Context not part of the score
Research
Scientific research on cannabis in the country: who studies it, what they found, and what the law allows.
Modern cannabis science began with chemistry done under prohibition: in Israel, Raphael Mechoulam isolated THC in 1964 from hashish supplied by the police. Later work on the plant’s cannabinoids and the body’s own receptors grew from there.[1] Yet because cannabis sits in the strictest treaty schedules, scientists in many countries still need special licences to obtain it, and in some there is no legal route at all.
These sections say who studies cannabis in each country, what they found and what the law allows researchers to do. The map shows where research is open, licensed, restricted to narrow routes or blocked. On the advice of the World Health Organization, the UN moved cannabis out of its most restrictive schedule in 2020.
- profiles with this section
- 33
- explained as not applicable
- 0
- not researched yet
- 187
- of 220 places covered
- 15%
Cannabis research, on the map
Select a country for its section. The interactive map →
Section 18 allows the competent authority to authorise production, import, use or holding of Schedule I substances for medical or scientific…
Research is one of the four permitted purposes for licensed cultivation, manufacture and supply of controlled drugs;
Drug-ban exemptions cover medical, veterinary, scientific and teaching use, and the 2019 change allowed domestic medical-cannabis production — but no…
Czech cannabis science goes back to Palacký University in Olomouc, where Zdeněk Krejčí's department reported antibacterial effects of cannabis in…
Egypt has studied hashish since 1957 under the National Center for Social and Criminological Research.
German researchers published 260 papers on cannabis in 2025, and 41 clinical trials with a cannabis treatment had been registered in Germany by October 2026.
High-THC research growing is licensed, not outlawed: breeding, research growing and seed production of high-THC hemp are reserved for organisations…
In June 2025 the National Narcotics Board opened limited cannabis research to selected universities and began a pharmacy study with Udayana…
Researchers can obtain a GSC licence, separate from the commercial cultivation licence.
Jamaican doctors turned folk knowledge into medicine.
Cannabis research needs a health-ministry licence to grow the plant, and the law sets a separate research-grower category.
Institutional research is the only lawful route to the plant: Health Ministry Decision 289/2026 grants eligible institutions two-year permits for…
Only a public officer authorised by the Minister may grow cannabis, for research, educational, experimental or medical purposes;
Researchers can seek an exemption from the Minister of State for cannabis research or control work under article 32.
A scientific legal entity may grow hemp under a separate land-registration exception to the permit-and-contract route.
Dutch researchers publish over a hundred papers on cannabis a year, 140 in 2025, and 21 clinical trials with a cannabis or cannabinoid treatment had…
Nigerian doctors produced some of Africa’s earliest cannabis psychiatry.
The only lawful growing route doubles as the research route: article 7 permits growing licences for specified public bodies, colleges and research…
Institutional research growing runs through the agriculture minister's research institutes, which may grow medical cannabis with the Chief…
The only institutional route doubles as the research route: the health minister may license government bodies and recognised research institutes to…
List-2 substances, including cannabis, are permitted for research and exceptionally for therapy under legal controls, and the minister can authorise…
Singapore studies cannabis without growing it.
Research growing needs a health-ministry permit: hemp may be grown for research, and EU varieties aside, permits normally last one year.
The 2025 Medical and Scientific Cannabis Act opens licensed cultivation and processing for medical and research purposes;
Licensed academic researchers may grow or import cannabis for research with MFDS approval and reporting.
AEMPS lists nine holders of research cultivation authorisations as of 31 July 2026, including the Institute of Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology,…
Sweden produced the landmark 1987 Lancet study linking heavy cannabis use to schizophrenia: 45,570 conscripts followed for 15 years, with a sixfold…
Researchers can seek federal permission for controlled adult-use supply trials, with defined populations, products and evaluation plans.
Article 18 permits possession of controlled drugs for medical, research or training purposes, and the Controlled Drugs Act licenses institutions.
Scientific cultivation of drug-containing plants is reserved for licensed research institutions under the drug law;
Britain ran one of the largest cannabis trials of its era: the MRC-funded CAMS study treated 630 multiple-sclerosis patients at 33 UK centres with…
The cannabis regulator had granted 14 research licences by 2026, eight to private companies and six to public institutions such as the University of…
Article 30 allows government departments and scientific institutes to obtain licences to grow controlled plants for research;
Cannabis research: how the 33 researched places divide
187 places have no status yet.
| Status | What it means | Places | |
|---|---|---|---|
| By licence | Researchers can grow, import or hold cannabis under a special licence or permit | 29 | |
| Restricted | Research is limited to narrow routes, such as synthetic cannabinoids or approved medicines, not the plant | 4 |
Country by country
The opening of each profile's section; the country's page has it in full, with sources.
| Country | Cannabis research | What the profile says |
|---|---|---|
| AbkhaziaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| AfghanistanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| AlbaniaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| AlgeriaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| AndorraEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| AngolaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Antigua and BarbudaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| ArgentinaSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| ArmeniaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| ArubaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| AustraliaOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| AustriaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| AzerbaijanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| BahamasNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| BahrainAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| BangladeshAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| BarbadosNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| BelarusEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| BelgiumEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| BelizeNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| BeninAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| BermudaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| BhutanAsia | By licence | Section 18 allows the competent authority to authorise production, import, use or holding of Schedule I substances for medical or scientific research, teaching or forensic work, and the 2026 rules set research authorisations. |
| BoliviaSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| BotswanaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| BrazilSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| British Virgin IslandsNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| BruneiAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| BulgariaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Burkina FasoAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| BurundiAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Cabo VerdeAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| CambodiaAsia | By licence | Research is one of the four permitted purposes for licensed cultivation, manufacture and supply of controlled drugs; no cannabis research programme was verified beyond the licensing route. |
| CameroonAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| CanadaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Cayman IslandsNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Central African RepublicAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| ChadAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| ChileSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| ChinaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| ColombiaSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| ComorosAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| CongoAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Costa RicaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Côte d'IvoireAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| CroatiaEurope | By licence | Drug-ban exemptions cover medical, veterinary, scientific and teaching use, and the 2019 change allowed domestic medical-cannabis production — but no authorised producer or distributor was on sale by 2025, leaving research… |
| CubaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| CuraçaoNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| CyprusEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| CzechiaEurope | By licence | Czech cannabis science goes back to Palacký University in Olomouc, where Zdeněk Krejčí's department reported antibacterial effects of cannabis in 1955, and where the chemist Lumír Hanuš grew and analysed cannabis from the 1970s. |
| DenmarkEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| DjiboutiAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| DominicaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Dominican RepublicNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| DR CongoAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| EcuadorSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| EgyptAfrica | By licence | Egypt has studied hashish since 1957 under the National Center for Social and Criminological Research. Its programme produced the 850-taker prison study: smoking prevalent in 89.4 percent, use social in 82.5 percent, first-time… |
| El SalvadorNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Equatorial GuineaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| EritreaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| EstoniaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| EswatiniAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| EthiopiaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Faroe IslandsEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| FijiOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| FinlandEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| FranceEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| French PolynesiaOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| GabonAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| GambiaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| GeorgiaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| GermanyEurope | By licence | German researchers published 260 papers on cannabis in 2025, and 41 clinical trials with a cannabis treatment had been registered in Germany by October 2026. |
| GhanaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| GibraltarEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| GreeceEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| GreenlandNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| GrenadaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| GuamOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| GuatemalaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| GuernseyEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| GuineaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Guinea-BissauAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| GuyanaSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| HaitiNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| HondurasNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Hong KongAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| HungaryEurope | By licence | High-THC research growing is licensed, not outlawed: breeding, research growing and seed production of high-THC hemp are reserved for organisations holding a public health authority licence under Decree 162/2003. |
| IcelandEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| IndiaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| IndonesiaAsia | Restricted | In June 2025 the National Narcotics Board opened limited cannabis research to selected universities and began a pharmacy study with Udayana University, while insisting this was not legalisation. |
| IranAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| IraqAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| IrelandEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Isle of ManEurope | By licence | Researchers can obtain a GSC licence, separate from the commercial cultivation licence. Research permission can cover indoor male and female plants for breeding and seed production, with measures to stop pollen reaching other… |
| IsraelAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| ItalyEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| JamaicaNorth America | By licence | Jamaican doctors turned folk knowledge into medicine. The pharmacologist Manley West and the eye surgeon Albert Lockhart of the University of the West Indies noticed that fishermen who drank ganja tea saw better at night, and… |
| JapanAsia | By licence | Cannabis research needs a health-ministry licence to grow the plant, and the law sets a separate research-grower category. |
| JerseyEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| JordanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| KazakhstanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| KenyaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| KiribatiOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| KosovoEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| KuwaitAsia | By licence | Institutional research is the only lawful route to the plant: Health Ministry Decision 289/2026 grants eligible institutions two-year permits for controlled-plant medical and scientific research, with seed records, a responsible… |
| KyrgyzstanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| LaosAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| LatviaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| LebanonAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| LesothoAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| LiberiaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| LibyaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| LiechtensteinEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| LithuaniaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| LuxembourgEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| MacauAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| MadagascarAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MalawiAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MalaysiaAsia | By licence | Only a public officer authorised by the Minister may grow cannabis, for research, educational, experimental or medical purposes; no wider research programme operates. |
| MaldivesAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| MaliAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MaltaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Marshall IslandsOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| MauritaniaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MauritiusAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MexicoNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| MicronesiaOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| MoldovaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| MonacoEurope | By licence | Researchers can seek an exemption from the Minister of State for cannabis research or control work under article 32. That permission is separate from ordinary possession or recreational supply. |
| MongoliaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| MontenegroEurope | By licence | A scientific legal entity may grow hemp under a separate land-registration exception to the permit-and-contract route. No separate research programme, trial or published study was established by the retained sources. |
| MoroccoAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MozambiqueAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| MyanmarAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| NamibiaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| NauruOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| NepalAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| NetherlandsEurope | By licence | Dutch researchers publish over a hundred papers on cannabis a year, 140 in 2025, and 21 clinical trials with a cannabis or cannabinoid treatment had been registered in the country by October 2026. |
| New ZealandOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| NicaraguaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| NigerAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| NigeriaAfrica | Restricted | Nigerian doctors produced some of Africa’s earliest cannabis psychiatry. Tolani Asuni’s 1964 study argued the plant reached Nigeria during and after the Second World War and described its user base — see the wartime-introduction… |
| North KoreaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| North MacedoniaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Northern CyprusEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Northern Mariana IslandsOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| NorwayEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| OmanAsia | By licence | The only lawful growing route doubles as the research route: article 7 permits growing licences for specified public bodies, colleges and research institutions for medical or scientific purposes. |
| PakistanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| PalauOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| PalestineAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| PanamaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Papua New GuineaOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| ParaguaySouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| PeruSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| PhilippinesAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| PolandEurope | By licence | Institutional research growing runs through the agriculture minister's research institutes, which may grow medical cannabis with the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector's permission on permits of up to five years, under security,… |
| PortugalEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Puerto RicoNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| QatarAsia | By licence | The only institutional route doubles as the research route: the health minister may license government bodies and recognised research institutes to grow the listed plants or import seeds. |
| RéunionAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| RomaniaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| RussiaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| RwandaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Saint Kitts and NevisNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Saint LuciaNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| SamoaOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| San MarinoEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| São Tomé and PríncipeAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Saudi ArabiaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| SenegalAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| SerbiaEurope | By licence | List-2 substances, including cannabis, are permitted for research and exceptionally for therapy under legal controls, and the minister can authorise imports of unregistered controlled medicines for named patients through a… |
| SeychellesAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| Sierra LeoneAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| SingaporeAsia | Restricted | Singapore studies cannabis without growing it. In 2018 the National Research Foundation put S$25 million into a five-year synthetic biology programme, one strand of which aimed to make cannabis-derived medicines, mostly CBD, from… |
| Sint MaartenNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| SlovakiaEurope | By licence | Research growing needs a health-ministry permit: hemp may be grown for research, and EU varieties aside, permits normally last one year. |
| SloveniaEurope | By licence | The 2025 Medical and Scientific Cannabis Act opens licensed cultivation and processing for medical and research purposes; nothing for adult use was enacted. |
| Solomon IslandsOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| SomaliaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| SomalilandAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| South AfricaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| South KoreaAsia | By licence | Licensed academic researchers may grow or import cannabis for research with MFDS approval and reporting. Universities, KIST and the Andong zone do cannabis and CBD work, but no patient clinical trial was verified. |
| South SudanAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| SpainEurope | By licence | AEMPS lists nine holders of research cultivation authorisations as of 31 July 2026, including the Institute of Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, Phytoplant Research and Trichome Pharma. |
| Sri LankaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| SudanAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| SurinameSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| SwedenEurope | Restricted | Sweden produced the landmark 1987 Lancet study linking heavy cannabis use to schizophrenia: 45,570 conscripts followed for 15 years, with a sixfold risk for those who had used more than fifty times. |
| SwitzerlandEurope | By licence | Researchers can seek federal permission for controlled adult-use supply trials, with defined populations, products and evaluation plans. |
| SyriaAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| TaiwanAsia | By licence | Article 18 permits possession of controlled drugs for medical, research or training purposes, and the Controlled Drugs Act licenses institutions. No cannabis research programme, licence or clinical trial was found. |
| TajikistanAsia | By licence | Scientific cultivation of drug-containing plants is reserved for licensed research institutions under the drug law; no wider research programme was verified. |
| TanzaniaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| ThailandAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| Timor-LesteAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| TogoAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| TongaOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| TransnistriaEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| Trinidad and TobagoNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| TunisiaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| TürkiyeAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| TurkmenistanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| TuvaluOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| UgandaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| UkraineEurope | — | Not researched yet |
| United Arab EmiratesAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| United KingdomEurope | By licence | Britain ran one of the largest cannabis trials of its era: the MRC-funded CAMS study treated 630 multiple-sclerosis patients at 33 UK centres with oral cannabis extract, THC or placebo, finding no effect on the primary spasticity… |
| United StatesNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| UruguaySouth America | By licence | The cannabis regulator had granted 14 research licences by 2026, eight to private companies and six to public institutions such as the University of the Republic and the Clemente Estable Institute; |
| US Virgin IslandsNorth America | — | Not researched yet |
| UzbekistanAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| VanuatuOceania | — | Not researched yet |
| VenezuelaSouth America | — | Not researched yet |
| VietnamAsia | — | Not researched yet |
| YemenAsia | By licence | Article 30 allows government departments and scientific institutes to obtain licences to grow controlled plants for research; this is the only licensed growing route. |
| ZambiaAfrica | — | Not researched yet |
| ZimbabweAfrica | — | Not researched yet |