Cannabis is not legal in Denmark for recreational use. Possessing, buying, selling, or growing it can bring a fine or a prison sentence under the Euphoriant Substances Act, which applies to residents and visitors alike. Denmark does run a permanent medical cannabis program that lets doctors prescribe cannabis products to patients, and it allows some CBD products under narrow conditions, but neither route gives anyone a way to use cannabis recreationally.
What Happens If You’re Caught
Danish law treats personal-use possession and commercial activity differently in sentencing, but both are crimes. A first-time offense involving a small amount considered personal use typically results in a fine of around €70. Repeat offenses or larger quantities move the penalty into jail territory, with the Euphoriant Substances Act allowing up to two years of imprisonment.
Serious cases are prosecuted under a different statute. Large-scale trafficking, organized distribution, or possession of quantities such as 10 kilograms or more falls under Section 191 of the Danish Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.
No proposal to legalize recreational cannabis has gained majority support in the Danish Parliament.
Driving With THC in Your System
Driving with any detectable THC in your blood is illegal. Since December 2017, Denmark has used a three-tier system based on THC blood concentration in milligrams per kilogram. For first-time offenders:
- Low range (0.001–0.003 mg/kg): one penalty point on your license and a fine equal to half a month’s salary.
- Medium range (0.003–0.009 mg/kg): license suspension for one year and a fine equal to one month’s salary.
- High range (above 0.009 mg/kg): license revocation for three years and a fine equal to one month’s salary.
Even the lowest tier produces a fine and a mark on your license, so a joint smoked a day or two before getting behind the wheel can be enough to trigger a penalty.
Medical Cannabis: Who Can Get It
Denmark launched a medical cannabis pilot program in January 2018, allowing doctors to prescribe cannabis to patients who had not found enough relief from standard medicines.1Danish Medicines Agency. Development Authorisation Parliament voted to make the program permanent, with the new law taking effect on January 1, 2026.
There is no closed list of qualifying conditions. Two authorized cannabis-based medicines target specific diagnoses: Sativex for moderate to severe spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis, and Epidyolex for Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, both severe forms of epilepsy.2Danish Medicines Agency. Medicinal Cannabis Beyond those two products, doctors can prescribe dried flower, oils, capsules, and tablets when they judge that conventional treatments have failed a particular patient. The Danish Medicines Agency publishes prescribing guidelines, but the decision rests with the physician.
Costs are partly subsidized through a reimbursement system tracked in the Danish Medicines Agency’s Central Reimbursement Register for Cannabis. For 2026, the state covers 50% of a patient’s cannabis costs up to DKK 20,000 (roughly €2,700) per 12-month period, meaning you pay up to DKK 10,000 out of pocket in that window. Once total spending in a reimbursement period passes DKK 20,000, the subsidy ends and you pay the full cost. Terminally ill patients receive 100% reimbursement with no co-payment.3Danish Medicines Agency. Reimbursement Thresholds The Health Minister can adjust these thresholds twice a year.
CBD Products Are Not Freely Sold
A CBD product containing no more than 0.2% THC is not classified as a controlled euphoriant substance, but that does not mean it can be bought or sold openly.4Danish Medicines Agency. Change of the THC Limit as of 1 July 2018
Any oral CBD product — oils, capsules, tinctures, edibles — is classified as a prescription-only medicine in Denmark regardless of THC content. The Danish Medicines Agency treats CBD as a pharmacologically active substance that affects the central nervous system, so anything ingested that contains it requires a doctor’s prescription.5Danish Medicines Agency. Cannabis-Containing Products Unauthorized products end up on the Agency’s banned medicines list.
Topical products such as lotions, creams, and shampoos may fall under cosmetics rules administered by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and can potentially be sold without a prescription.5Danish Medicines Agency. Cannabis-Containing Products As soon as a topical makes a health or therapeutic claim, it is reclassified as a medicine and the prescription requirement applies. The Agency has stated that the vast majority of CBD products on the market are likely to be classified as medicines.4Danish Medicines Agency. Change of the THC Limit as of 1 July 2018
Growing at Home
You cannot legally grow cannabis at home in Denmark for any purpose. The Euphoriant Substances Act prohibits production and possession, and that covers cultivation regardless of quantity or intent. A single plant on a balcony is still a criminal offense. The industrial hemp exemption that has existed since 1998 applies only to registered agricultural operations, not hobbyists.
Bringing Cannabis or CBD Into Denmark
If you hold a valid prescription for medical cannabis in your home country, you can bring a supply into Denmark for personal use, but the paperwork is strict. Medical cannabis is treated as a narcotic substance for import purposes, so the standard rules for controlled medications apply.6Danish Medicines Agency. How to Import Medicine Into Denmark
Travelers arriving from another Schengen country need a Schengen certificate, sometimes called a pill pass, which you order from your pharmacy before leaving. If you are entering from outside the Schengen area, contact the Danish embassy in your country for documentation requirements. Either way, you can bring up to 30 days of treatment. A larger supply requires an exemption from the Danish Medicines Agency in advance, along with a prescription or doctor’s declaration.6Danish Medicines Agency. How to Import Medicine Into Denmark
CBD is riskier to bring than most travelers realize. Because oral CBD products are prescription-only medicines under Danish law, a bottle of CBD oil bought legally in the United States or another country with looser rules can be treated as an unauthorized medicine at customs.5Danish Medicines Agency. Cannabis-Containing Products If the product also contains more than 0.2% THC, it becomes a controlled substance issue. Unless you have a Danish prescription, leaving CBD at home is the safest option.
Christiania and Pusher Street Today
Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen was for decades home to one of Europe’s most visible open cannabis markets along a stretch known as Pusher Street. Cannabis was always just as illegal there as anywhere else in Denmark, but the trade was semi-tolerated. That era has ended.
In 2024, Christiania’s residents shut Pusher Street down themselves after a fourth murder in three years tied to the violent criminal gangs that had taken over the trade. They blockaded the area with shipping containers and concrete blocks and tore up the cobblestones to make the street unusable as a market. In March 2024, residents accepted over $2.1 million in Danish government funding to redevelop the area on the condition that the illegal cannabis trade end permanently. Copenhagen police arrested roughly 900 people for drug trafficking in the area during the same year.
Christiania still exists as a community and welcomes visitors. Anyone showing up expecting to buy cannabis faces the same legal risks as anywhere else in Denmark, and a neighborhood that has worked actively to keep the stalls from coming back.