Luxembourg Medical Cannabis

In July 2018, legislators unanimously approved a bill to legalize the medical use of cannabis in Luxembourg.

A cannabis pilot program began in February 2019. The law allowed cannabis in the form of cannabis oil extracts and flowers from an approved set of medicines to be prescribed by any general practitioner, if they have received appropriate training, to be used by patients suffering from chronic pain, nausea relating to chemotherapy, or muscle spasm resulting from multiple sclerosis, with full cost coverage by the Ministry of Health.

From January 2025, some elements of the country’s medical cannabis program have been revised. Patients may no longer be prescribed cannabis flower with a high content of THC and the maximum amount of cannabis that can be prescribed for a 28-day period is reduced from 100g to 60g. However, a THC-rich option remains available in the form of oil extracts which have increased significantly over the last two years – from just 18 bottles prescribed in 2022 to over 2,850 bottles prescribed in 2024.

Medical cannabis was prescribed to around 600 patients in 2020, meaning Luxembourg has almost as many legal prescriptions per population as Europe’s leader, Germany. Luxembourg faced the same problems as Italy, Poland and Malta, as the limited number of approved products left the supply chain vulnerable to shortages of the small range of available strains. In 2022, patient numbers reached 815 and then grew by 30% to 1,063 in 2023. As of 2024, Luxembourg’s medical cannabis program has enrolled 1,124 patients.

The average amount of cannabis delivered per prescription also grew over the years, from 36.4 grams in 2019 to 66.7 grams in 2024. The annual average consumption of medical cannabis per patient in 2024 was 352 grams – 2.75 times the amount in 2019.

Since the start of the medical cannabis program, the Ministry of Health has distributed 1,420kg of dried flower tops and 4,910 bottles of extracted oils to patients, amounting to more than 23,700 medical prescriptions over a six-year period.

For 2025, the Ministry of Health has awarded a tender to Tilray Deutschland for the supply of at most 100 kilograms of cannabis flower tops. The contract is set to last until 31 December, 2025, with the possibility to extend it for one more year.

Luxembourg Recreational Cannabis

In 2023, the Luxembourg parliament approved Bill 8033 to legalize the possession and cultivation of cannabis for adults, making Luxembourg the second country in the European Union to adopt the reform after Malta which passed legislation allowing limited cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use in December 2021. Effective July 21, 2023, the new law allows adults in Luxembourg to grow up to four cannabis plants per household, cultivated solely from seeds in the home or habitual residence not visible from public places.

In April 2023, the government announced plans to issue two licenses for domestic cannabis production. These production permits would allow the cultivation, processing and distribution, under certain conditions, of cannabis for recreational purposes. The two licensees would supply 14 publicly owned dispensaries across the country where consumers over the age of 18 would be able to purchase a maximum of 30g of cannabis per month. Online sales and home delivery would be prohibited. The production and sale of pre-rolled cannabis forms would be prohibited. This concept is not yet presented in a draft law and exists for now as an idea. The current coalition agreement of the Luxembourg Government 2023-2028 stipulates that:

The cultivation of cannabis for personal use as legally regulated will be maintained. The Government will observe the position of the three neighboring countries on the legalization of cannabis.

The producer would have to fulfil the following criteria (more details found in the Report of the “Cannabis for Non-Medical Purposes” Working Group):

• The producer must put together a project proposal covering cultivation operations, post-harvest facilities, quality inspections, quality management system, and the cannabis varieties it wishes to grow.
• The producer must guarantee compliance with product quality standards throughout the entire production chain (growing, packaging, storage, etc.).
• The producer is responsible for security measures, in particular the completely secure storage of the cannabis, and must ensure a safe and healthy work environment.
• The producer must undertake to use exclusively the tracking software provided by the national control agency, enabling the route taken by each finished product to be tracked, so that the closed cannabis production chain can be properly monitored.
• The producer will not be permitted to make sales online or deliver to customers’ homes.

Luxembourg Cannabis Market Infographics