Serbia raises cannabis-growing sentences and punishes large drug stocks

Serbia raised the prison range for unauthorised cannabis cultivation to two to eight years on 1 December 2019, replacing six months to five years. The same amendment added three to ten years for possessing a large quantity of drugs, including stocks kept for personal consumption.

The earlier law gave cultivation a shorter prison range

Since the 2009 amendment, the code had expressly punished growing psychoactive cannabis under a separate rule from drug production and supply. It also had a distinct offence for small amounts held for personal use.

Small personal possession could bring a fine or up to three years, with a court able to waive punishment. Cultivation carried a prison range beginning at six months.

The 2019 law raised that cultivation minimum to two years and the maximum to eight. The new range applied to the cultivation offence without a personal home-growing allowance.

Large possession received its own longer sentence

The amendment retained the smaller-personal-possession wording and added a separate offence for unauthorised possession of a large quantity. That offence carried three to ten years.

The text gave no fixed cannabis threshold in grams and did not require possession for sale. It also prevented a prison sentence for this offence from being served through the code’s home-detention arrangement.

A person who disclosed their supplier could still receive a waiver under the conditions in the amended section. Confiscation of the drugs remained required.

Some supply cases received aggravated treatment

The amendment expanded aggravated supply offences to cover specified cases involving minors, vulnerable people, particular locations and abuse of professional roles. Those cases carried five to fifteen years.

It also raised the penalty for knowingly possessing or supplying equipment and materials intended for drug production to two to eight years. Ordinary production and supply retained their three-to-twelve-year range.

For users caught with small personal amounts, a fine and waiver remained available. Prosecutors could also consider deferred prosecution for eligible offences while agreed obligations were completed.

A personal-use stock later brought three years

In 2024, the Supreme Court upheld three years for about 372 grams of cannabis held for personal use. It said the large-quantity offence depended on quantity, with judges assessing that issue in each case.

The decision showed why a personal-use explanation could coexist with a longer possession sentence. Serbia’s profile now distinguishes the small-personal offence, large possession, cultivation and supply when setting out the current penalties.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}