Medical Cannabis Legalization

Medical cannabis was legalized in the Czech Republic in 2013. The by-law No. 221/2013, which came into force in August 2013, outlined more detailed regulations for the medical cannabis program in the country. This by-law establishes that a patient aged 18 and over can receive up to 30g of medical cannabis per month. If the doctor believes this is insufficient, then this amount can be increased to 180g per month. Medical cannabis can be prescribed to relieve symptoms for:

• Chronic intractable pain
• Spasms and pain resulting from multiple sclerosis or damage to the spinal cord
• Nausea, vomiting and stimulation of appetite in connection with cancer or HIV treatment
• Grilles de la Tourette syndrome

Medical cannabis can also be prescribed to patients under the age of 18 but only by a doctor with “specialized competence in the field of palliative medicine in the provision of palliative care or providing health care to such a patient in a highly specialized care center in the field of hemato-oncological care for children or oncological care for children”.

In order to be able to acquire medical cannabis, the patient must have a special electronic prescription, which is only issued for diseases explicitly mentioned in the regulations, from a medical practitioner who specializes in one of the areas of expertise mentioned on the official website of the State Institute for Drug Control (i.e. general practitioners cannot prescribe cannabis).

In the Czech Republic, from the beginning of 2020, 90% of the price of up to 30g of medical cannabis per month is covered by health insurance.

In the 2020, a single company had the tender to grow medical cannabis which it supplied to the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL). Throughout 2020, the company supplied 18 kilograms to SÚKL, which was 27% of the amount consumed by patients, while the remainder of demand was supplied through imports from abroad facilitated both by private companies and SÚKL.

On January 1, 2022, Act No. 366/2021 came into effect, amending the law on addictive substances. The major changes were allowing any legal entity or entrepreneur to apply for a license to grow medical cannabis; permitting licensed producers to export medical cannabis; and and establishing that industrial hemp can contain up to 1% of THC.

With the passage of a new decree, from April 2025, general practitioners are able to prescribe medical cannabis to patients.

Recreational Cannabis Legalization

Recreational cannabis is banned in the Czech Republic but personal possession of up to 10g of cannabis and cultivation of up to 5 cannabis plants was decriminalized in 2010.

In May 2025, the Czech Republic became the fourth country in Europe to approve a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure. Under the new law, adults aged 21 and over can cultivate up to three plants in their private residence and possess up to 100 grams of dried cannabis flower at home or up to 25 grams in public. The new law came into effect on January 1, 2026.

Earlier versions of a law proposing the legalization of recreational cannabis in the Czech Republic included ideas of establishing cannabis social clubs and retail stores. These are not part of the current recreational cannabis law but may be considered in the future as the recreational cannabis market develops.

Low-THC Cannabis

In December 2024, the Psychomodulatory Substances Act was approved which introduced two other lists – Substances Under Review and Psychomodulatory Substances – in addition to the list of Prohibited Addictive Substances. It came into force in January 2025. The Psychomodulatory Substances list includes cannabis with up to 1% THC content as well as cannabis extract and tincture with up to 1% THC content. Under the new regulations, from July 1, 2025, the sale of cannabis containing no more than 1% THC will be allowed in specialized stores. Individuals under the age of 18 will not be able to enter these stores and online sellers of psychomodulatory substances will have to operate physical storefronts.

Additionally, due to EU food and cosmetic laws, the use of low-THC cannabis in finished food products or cosmetics will remain prohibited.

Medical Cannabis Licenses and Permits Available in the Czech Republic

Cultivation License

A cultivation license from the State Institute for Drug Control and a permit to handle addictive substances and preparations from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic must be obtained in order to cultivate cannabis in the Czech Republic. Both the license and the permit are valid for up to 5 years and must be renewed at least 6 months before their expiration dates. The cannabis cultivated can only be sold to another individual or business entity who is authorized to handle medical cannabis.

The applicant must submit a complete application to the State Institute for Drug Control along with the required information and a license fee of CZK 2,000. Within 30 days of the submission of the application, the State Institute for Drug Control will approve or deny the application.

Information required to be submitted with an application for the license is not limited to:

• Identification and address of the applicant.
• Name and contact details of the applicant’s contact person.
• The total area of the cultivation facility (a cultivation facility means the covered areas in which cultivation, production and all activities related to cultivation take place).
• The parcel number and name of the cadastral area of land on which the cultivation facility is located.
• The cultivation area intended for growing cannabis.
• A declaration of compliance with the conditions of good growing practice.
• Internal regulations for activities relating to the cultivation of medical cannabis such as who will have access to the cultivation site and what methods will be used to handle cannabis plants.

At the time of the application, the applicant should already have the site where hemp will be cultivated prepared. This site should contain at least:

• Equipment used for proper cultivation, harvesting and processing of cannabis plants.
• An appropriate security system.

More details on the information required to be submitted with the application for the license can be found in the regulations.

Details on how to apply and what information needs to be provided to receive a permit to handle addictive substances and preparations can be found in the regulations.

Permit for Importing Medical Cannabis

A permit for the import of addictive substances and preparations from the Ministry of Health is required for every single import of cannabis made into the Czech Republic. The permit is valid for three months.

Cannabis Market in the Czech Republic

The number of average monthly medical cannabis patients more than tripled from 310 patients in 2019 to 982 in 2020 which is likely due to the introduction of the partial coverage of medical cannabis cost by health insurance. Average monthly patient numbers continued to increase, growing at an average year-over-year rate of 36%. From 2024 to 2025, the growth rate slowed down to 11%, and as of 2025, there were on average 3,832 patients received medical cannabis each month. There were 19,441 prescriptions for medical cannabis issued in 2021: a 37% increase from 2020. Prescription numbers rose to 26,878 in 2022 and then further to 36,516 in 2023 and 48,654 in 2024. In 2025, 54,748 prescriptions were issued.

Data from SÚKL shows that the number of registered doctors authorized to prescribe medical cannabis rose from 78 at the end of 2019 to 190 in 2023 and 228 in 2024. Since from April 1, 2025, general practitioners can also prescribe medical cannabis, there was a significant 34% increase in the number of prescribing physicians to 305 in 2025, with at least 40 new general medicine prescribers joining the public list. However, according to one Czech cannabis market expert, the public prescriber list includes only doctors who agree to appear and in reality, several doctors do not agree to be listed because they cannot accept more patients. Hence, the actual number of medical cannabis prescribers is greater than shown in the public list.

According to statistics from SÚKL on the distribution of medical cannabis in pharmacies, in 2021, patients received around 109.4kg of medical cannabis – up by 63% from the 67kg in 2020. The kilograms of cannabis dispensed to patients rose to 157kg in 2022, surpassed 200kg in 2023 and then rose further to 263kg in 2024, of which 30kg were cannabis extracts. In 2025, close to 390kg of medical cannabis was dispensed, consisting of 313.6kg of dried flower and 76.4kg of extracts. From 2015 (when medical cannabis first became available to patients in the Czech Republic) to 2025, a total of over 1,200kg of medical cannabis has been dispensed.

As of June 2025, there were 12 medical cannabis cultivators in the Czech Republic. According to the Czech Ministry of Health, Czech medical cannabis cultivators harvested more than 4,660 kilograms of cannabis in 2024. However, as shown from the amount of medical cannabis dispensed to local patients, only a small part of the harvested cannabis enters the Czech market. This means that the majority of cannabis produced by Czech cultivators is exported to other markets. One of the largest cultivators – Lagom Pharmatech – has said that it sells 95% of its cannabis to Germany. Czech cannabis cultivators imported 1,307kg of cannabis into Germany in 2024 and 4,718kg in 2025 – a 261% surge suggesting strong growth in production by licensed domestic companies. Another major destination for Czech Republic’s cannabis is Australia – 2,400kg of cannabis were imported in 2024.

How to Export Medical Cannabis to Europe

A report from the National Drug Monitoring Center estimates that one third of adults in the Czech Republics have tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime. According to a Report on Illegal Drugs in the Czech Republic, in 2023, an average of 20.5% of the country’s population aged 15 and over (this proportion is equivalent to around 2.2 million people) reported using cannabis for self-medication at least once in their lifetime.

A study from the Prague University of Economics and Business estimates that if self-cultivation, cannabis clubs and a full commercial market for recreational cannabis are legalized, the annual net social benefit could be worth around CZK 5.5 billion ($225m) while another CZK 2.6 billion ($106m) would be generated annually from taxation and fees.

Czech Republic Cannabis Market Infographics

How Can Cannabusinessplans Templates Help Start or Grow Your Cannabis Business?

The majority of cannabis licensing programs require the submission of a business plan as part of the application for a cannabis license. Even if it is not mandated by law, a business plan is essential for securing funding and assisting an applicant in understanding how much money it will take to start a cannabis business and how much profit it could make.

A well-structured business plan can make all the difference in helping you demonstrate your proposed cannabis business’ compliance with regulations and its operational viability.

Our complete cannabis business plan template package is everything you need to create a professional business plan for a cannabis business with expert financials and projections. A complete cannabis business plan template package includes:

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Cannabis Cultivation + Extraction + Manufacturing Business Plan Sample, Czech Republic 

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