of prohibited plants and their seeds for authorised institutional medical or scientific purposes.
KyrgyzstanAsia	Grey area	The cannabis-straw and marijuana definitions expressly exclude seeds. Small unauthorised growing is nevertheless an administrative offence, and larger or group cultivation can be criminal;
LaosAsia	Licence only	Approved hemp businesses must use registered seed varieties. The Penal Code sets one to three years in prison for trading, distributing, transporting, possessing or moving more than ten grams of marijuana seeds across borders.
LatviaEurope	Grey area	The agriculture ministry stated in 2017 that the narcotics law does not apply to seeds, so trade in Indian hemp seed is not prohibited in Latvia, while sowing and growing those plants is banned and punished under section 256 of…
LebanonAsia	Licence only	Law 178 article 3 lets the regulator license cannabis seeds for industrial hemp and seedlings at any growth stage for medical use; outside a licence, planting is cultivation under article 11 and carries life.
LesothoAfrica	Licence only	The 2008 Act defines cannabis as any part of the plant "including the seeds", and cultivation as including planting, sowing and scattering the seed.
LiberiaAfrica	Illegal	Section 14.82 expressly includes cannabis seeds and all parts of the plant in its definition of cannabis, covering viable seeds and cuttings.
LibyaAfrica	Illegal	Article 30 bans growing, importing, owning, holding, buying or selling the listed plants at any stage of growth, as well as their seeds, except for licensed medical or scientific purposes.
LiechtensteinEurope	Grey area	The Narcotics Act treats cannabis-type material with an average total THC content of at least 1% as a banned narcotic.
LithuaniaEurope	Licence only	The Fibre Hemp Law covers catalogue varieties with up to 0.3% THC, grown from certified seed. Gardening hemp may be grown among or beside other garden plants, up to 20 plants per 100 m² on at most 0.1 ha.
LuxembourgEurope	Legal	Home growing is authorised only from seed: up to four plants per household. Seeds must be labelled with the producer's details, the number of seeds and a health warning.
MacauAsia	Grey area	The schedules list the cannabis plant rather than its seeds, so holding or selling seed is not expressly an offence, but sowing it is cultivation. A cutting is a living plant, and selling a plant is trafficking.
MadagascarAfrica	Illegal	Cannabis seeds and cuttings are part of a Table I plant. Article 9 bans acquiring or possessing Table I plants and substances, and no seed or clone trade is licensed.
MalawiAfrica	Licence only	The Cannabis Regulation Act 2020 puts cultivating, propagating, supplying, possessing and selling cannabis under licences from the Cannabis Regulatory Authority, and import or export under a ministerial permit.
MalaysiaAsia	Illegal	Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 makes it an offence to possess cannabis "or the seeds of the plants from which they may be obtained" without authorisation, with up to five years in prison.
MaldivesAsia	—	Not researched yet
MaliAfrica	Grey area	Article 9 of Law 01-078 bans growing the cannabis plant anywhere in the country and obliges whoever owns or occupies land to destroy any plants that come up. The offence articles read do not mention seeds.
MaltaEurope	Legal	The cannabis authority states that for Maltese drug law cannabis does not include the seeds, while every cannabis plant falls within the definition. Adults may grow four plants per household;
Marshall IslandsOceania	Illegal	Marijuana includes seeds and any part of a cannabis plant, growing or otherwise. The Act prohibits possession, planting, cultivation and distribution outside its specified exceptions.
MauritaniaAfrica	Grey area	The 1993 law punishes growing a high-risk drug, and the 2008 law bans cannabis cultivation, but neither expressly mentions seeds; the Convention excludes seeds from "cannabis".
MauritiusAfrica	Illegal	The Dangerous Drugs Act defines gandia as "all the parts of the plant" Cannabis sativa or indica, with no exception for seed, and section 5 says no person shall cultivate the cannabis plant.
MexicoNorth America	Licence only	After the Supreme Court's 2021 ruling an adult can apply to the health regulator COFEPRIS for a personal-use permit, which covers acquiring seed, sowing, growing and harvesting.
MicronesiaOceania	Illegal	National and Pohnpei definitions include the plant, viable seeds, resin and preparations, with specified exclusions for mature stalks, fibre and sterilised non-germinating seed.
MoldovaEurope	Licence only	Law 201/2025 leaves seeds, and leaves without flowering tops, out of its definition of cannabis. Article 14 bans growing cannabis for drugs and allows hemp with up to 0.3% THC only under an authorisation from the food safety…
MonacoEurope	Grey area	The cannabis plant is included in the general prohibition, while industrial varieties require a ministerial authorisation. Unlawful cultivation carries five to ten years in prison under article 2.
MongoliaAsia	Grey area	The 2002 narcotics control law counts planting, collecting and harvesting plants with narcotic effect as manufacture, which needs a licence from the pharmaceuticals authority and is otherwise prohibited.
MontenegroEurope	Licence only	The drug law includes acquiring or holding seed, sowing, planting and growing within cultivation of plants for drugs.
MoroccoAfrica	Licence only	Under Law 13-21 importing or exporting cannabis seeds and plants needs an authorisation from the regulator ANRAC, and licence holders may bring in only seed the agency has approved.
MozambiqueAfrica	Grey area	Article 34 of Law 3/97 punishes unauthorised cannabis cultivation; the provisions reviewed do not mention seeds. Growing for personal use falls under the lighter Article 55(3) tier.
MyanmarAsia	Grey area	The 1993 narcotics law counts the cannabis plant itself as a narcotic drug and punishes cultivating it with five to ten years in prison. The law does not mention seeds.
NamibiaAfrica	Illegal	The 1971 Act lists as a prohibited dependence-producing drug "Cannabis (Dagga) and the whole plant or any portion or product thereof", which takes in seed and cuttings alike.
NauruOceania	Illegal	Cannabis seeds and plants are listed as illicit drugs. Cultivation includes planting, sowing and scattering seeds, as well as tending and harvesting.
NepalAsia	Grey area	The 1976 Act controls the cannabis plant and names no seed exception; sowing is cultivation and is punished under section 14. Clones are plants, so keeping or trading them falls under the same offence.
NetherlandsEurope	Legal	The Opium Act's list of drugs covers every part of the hemp plant except the seeds, so seeds are sold openly. Cuttings are plants and fall under the growing ban, with the same practice of not prosecuting up to five plants.
New ZealandOceania	Permitted purposes	Since 28 May 2026, qualifying hemp seeds, seedlings and cuttings may be held, procured, sold and supplied domestically for the permitted hemp purposes under regulation 14A.
NicaraguaNorth America	Grey area	Article 349 of the Penal Code punishes anyone who, "for the purpose of exploitation or trade", illicitly sows, grows or harvests plants or seeds from which controlled substances can be obtained, with five to ten years in prison.
NigerAfrica	Grey area	Article 8 prohibits growing cannabis and requires destruction of plants on occupied land. Small personal cultivation still carries criminal penalties under Article 145.
NigeriaAfrica	Illegal	The Indian Hemp Act defines Indian hemp as "any plant or part of a plant of the genus cannabis", with no exception for seed, and makes it an offence knowingly to plant or cultivate any cannabis plant, as well as to import, sell…
North KoreaAsia	—	Not researched yet
North MacedoniaEurope	Licence only	Medical/scientific growers need health ministry approval with government consent, plus agriculture ministry permission before sowing or planting. Approved plans and records cover seeds, seedlings, transplants and plant counts.
Northern CyprusEurope	—	Not researched yet
Northern Mariana IslandsOceania	Legal	"Marijuana" includes seeds, but "usable marijuana" excludes them, and adults may hold and sow seeds within the six-plant home grow.
NorwayEurope	Grey area	Norway's narcotics list defines cannabis as the above-ground parts of any plant of the genus, "except the seeds". Seeds are therefore not narcotics.
OmanAsia	Illegal	Article 3 prohibits unauthorised growing and dealings in listed plants, their parts at every growth stage and their seeds. Schedule 5 expressly names male and female cannabis;
PakistanAsia	Grey area	The Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997 defines cannabis as the resin and the flowering or fruiting tops, "excluding the seed and leaves when not accompanied by the tops", so loose seed is not a narcotic drug.
PalauOceania	Illegal	Marijuana includes seeds, and production expressly includes planting, cultivation, growing and harvesting. There is no personal seed or clone exception; cultivation carries up to eight years and a $5,000 fine.
PalestineAsia	Illegal	Article 2 of Decree-Law 18 of 2015 bans importing, growing, owning, holding, buying or selling plants that yield drugs, or their seeds, at any stage of growth.
PanamaNorth America	Illegal	The Penal Code punishes sowing, growing or keeping the seeds of plants from which drugs are made. In July 2023 a man in Los Santos was sentenced to 80 months for "cultivation and custody of seeds and plants of marijuana" under…
Papua New GuineaOceania	Illegal	The Controlled Substance Act 2021 defines cannabis as a cannabis plant, living or dead, including the flowering or fruiting top, leaf, seed, stalk or any other part.
ParaguaySouth America	Licence only	Decree 2725 of 2019 regulates importing propagation material for industrial hemp, along with its cultivation, processing and sale, all under authorisation from the agriculture ministry working with the anti-drug secretariat and…
PeruSouth America	Licence only	Unlicensed transfer of cannabis seed is a crime under the Penal Code, while the medical regulation defines seed to include any botanical structure intended for sexual or asexual propagation.
PhilippinesAsia	Illegal	Republic Act 9165 defines cannabis as any part of the plant "and seeds thereof", so seeds fall under the same possession and sale offences as the drug.
PolandEurope	Grey area	Seeds are excluded from the statutory definition of non-fibre cannabis herb. That definition covers above-ground material exceeding 0.3% combined THC and THCA, subject to rounding.
PortugalEurope	Licence only	Certified sowing-seed producers must be licensed by DGAV, with common-catalogue varieties; seed multiplication above 0.3% THC also needs prior INFARMED permission.
Puerto RicoNorth America	—	Not researched yet
QatarAsia	Illegal	Law 9 of 1987 bans growing the listed plants (Article 28) and, in Article 29, importing, owning, holding, buying or selling them at any stage of growth, as well as their seeds;
RéunionAfrica	—	Not researched yet
RomaniaEurope	Grey area	Cannabis seeds are sold openly, including as souvenirs, while unauthorised psychoactive cultivation is criminal.
RussiaEurope	Grey area	Lawyers answering on a Russian legal advice site say hemp seeds are part of the plant but contain no narcotic, are not on the government's lists, and may be bought and sold for any purpose except sowing.
RwandaAfrica	Grey area	The 2021 ministerial order defines cannabis to include its seeds for agricultural purposes and lists eight licences and permits.
Saint Kitts and NevisNorth America	Grey area	The Drugs Act excludes separated cannabis seed from its definition of cannabis, so seed may be held and traded even though germinating it is lawful only within the personal, religious or medicinal cultivation rules.
Saint LuciaNorth America	Legal	A household may cultivate up to four cannabis plants, and the cultivation regulations expressly allow the grower to obtain cannabis seeds. Plants and propagating material count toward the four-plant limit;
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesNorth America	Licence only	Sowing cannabis seed is legally part of cultivation, and growing remains confined to medicinal cultivation or traditional-cultivator licences.
SamoaOceania	Illegal	The Narcotics Act 1967 makes it an offence both to cultivate a prohibited plant and to have in one's possession the seed of a prohibited plant, each with a maximum of 14 years in prison.
San MarinoEurope	Licence only	Medical cultivation rules require certified seed or cuttings from certified seed, with records of origin and traceability.
São Tomé and PríncipeAfrica	—	Not researched yet
Saudi ArabiaAsia	Illegal	Article 3 of the narcotics law bans growing the listed plants and importing, owning or holding any part of them at any stage of growth, as well as their seeds;
SenegalAfrica	Grey area	Article 8 of the 1997 Drug Code bans growing the cannabis plant anywhere in the country, and landholders must destroy plantations or report them. The articles read do not mention seeds.
SerbiaEurope	Licence only	Cannabis varieties capable of containing more than 0.3% THC are prohibited. Licensed hemp growers must use registered varieties below 0.3%, with properly documented seed and an agriculture permit covering one production year.
SeychellesAfrica	Grey area	The 2020 medicinal cannabis regulations define cultivating to include "sowing or scattering the seed" and planting the cannabis plant "or any part thereof", and state that a person shall not cultivate cannabis of any form or…
Sierra LeoneAfrica	Licence only	Cannabis is defined to include seeds and leaves in the 2008 Act. Licensed medical growers must use traceable planting material labelled by species, variety, chemical type and origin;
SingaporeAsia	Illegal	The Misuse of Drugs Act defines cannabis as any part of a plant of the genus Cannabis, with no exception for seeds, so seeds and cuttings are controlled drugs like the rest of the plant.
Sint MaartenNorth America	—	Not researched yet
SlovakiaEurope	Grey area	Hemp may be grown for industrial fibre and seed or for research. A ministry permit normally lasts one year, but varieties in the EU common catalogue, including those listed when sown, are exempt from that permit requirement.
SloveniaEurope	Grey area	The controlled-cannabis definition excludes seeds, so possessing seed is not itself a drug offence, but germinating a high-THC variety remains unlawful outside licensed medical or scientific production.
Solomon IslandsOceania	Illegal	Section 2 defines Indian hemp as Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica or any portion. Section 5 expressly prohibits importing or exporting cannabis seeds and plant portions;
SomaliaAfrica	—	Not researched yet
SomalilandAfrica	—	Not researched yet
South AfricaAfrica	Grey area	Nothing in the law names seeds or cuttings for private growers: the 2018 ruling protects an adult's own cultivation in private, and selling cannabis for adult use remains dealing.
South KoreaAsia	Grey area	The Narcotics Control Act's definition of marijuana expressly excludes "the seeds and roots of the hemp plant", its mature stalks and products made from them.
South SudanAfrica	Grey area	Section 382 of the Penal Code Act 2008 defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, "excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops", so loose seed is not a dangerous drug.
SpainEurope	Grey area	Grow shops interviewed in 2018 described selling seeds alongside soil, lamps and fertiliser. They said seeds contained no THC and that responsibility for subsequent growing lay with the buyer.
Sri LankaAsia	Licence only	Section 27 forbids sowing, planting, growing, obtaining or holding a hemp plant, or collecting or holding its seeds, pods, leaves, flowers or any other part, without the Minister's licence.
SudanAfrica	Illegal	Article 13 prohibits importing or dealing in controlled plants and seeds, including cultivation, ownership, sale, transfer and transport, at any stage of growth.
SurinameSouth America	Grey area	Article 2 of the 1998 Narcotics Act bans growing Cannabis sativa. Its schedule defines hemp as any part of the plant of the genus Cannabis from which the resin has not been extracted, without the express exception for seeds found…
SwedenEurope	Grey area	The narcotics control ordinance defines cannabis as the above-ground parts of any plant of the genus Cannabis "with the exception of seeds", so seeds are not narcotics.
SwitzerlandEurope	Illegal	Seeds intended to produce cannabis plants with at least 1% total THC are controlled under the narcotics list.
SyriaAsia	Illegal	Article 30 bans growing, importing, owning, holding or buying the listed plants at any stage of growth, as well as their seeds; only plant parts named in a separate schedule are exempt.
TaiwanAsia	Illegal	The Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act names cannabis seeds directly. Possessing them carries up to one year in prison, possessing or transferring them with intent to sell up to two years, and transporting or selling them for…
TajikistanAsia	Grey area	The drug law defines cultivation as sowing and growing controlled plants and reserves scientific cultivation for licensed research institutions.
TanzaniaAfrica	Illegal	On Mainland Tanzania, the amendment effective 2 October 2026 brings seeds, mature stalk and fibre into the cannabis definition.
ThailandAsia	Legal	Plants, seeds and unprocessed parts other than the flower sit outside the narcotics list, so domestic possession and trade are not narcotics offences; only the flower is a controlled herb.
Timor-LesteAsia	Grey area	The final law expressly schedules cannabis seeds not intended for sowing, alongside leaves, flowering tops, resin and oil.
TogoAfrica	Grey area	The 1998 drug law bans cannabis cultivation nationwide and requires landholders to destroy plants growing on their land; the offence articles do not mention seeds.
TongaOceania	Illegal	The Illicit Drugs Control Act lists cannabis seed, cannabis fruit and any part of any plant of the genus cannabis as illicit drugs. Possessing, growing or supplying any of them is an offence under section 4.
TransnistriaEurope	Grey area	The Supreme Court’s 2004 guidance describes sowing as planting seeds or seedlings without permission on any land, with the offence completed at the time of sowing.
Trinidad and TobagoNorth America	Legal	The 2019 amendment defines cannabis to include the plant's seeds, other than sterilised seed that cannot germinate.
TunisiaAfrica	Grey area	Law 92-52 covers listed narcotic plants at any stage of growth and bans growing, holding, buying or handing them over, but its articles do not mention seeds; the annexed table was not available.
TürkiyeAsia	Licence only	Hemp may be grown for fibre, seed and stalk only with a permit from the local administrative authority, in 21 named provinces, applied for between 1 January and 1 April each year;
TurkmenistanAsia	Grey area	The cultivation rule covers sowing and growing controlled plants and reserves permission to enterprises and institutions within state quotas.
TuvaluOceania	Licence only	The Act’s definition of cannabis includes any portion of the plant. The 2025 Act replaces the former seed-import section with a licensing rule covering import, cultivation, sale and use for medical and scientific purposes.
UgandaAfrica	Grey area	The Act defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, excluding the seeds, so loose seed is not itself a narcotic drug.
UkraineEurope	Grey area	The narcotics law's definition of cannabis excludes seeds, and the general seed law exempts an individual's non-commercial storage and use of seed.
United Arab EmiratesAsia	Licence only	Article 14 of Federal Decree-Law 30 of 2021 bans growing, importing, owning or holding the listed plants, or any other plant that yields drugs, at any stage of growth, as well as their seeds.
United KingdomEurope	Grey area	The Misuse of Drugs Act's definition of cannabis leaves out the seed, so buying and holding seeds is not an offence.
United StatesNorth America	Grey area	The DEA said in letters of January and December 2022 that any seed, tissue culture or other genetic material with no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC meets the definition of hemp and is not federally controlled;
UruguaySouth America	Licence only	Seeds and cuttings move only inside the regulated system. The regulator IRCCA alone imports them, for licensed producers, registered home growers and membership clubs.
US Virgin IslandsNorth America	—	Not researched yet
UzbekistanAsia	Grey area	Under the 1999 narcotics law, cultivating narcotic-containing plants is a state monopoly. Article 21 allows it only for state institutions for scientific purposes and, since a 2020 amendment, for companies holding a licence for…
VanuatuOceania	Licence only	The licensing Act covers importing and cultivating hemp or cannabis seeds and manufacturing and exporting industrial hemp or medical cannabis. Providing or selling a seed or plant contrary to the Act is an offence.
VenezuelaSouth America	Illegal	Article 151 of the 2010 Organic Drug Law is headed "illicit trafficking of seeds, resins and plants": sowing, growing, storing, transporting or distributing seeds or plants that contain or reproduce a controlled substance carries…
VietnamAsia	Grey area	The 2025 drug law, in force since 1 July 2026, names the cannabis plant as a narcotic plant and bans growing it or teaching others to grow it. Its list of activities that can be licensed leaves cultivation out.
YemenAsia	Illegal	Articles 28–29 prohibit growing the listed plants and dealing in them at every stage of growth, including their seeds. Schedule 5 expressly names male and female cannabis.
ZambiaAfrica	Licence only	The Industrial Hemp Act has been in force since 3 January 2025. It defines industrial hemp to include viable seed with no more than 0.3% THC, and a person must not grow, process, distribute, buy, export or research it without a…
ZimbabweAfrica	Licence only	The criminal code excludes seeds processed so that they cannot germinate from its cannabis-plant definition; viable cannabis seed is otherwise covered.

References

Wikipedia — Legality of cannabis