Travel guide & glossary
The questions that come up in every country, and the words you will meet on a menu or a door.
Nothing here overrides local law. Rules differ between neighbouring countries, and sometimes between cities in one country — check the page for where you are actually going.
Before you travel
Can I take cannabis across a border?
No. Carrying cannabis between countries is a serious offence almost everywhere, including between two countries that each allow it, and including a valid medical prescription. Finish or leave behind whatever you have before you travel.
What do I need to bring?
A passport or national ID in nearly all cases — a photo on a phone is rarely accepted. Minimum ages differ: 18 in much of Europe, 19 in parts of Canada, 21 across the United States. Some venues also require proof of local residence, and some specifically require a foreign passport.
Can I consume in public?
Usually not, even where buying is legal. Many cities ban consumption in streets, parks and near schools, and fines are issued in practice. Look for a venue that permits consumption on site, or private accommodation that allows it — a hotel usually does not.
How do private clubs work?
A cannabis social club is a private association, not a shop. Membership normally requires an invitation or referral from an existing member, a registration process, and sometimes a waiting period before your first visit. A club that sells to any tourist who walks in is generally operating outside its own legal basis.
Does my prescription work abroad?
Rarely. Most medical programmes only serve residents registered locally, and a foreign prescription is usually not a legal basis to buy or carry. Some countries have a short-stay visitor route, which must be completed before you arrive.
What about driving?
Every jurisdiction that permits cannabis still prohibits driving under its influence, and several enforce zero-tolerance limits where any detectable amount is an offence. THC can be detected long after the effect has passed.
How much may I carry?
Possession limits are specific and enforced — often measured in grams, with separate lower limits for concentrates. Buying the legal maximum in two shops on the same day can still put you over the limit.
What should I do before flying home?
Leave everything behind, including packaging, and check pockets and bags. Airport security in an origin country that permits cannabis will still not let it onto an international flight, and the destination decides what happens next.
Glossary
Terms you will see on menus, signs and this site.
- Coffeeshop
- A Dutch venue licensed to sell small amounts of cannabis for personal use. Not a café in the ordinary sense, and not a term used with this meaning elsewhere.
- A private members association that cultivates for its own members. Common in Spain and Malta. Membership, not retail.
- Dispensary
- A licensed shop selling cannabis, medical or adult-use depending on the country. The usual term in North America and Thailand.
- Consumption lounge
- A venue where consuming on the premises is permitted. Rarer than shops, because most places that allow buying still prohibit public use.
- Pharmacy route
- Where cannabis is dispensed as medicine by a pharmacist against a prescription — the only legal channel in much of Europe and Latin America.
- Decriminalised
- Possession of a small amount is not prosecuted as a crime, usually attracting a fine instead. It does NOT mean selling is legal, or that buying is safe.
- Tolerated
- Formally illegal, but authorities refrain from prosecuting when specific conditions are met. A policy, not a right, and it can change without a change in the law.
- Medical only
- Legal access exists solely through a medical route: assessment, prescription and usually registration. There is no adult-use retail.
- Adult use
- Anyone over the minimum age may buy from a licensed seller, without a medical reason.
- THC
- The compound responsible for the intoxicating effect. Product strength is usually stated as a THC percentage.
- CBD
- A non-intoxicating compound. CBD products are legal in many places where THC is not, subject to a THC ceiling that differs by country.
- Tourist access
- Whether a visitor may legally buy. Distinct from whether the country permits cannabis at all — several allow residents only.
- Membership
- The registration a private club requires before your first visit. Often needs a referral, ID and a waiting period.
- Possession limit
- The maximum you may legally hold at one time, typically in grams, with a separate lower figure for concentrates.
- Home cultivation
- Whether growing plants for personal use is allowed, and how many. Permitted in some places that have no legal shops at all.
For the rules where you are going, start here: cannabis laws by country