The same rule, everywhere we track it. Click a jurisdiction for the full picture and official sources.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Rule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| California, USA | Legal | Licensed retail and delivery Retail sales require a license from the Department of Cannabis Control plus local authorization — many cities still ban storefronts. Licensed delivery is allowed statewide, and local bans cannot block delivery access. All products must move through the licensed, track-and-traced supply chain. |
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| Colorado, USA | Legal | Licensed retail; delivery permitted Retail sales run through Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) licensed stores, with separate medical and adult-use licenses. Licensed delivery is permitted where the local jurisdiction has opted in. Local governments may ban or cap licenses, so availability varies widely by city and county. |
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| New York, USA | Legal | OCM-licensed retail Retail sales are only legal through OCM-licensed dispensaries, and the state actively enforces against the large unlicensed market. Early conditional licenses prioritized applicants impacted by past prohibition. Municipalities had a one-time option to opt out of retail stores and on-site consumption lounges. |
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| Canada | Legal | Provincially licensed retail Recreational retail is licensed provincially, and models differ: government stores (e.g. Quebec), private licensed stores (e.g. Alberta, Ontario), or hybrids. Online sales run through provincial platforms or licensed private retailers depending on the province. Selling without a provincial licence is illegal and actively enforced. |
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| Germany | Legal | Commercial sale prohibited; clubs allowed Commercial retail sale of recreational cannabis remains prohibited. Non-profit cultivation associations (max 500 members) may grow collectively and distribute limited amounts to members — up to 25 g per day and 50 g per month, with a 30 g monthly cap and potency limits for members under 21. A second pillar with commercially-oriented regional pilot projects has been announced but is not yet in force. |
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| Malta | Legal | Non-profit associations only Distribution is only legal through licensed non-profit cannabis harm-reduction associations (max 500 members), with member limits of 50 g per month. Commercial retail sale is prohibited. Associations are regulated by ARUC and must meet security, testing and record-keeping conditions. |
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| Netherlands | Decriminalized | Closed-chain supply experiment The controlled cannabis supply chain experiment (wietexperiment) lets licensed growers supply coffeeshops in participating municipalities with regulated, tested cannabis. The experiment has moved into its operational phase, with participating coffeeshops required to sell only regulated product during the trial. Rules inside experiment cities therefore differ from the rest of the country. |
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| Netherlands | Decriminalized | Coffeeshop tolerance rules Coffeeshops may sell up to 5 g per person per day under the national tolerance criteria: no advertising, no sales to minors, no hard drugs, no public nuisance, and a maximum of 500 g of stock on the premises. Municipalities may impose additional local rules, and some restrict access to residents. Supply to coffeeshops (the back door) remains illegal outside the experiment — the core contradiction of the Dutch model. |
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| Portugal | Decriminalized | Recreational sale illegal Recreational retail sale of cannabis is prohibited in Portugal. CBD products occupy a restricted space — products with THC above trace levels are treated as narcotics, and CBD sold as food or supplements faces novel-food constraints. The licensed medical-cannabis industry serves prescription and export channels only. |
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| Spain | Decriminalized | Sale prohibited; clubs grey zone Commercial sale of cannabis is illegal in Spain. Cannabis social clubs operate in a grey zone under association law, mainly in Catalonia and the Basque Country, distributing to members under the shared-consumption doctrine; court rulings have progressively narrowed their room to operate. Tourist-oriented clubs in cities like Barcelona are not legal dispensaries. |
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| Switzerland | CBD only | CBD retail legal; THC retail only in pilot trials CBD products below 1.0% THC are sold legally and widely available, regulated under food, cosmetics or tobacco-product law depending on the format. Adult-use THC cannabis may only be sold inside authorized scientific pilot trials (WeedCare in Basel-Stadt, ZüriCan in Zurich, SCRIPT and others) to registered participants resident in the trial canton. Commercial recreational retail outside these trials remains prohibited. |
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| Thailand | In flux | Licensed but tightening Retail sales boomed after the 2022 delisting, with thousands of shops operating in a loosely regulated space. Interim rules apply (minimum age, no on-site smoking, no vending machines or online sales), and the government has signaled stricter licensing and a possible return to medical-only sales. Because policy is shifting, verify current licensing requirements with the Thai FDA. |
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| United Kingdom | Medical only | CBD regulated as novel food Recreational sale of cannabis is illegal in the UK. CBD consumer products must contain only trace THC and require novel-food authorization from the Food Standards Agency to be legally marketed as food or supplements. Products marketed with medical claims fall under medicines regulation and need an MHRA licence. |
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| Uruguay | Legal | State-regulated pharmacy sales State-regulated pharmacy sales to registered users operate under IRCCA oversight, with product supplied by licensed producers at capped potency. Cannabis clubs of 15–45 members may collectively grow and distribute to members. There is no commercial recreational market — advertising and commercial branding are prohibited. |
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