Is Weed Legal in Italy? What Travelers Should Know

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Written by Maria Gomez
Aug 28, 2025 5-min read

Italy is famous for its art, coastlines, and cuisine—but its marijuana laws are complex.

While some European countries legalize cannabis, Italy remains in a legal gray area with shifting rules.

Whether you’re a tourist, medical user, or just staying informed, it’s vital to know what’s allowed.

This guide explains Italy’s cannabis laws clearly—from recreational use and medical prescriptions to hemp products and airport regulations—covering everything you need before you go.

Using an iRoamly Italy travel eSIM makes it easy to access official rules and travel tips on the move.

Is Weed Legal in Italy

Is Weed Legal in Italy?

No, recreational marijuana is not allowed in Italy. Although personal use is decriminalized, purchasing, using, or growing weed is illegal with severe consequences.

However, you can bring medicinal marijuana with you to Italy if it was prescribed by a doctor in Italy (it must be an Italian doctor’s prescription, though — not a foreign one).

“Cannabis light” (low-THC hemp under 0.6%) used to be legal in Italy, thanks to a legal technicality. However, in April of 2025, Decree-Law No. 48 outlawed all hemp flower products, and low-THC varieties are now considered controlled substances.

From recreational to illicit medicinal use, anyone caught with marijuana, using marijuana, selling marijuana, or smuggling marijuana will face strict legal penalties. This includes being slapped with hefty fines and years in prison.

To deter illegal cannabis operations, the Italian government enforces its laws, in particular those relating to trafficking and illegal growing.

Is CBD Oil Legal in Italy?

Yes, but with strict restrictions.

Since April 2025, Italy has put much stricter rules in place around CBD due to the Security Decree. The sale and possession of CBD that comes from hemp flowers is now prohibited but extracts originating from other parts of the plant like seeds or stalks are still allowed.

Medical Use Weed

Medical and Industrial Marijuana in Italy

Is Medical Marijuana Legal in Italy?

Yes, medical marijuana is legal—but strictly regulated.

In Italy, doctors are able to write a prescription for cannabis-based drugs that have already been formally legalized in the country, with a special dossier approved by the Ministry of Health.

For cannabis-based drugs not authorized in Italy but permitted in another country, a doctor must complete an import application to be submitted to the Ministry of Health and Customs.

Qualifying conditions doctors can recommend marijuana include chemotherapy-induced nausea, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, AIDS-related wasting, and Tourette’s syndrome.

Doctors can prescribe bespoke preparations formulated from raw cannabis plant material, which are usually manufactured by Stabilimento Chimico Farmaceutico Militare (SCFM) in Florence.

Is Industrial Marijuana Legal in Italy?

Yes, hemp can be used for industrial purposes.

Industrial hemp is legal, and cannabis plants that contain less than 0.3% THC can be legally used for non-psychoactive CBD products.

Industrial hemp acts as a multipurpose resource, used to create various products such as food, cosmetics, and inputs like fibers, oils, and biofuels.

It can be used for sustainable agriculture as a green manure, as part of an environmentally restorative technique called phytodepuration (purifying by using plants), and to provide sustainable materials for construction and bioengineering. Hemp is also grown for education, research, and as ornamental plant.

There is no provision of the prohibition of products derived from marketing hemp, as long as they comply with general laws and regulations with respect to the supply, production, product safety, and consumer laws.

However, there is a new law in effect as of April 12, 2025, which classifies all cannabis flowers (even without THC) as illegal narcotics and prohibits growing, selling, transporting, owning, or consuming cannabis flowers or derivatives thereof (including CBD, CBG, CBN).

Argriculture Weed

Relevant Regulations and Penalties

1. Personal Possession and Use

Personal possession:

Illegal for possession, but possession of small amounts is decriminalized — usually up to 5 g or around 500 mg of THC (~5 g cannabis). 

Most first-time offenders simply get an official warning and no criminal record. 

Repeated breaches can result in administrative penalties, and these may include suspension of your driving license, passport, or residence permit for up to 1 year.

Personal Use: 

You won’t go to jail for using cannabis, but it’s illegal and the punishment is administrative.

While use in private spaces is generally allowed, public use can lead to fines or document seizure.

Weed Panalty

2. Trafficking and Distribution

For “lesser” offenses: 1-6 years in prison and a fine of €3,000-26,000.

For large-scale trafficking: imprisonment of 6-20 years and fines between €26,000-€260,000.

3. Agricultural Cultivation

For industrial hemp, if the THC level exceeds 0.6% during the growing process, authorities have permission to take or destroy the crop.

The penalties for growing marijuana without permission, especially if it is not considered “industrial cannabis,” are very severe. If caught, you could face a prison sentence of 6 to 20 years and fines of between €26,000 and €260,000.

4. Advertising Restrictions on Hemp Imagery and Related Penalties in Italy

Amendment-derogation 1 of 25th May 2024 provides that ‘is forbidden any form of representation or graphic design, even if implemented in stylized form, of the entire hemp plant or any of its parts, on billboards, posters, advertising materials, and on any other means, for the promotion of commercial activities’.

Failure to comply carries a punishment of imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years and a fine of up to 20,000 euro.

Customs Inspection for Passengers

Entry with Cannabis is Illegal

Italy considers anything with cannabis in it, such as hemp flower, a drug if you bring it in through customs. Even the smallest trace of cannabis flower, oil, or edibles (including CBD), will not be allowed into the country.

Consequences at the Border

If you have any marijuana products with you, they will be confiscated right away. And you could also be taken into custody on the spot, and even criminally charged, even if it’s just a small amount.

Medical Cannabis

Passengers traveling with medicinal marijuana must clearly declare it to customs, have official prescriptions and permission paperwork, and carry amounts that are consistent with their prescription. Failure to do so can result in confiscation and fines.

Local Attitude Towards Marijuana in Italy

Though cannabis is illegal in Italy for recreational purposes, the tide of history seems to be slowly turning towards reform, especially among younger people.

A poll from last year found that more than half of Italians think it should be legalized, with most seeing the plant as a way to erode organized crime and provide a controlled system for consumption.

Local Attitude

For tourists, this means that while laws regarding marijuana remain strict, local culture is becoming more relaxed and may even be in the process of changing. You may encounter a difference in attitudes: some areas are more accepting of marijuana, while others have a strict zero-tolerance policy, much like Japan's marijuana laws, which impose strict regulations on drugs.

FAQ

1. What do drug laws in Italy say about non-Italians?

Foreign visitors can be prosecuted under local laws, and serious offenders face deportation.

2. What’s the distinction between administrative and criminal fines for weed in Italy?

You can be subject to administrative sanctions (i.e., losing your license) for personal usage; criminal charges are reserved for those caught trafficking and/or cultivating the drug.

3. Can I get arrested for just being high in public in Italy?

Being under the influence of drugs in private is generally not criminalized, but using or displaying drugs in public can lead to police intervention, fines, or confiscation.

4. Will I be turned away at the Italy border for a drug conviction?

Though it’s uncommon, they can refuse entry if your drug conviction is very serious and registered in global databases.

Conclusion

In brief, recreational weed is not permitted in Italy, and you can get fined or have it confiscated.

Medical marijuana is allowed, but you need a local doctor’s prescription. Furthermore, new laws have made the use of CBD and hemp products more difficult.

If you’re traveling in Italy, possessing or using weed is a risk I don’t think you should take. Instead of marijuana in Italy as your focus, focus on Italy's popular attractions, and you’ll have a far more enjoyable time.