Cannabis laws in Paris, France
Illegal
You cannot legally buy recreational cannabis in Paris, and official guidance publishes a €500 fixed fine for qualifying drug-use cases.
Official sources checked November 6, 2026. This is news information, not legal advice. Laws and local penalties change — confirm with the destination's official sources before you travel.
Before you fly
Carrying cannabis across a border is treated separately from possessing it inside the country. Even where buying is legal, taking it onto a plane can be a customs or smuggling offence, and a domestic flight can become an international one the moment you connect somewhere else.
Current law at a glance
- Buying as a visitor
- There are no legal recreational shops or tourist clubs and no legal possession allowance. National narcotics law applies in Paris; lenient small-quantity enforcement is not legalization.
- Fines
- Official guidance verified on 21 August 2026 and checked again on 6 November 2026 publishes a €500 fixed fine, cut to €400 if paid within 15 days and raised to €1,000 if unpaid after 45 days. Do not quote the older €200/€150/€450 schedule as current. The fixed-fine route is conditional and prosecution stays possible.
- Smoking in public
- Cannabis use is unlawful in public and in private, and Paris has no recreational-smoking exception. The standard drug-use offence can bring a year in prison and a €3,750 fine through the courts. Possession or transport treated as trafficking is a separate and far more serious offence.
- Medical cannabis
- France's medical-cannabis experiment is not a tourist dispensary scheme. Official guidance from April 2026 says no new patients have been admitted since 27 March 2024 and transitional prescribing is limited to previously enrolled patients. No general visitor route to cannabis flower was verified.
- Home growing
- There is no recreational grow allowance. Unauthorized production and cultivation fall under the national narcotics prohibition — do not assume one plant is permitted.
- Borders
- Recreational cannabis may not be imported or exported, including from another Schengen country where possession or sales are allowed. Prescribed narcotic medicines have their own documentation rules, and a domestic flight does not lift the national ban on recreational possession or transport.
Key dates and proposed changes
27 March 2024
Admission of new patients to the French medical-cannabis experiment stopped.
31 December 2024
The experiment ended; continuing treatment for already-enrolled patients later ran under transitional arrangements.
20 April 2026
Updated national guidance described continued treatment past 31 March 2026 for existing patients until three months after the relevant health-authority opinion was published. It did not open enrolment to tourists.
21 August 2026
Official guidance published the €500 standard, €400 reduced and €1,000 increased fixed-fine amounts. The exact date the increase took legal effect was not independently verified.
Practical questions
Can I buy weed in Paris?
Not legally for recreation. A CBD shop is not a licensed recreational THC-cannabis dispensary.
Can I smoke on the street?
No. Drug use is a criminal offence. Current official guidance lists a conditional €500 fixed fine, €400 if paid quickly or €1,000 if unpaid, and court proceedings remain possible.
Can I bring cannabis into France from Germany or another Schengen country?
Not recreational cannabis. Routine passport-free travel does not authorize narcotics importation, and prescribed medicines must qualify under the separate medicine rules.
MILDECA — the law on narcoticsFrench Customs — travelling with medicines
Can a foreign medical patient obtain or bring cannabis?
Do not expect access through the closed French experiment. For medicine you are already prescribed, French customs separates narcotic medicines from ordinary ones and requires proper prescribing or Schengen documentation depending on the journey. Confirm your exact product before you leave — a foreign prescription alone should not be assumed sufficient.
ANSM — questions on the medical-cannabis experimentFrench Customs — travelling with medicines
Can I fly home with it, or take a domestic flight?
Do not export recreational cannabis. On a wholly domestic flight, possession and transport are still governed by French narcotics law even without an international border. For medicines, check French requirements and destination or transit authorization separately.
MILDECA — the law on narcoticsFrench Customs — travelling with medicines
What about CBD?
CBD must be distinguished from prohibited THC cannabis. Product-specific CBD thresholds, flower-sale conditions and traveler import allowances were not verified here, so do not assume a CBD label authorizes crossing a border.
MILDECA — the law on narcoticsFrench Customs — travelling with medicines
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