Cannabis in Austria

Use of cannabis in Austria

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (December 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

View a machine-translated version of the German article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 9,156 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Rechtliche_Aspekte_von_Hanf#Österreich]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Rechtliche_Aspekte_von_Hanf#Österreich}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Cannabis in Austria is legal for scientific and medical usage, but illegal for recreational usage. Possession of small amounts for personal use was decriminalized in 2016.^[1] The sale of cannabis seeds and plants is legal.^[2]

Medical cannabis

On 9 July 2008, the Austrian Parliament approved cannabis cultivation for scientific and medical uses.^[3] Cannabis cultivation is controlled by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit, AGES).^[4]

Legal situation

The purchase, importation, exportation, transportation, or cultivation of cannabis is a punishable offense in Austria. Offenders are facing high fines or imprisonment up to 360 days. In 2016, the possession of small amounts of THC containing substances for personal consumption was slightly decriminalized to the degree that such cases will not be pursued if the possessor has not been implicated in any drug related offenses within the last five years.^[5]

Both Δ⁹-THC and pharmaceutical preparations containing Δ⁹-THC are listed in annex IV of the Austrian Narcotics Decree (Suchtgiftverordnung).^[6] Compendial formulations are manufactured upon prescription according to the German Neues Rezeptur-Formularium.^[7]^[8]

In 2022, the German government announced plans to legalize the regulated purchase and the recreational use of cannabis. Due to the common open border between Germany and Austria (32% of Austria’s entire border), and their close economic and cultural ties, a public discussion has been sparked in Austria regarding legalization.^[9]

References

^ ""Legalisierung light": Cannabis in Kleinstmengen quasi straffrei". 13 November 2015.
^ "Legal status of cannabis in Austria". Sensi Seeds. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
^ "AFP: Austria allows cannabis for medical purposes". Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
^ "Änderung des Suchtmittelgesetzes – SMG" (PDF). Bundesgesetzblatt für die Republik Österreich (in German). Vienna: Österreichischer Bundesverlag. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ "Wie legal ist der Handel mit Cannabis in Österreich?". www.stadt-wien.at.
^ "Verordnung der Bundesministerin für Gesundheit und Frauen über den Verkehr und die Gebarung mit Suchtgiften (Suchtgiftverordnung – SV)" (PDF) (in German). Bundesministerium für Gesundheit und Frauen. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-30.^{[dead link]}
^ Valenta, Claudia (2005). "Magistrale Problem-Rezepturen". Österreichische Apothekerzeitung (in German) (5). Vienna: Österreichische Apotheker-Verlagsges.m.b.H. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ ABDA – Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Apothekerverbände (21 April 2008). "Rezepturhinweise: Dronabinol- und Cannabis-Zubereitungen" (PDF). Pharmazeutische Zeitung (in German). Eschborn: Govi-Verlag Pharmazeutischer Verlag GmbH. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
^ Breit, Lisa; Koch, Florian. "Was, wenn Cannabis in Österreich legal wäre?". Der Standard. Retrieved 8 August 2023.