Cannabis is illegal in Cyprus for any non-medical purpose, and the statute behind that is old and blunt. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law of 1977 (Law 29/1977) lists cannabis and cannabis resin as Class B controlled drugs, which puts the maximum for simple possession at eight years. There is a medical route and there is a licensed hemp industry. Neither of them helps the person holding a gram on a balcony in Protaras.
Class B for the plant, Class A for the extract
The First Schedule to Law 29/1977 sorts controlled drugs into three classes. Cannabis and cannabis resin sit in Part II, Class B, on the same list as amphetamine, codeine and methylphenidate. Section 6(2) makes simple possession an offence, and the Third Schedule sets the ceiling by class: 12 years for Class A, eight years for Class B, four for Class C, in each case with a fine or both.
The part almost nobody expects is what happens when cannabis stops being cannabis. Part I of the same schedule lists cannabinol, and Part IV defines cannabinol derivatives as the tetrahydro derivatives of cannabinol, in both cases "except where contained in cannabis or cannabis resin". Isolated THC is therefore Class A. A vape cartridge or a gummy bought over the counter in California is not, in Cypriot terms, the same commodity as herbal cannabis. It sits in the twelve-year bracket while the plant sits in the eight.
Thirty grams is the line that matters
Simple possession rarely produces the headline sentence. What does is section 30A, which turns quantity into a presumption. Where it is proved that someone cultivated, possessed or transported cannabis or its derivatives in a quantity of 30 grams or more, that person is deemed to have done so in order to supply it to a third party, unless they satisfy the court otherwise. Three or more cannabis plants trigger the same presumption. So do 10 grams of prepared opium or cocaine, or 20 grams of any other controlled drug in solid form.
That changes the offence, not merely the sentence. Possession with intent to supply under section 6(3) carries life imprisonment for a Class A or Class B drug. The burden of displacing the presumption falls on the defendant, which is unusual in a criminal court, and it is why 30 grams is the figure to remember: it is the point at which an eight-year maximum becomes a life one.
Under 25 with a clean record, and the maximum drops to two years
Section 30(2) carries a proviso worth knowing. Where a defendant is convicted of an offence involving use, possession or transport of a controlled drug for personal use, the sentence must not exceed two years' imprisonment if two conditions are both met: they had not completed their 25th year at the time of the offence, and they have no previous conviction under the Law or its regulations. Turn 26, or acquire a second conviction, and the eight-year ceiling returns.
Sentencing is then shaped by section 30(4), which lists what the court weighs. Aggravating: an organised criminal group, violence or a firearm, holding public office, exploiting a minor, and committing the offence inside an educational institution, a playground or a sports venue, or within 500 metres of its entrance, exit or fence. Mitigating: the defendant's age, being led into it by someone able to influence them, having no involvement in trafficking at all, the degree of dependence, proven remorse evidenced by cooperation against suppliers and willingness to undergo treatment, and the type and quantity found.
Where that lands in practice is for the district courts and the Court of Appeal above them, whose structure we set out in the Cyprus court system. The appellate direction of travel on supply cases is not gentle. In May 2026 the Court of Appeal increased a nine-year sentence to twelve for a man caught with 12.9 kg of cannabis, on an appeal brought by the Attorney General arguing the original sentence was too lenient.
Growing one plant is its own offence
Section 7 prohibits cultivating or importing any plant of the genus Cannabis, separately from possessing the product of it. The Third Schedule puts the maximum for that offence at life imprisonment, a fine, or both. Section 7A reaches a step further back down the chain: supplying, offering or selling cannabis seeds to someone you know intends to grow them illegally is an offence, as is importing cannabis seeds into the Republic at all, with a maximum of eight years.
Read together, the two sections leave no home-grow tolerance anywhere in the statute. There is no personal cultivation allowance and no safe plant count, and the three-plant presumption means a modest windowsill crop is treated as a supply operation until the grower proves otherwise.
Medical cannabis exists, on prescription
Cyprus legalised medical cannabis in 2019, through amendments to the 1977 Law and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Medical Cannabis) Regulations of 2019. The Ministry of Health's Pharmaceutical Services runs a dedicated Medical Cannabis Office, on 22 608620, which handles licensing and oversight. The model is closed rather than commercial: a capped number of licensed producers, prescription by a specialist, dispensing through a pharmacy. Nothing in it creates a personal right to grow or to import.
Two practical points follow. A prescription issued abroad does not authorise possession here, because the exemption runs through the Cypriot regulatory chain and not through your pharmacy at home. And anyone who depends on medical cannabis should ask the Medical Cannabis Office what is actually available to dispense before moving or travelling, rather than assuming the law on the books matches the shelf. If you are relocating, the health service registration covered in our guide to GeSY is the more immediately useful piece of admin.
CBD and hemp are legal, with a licence behind them
The definition of "cannabis" in Law 29/1977 expressly excludes industrial hemp, and that exclusion is what makes the CBD market possible. Hemp is governed by the Production and Marketing of Industrial Hemp Law of 2016 (Law 61(I)/2016), administered by the Department of Agriculture. Producers and suppliers need a licence, which expires on 31 December of the fifth year after it is issued. A crop may be harvested only after flowering has begun and only with the authority's permission, and samples go to the State General Laboratory for THC analysis.
The THC ceiling has moved. The current definition of industrial hemp ties the limit to Article 4(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the CAP strategic plans regulation, which sets it at 0.3%. Parts of the Cypriot Law's own Annex still refer to 0.2%, so the prudent assumption for anyone importing or selling is the lower figure plus a certificate of analysis to prove it.
Trading without a licence is expensive. A first conviction carries a fine of up to €50,000 or two years' imprisonment or both, rising to €100,000 or five years on a second. The Department of Agriculture can separately impose an administrative fine of up to €3,000, plus up to €1,000 for every day a breach continues. Retail enforcement has been uneven: the Cyprus Mail reported in October 2025 that shops have faced seizures and court proceedings over products they believed were within the limits. Low-THC hemp flower is the usual flashpoint, for the obvious reason that it is indistinguishable from the illegal version without a laboratory.
What visitors should assume
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office describes Cyprus as having "a strictly enforced zero-tolerance policy towards illegal drugs, including laughing gas and cannabis", and warns of long jail sentences and heavy fines. Airport screening covers transit baggage. Being a tourist, an EU citizen or the holder of a foreign prescription changes none of the classifications above.
The quieter trap is legitimate medication. Codeine and methylphenidate appear in the same Class B list as cannabis, so a prescription for either travels with you only if you can document it: carry the original prescription, keep the medicine in its labelled packaging, and check any quantity limit with Pharmaceutical Services before you fly. The related rules that catch new arrivals out are in the laws visitors get wrong.
Facing a drugs charge, or applying for a hemp or medical cannabis licence? Browse the directory for a litigation and criminal lawyer in Limassol or elsewhere on the island, and confirm the current position with the relevant department before you act. This article states the law as it stood in September 2026.