France
Europe
#67 of 196 worldwide
#27 of 45 in Europe
One of Europe's strictest laws alongside its highest use rates; most users receive a €200 on-the-spot fine. A medical experiment has run since 2021. CBD flower is legal.
Score breakdown ▏world average
Select a segment to show or hide the exact rules and sources.
Possession · 25%1/10adds 2.5 of 25 points
Using or possessing cannabis is a criminal offence punishable by up to one year in prison and a €3,750 fine. Since September 2020 police can instead issue a fixed fine on the spot for amounts under 50 g: €200, reduced to €150 if paid within 15 days and raised to €450 if late. Accepting it means the cannabis is destroyed and the offence is entered on the criminal record.
Personal cultivation · 25%1/10adds 2.5 of 25 points
Growing cannabis is treated as production of narcotics, a serious crime with sentences far above those for use, even for a few plants.
Punishment & enforcement · 20%3/10adds 6.0 of 20 points
Among Europe's strictest laws on paper, applied mainly as mass fixed fines — hundreds of thousands a year — concentrated in poorer neighbourhoods.
Sharing & gifting · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
Giving cannabis to someone for their personal use is a specific offence with up to five years.
Consumption · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
Use itself is the offence in French law, public or private.
Legal access · 10%0/10adds 0.0 of 10 points
No legal source. CBD flower under 0.3% THC has been lawful to sell since France's highest administrative court struck down a ban in December 2022.
More context not part of the score
Hemp cultivation is long established; medical cannabis production has awaited a permanent legal framework.
CBD flower and products under 0.3% THC; medical preparations for trial patients only.
A national experiment began in 2021 for a few thousand patients with severe conditions. It formally ended on 31 December 2024 with no permanent regime in place; existing patients were kept on treatment through extensions to 31 March 2026.
The fixed fine is recorded on the criminal record and in a national database for ten years. Roadside saliva tests penalise any trace of THC.
All sources
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