Medical Cannabis Legalization

In Poland, the Law on Preventing Narcotics Addiction classifies the cannabis genus into two categories: hemp and non-fibrous cannabis. Non-fibrous cannabis is equivalent to medical cannabis.

The distribution and use of cannabis for medical purposes was legalized in Poland in 2017.

An amendment to the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction came into effect on 7 May, 2022, legalizing the cultivation of non-fibrous cannabis (medical cannabis) intended for the manufacture of pharmaceutical raw material. In order to be able to cultivate medical cannabis and harvest herbs and resin from it, a special permit from the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector is required.

In November 2024, new regulations came into force which established that in order to obtain a prescription for medical cannabis, the patient must first visit a doctor’s office. Since the introduction of these new regulations, the number of patients fell from 68,000 in October 2024 to 42,000 in November 2024.

Recreational Cannabis

Currently, recreational cannabis is illegal in Poland. In November 2024, a Polish legislative committee sent a reform proposal regarding the decriminalization of up to 15 grams of cannabis and cultivation of up to one plant for personal use. As of January 2025, this proposal has not been approved yet.

Medical Cannabis Permits Available in Poland

A cultivation permit issued by the Polish Pharmaceutical Inspectorate allows to cultivate and harvest medical cannabis. Only national research institutes subordinate to the Minister of Agriculture are able to apply for the cultivation permit.

Application fee: PLN 1,500

The permit is valid for 5 years.

Information required to be submitted by an institute wishing to cultivate medical cannabis includes:

• Name and address of the institute.
• Hemp cultivation area and the address where cultivation is planned to take place.
• A declaration that the institute will employ a qualified person responsible for the supervision of medical cannabis and the harvesting of herb or resin from it.
• A declaration that the institute will employ a person responsible for supervising the place where medical cannabis will be cultivated.
• Security measures to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing medical cannabis.
• Certificates of no criminal record of persons employed by the proposed medical cannabis establishment.

Hemp and CBD Legalization

In March 2022, a new law was approved which amended the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction, raising the THC limit in hemp in Poland from 0.2% to 0.3%.

Cannabis Market in Poland

Poland relies heavily on imports of medical cannabis to satisfy domestic demand. In 2019, Poland imported 66kg of medical cannabis and in 2020, this rose by 153% to 167kg.

From 2019 to 2021, the amount of medical cannabis dispensed to patients in Poland increased dramatically: up by 1185% from 33,219g in 2019 to 427,017g in 2021. This rapid growth continued in the next years, reaching 1,167,752g in 2022 (up by 173% from previous year) and 4,658,759g in 2023 (up by nearly 300%). As a result of this fast growing demand, Poland raised its medical cannabis import limit for 2024 from 6 tonnes to over 11 tonnes.

By 2021, around 3,000 cannabis prescriptions on average were issued by doctors each month. In 2023, a total of 276,807 prescriptions were issued: 95 times more than the 2,909 prescriptions that were issued in 2019.

From January to October 2024, Poles spent PLN 286.9 million on medical cannabis. Throughout the year, monthly sales were consistently increasing. In January 2024, 33,600 packages of medical cannabis were sold while in March, this rose to 44,000 and surged by nearly 80% to over 79,000 packages sold per month in August and September. In October 2024 alone, Poles spent around PLN 42.6 million on 90,388 packages of medical cannabis. This is 15.4% higher than the total expenditure on medical cannabis in 2022 (PLN 36.9 million) and nearly one third of the total expenditure in 2023 (PLN 143.3 million). According to Prohibition Partners, for the entire year of 2024, a total of approximately 4,860kg of cannabis flower was dispensed to patients in Poland and medical cannabis sales were estimated at around €71 million (PLN 303 million).

In 2025, kilograms of cannabis flower dispensed to patients in Poland rose by 12% to 5,447kg but due to price compression, total sales declined to €60 million (PLN 256 million). The industry has fully recovered from the November 2024 telemedicine ban and prescription volumes hit new record highs in December 2025, indicating sustained growth in demand.

In December 2023, the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate issued the first cultivation permit to the Warsaw Institute of Biotechnology of the Agricultural and Food Industry. This is a step towards domestic production of medical cannabis which will help to make the supply of medical cannabis to patients in Poland more continuous as well as offer cheaper medical cannabis in pharmacies.

A 2020 poll conducted for the National Bureau for Drug Prevention found that 7.8% of Poles under the age of 34 have consumed cannabis at least once over the past 12 months.

Prohibition Partners estimates that in 2028, the Polish medical cannabis market could be valued at €2 billion.

Poland Medical Cannabis Infographics