Belgium replaces cannabis fines and drug sentence levels

Belgium’s new criminal sentencing framework took effect on 1 September 2026, changing the statutory penalties attached to cannabis offences.^[1][2] The personal-use tier set a first fine at €200 before the applicable multiplier, while public-place offences and unlawful supply belonged to higher penalty levels.^[1][3] The Justice Ministry continued to describe small adult possession as a low prosecution priority under defined conditions.^[4]

Small possession still followed a prosecution policy

The 2005 policy gave low priority to adult personal possession of up to three grams or one cultivated plant, without aggravation or public nuisance.^[4] Police normally prepare a simplified report in an eligible case and send it to the prosecutor, who can decide to prosecute if the decision is explained.^[4]

The ministry identifies nuisance circumstances including possession around schools, in prisons or youth-protection institutions, and conspicuous possession in a public place.^[4] Those conditions concern how authorities handle a case, alongside the statutory rules that determine the sentence if it reaches court.^[3][4]

Personal-use fines had new amounts

The revised drug law set the level-1 fine at €200 for a first offence, up to €400 for a repeat within a year after the first conviction, and up to €800 for another repeat within a year after the second.^[1] The ministry’s stated 1.25 multiplier makes those amounts €250, €500 and €1,000 respectively.^[4]

The implementing decree applies this personal-use tier to specified cannabis activities, including possession and cultivation, without the statutory aggravating circumstances.^[3] It separately assigns level 2 where those activities occur in listed institutional or public places, including a public road or somewhere accessible to the public.^[3]

Penalty levels changed the available sentences

Level 1 contains no principal prison sentence.^[2] Level 2 allows six months–three years of prison among several alternatives, including electronic monitoring, work and probation.^[2] Courts can reduce the level when legally recognised mitigating circumstances apply.^[2]

The ordinary drug offence is level 3, whose prison range is more than three years up to five years before mitigation.^[1][2] Specified aggravated conduct attracts higher levels, reaching level 6 for a leading role in the criminal organisations covered by the drug law.^[1]

The Belgium profile now sets out those sentencing categories separately from the familiar three-gram and one-plant prosecution policy.^[1][3][4] The new Criminal Code also requires application of the more favourable provisions when criminal law changes after an offence, making the date of the conduct relevant to older cases.^[2]