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United Kingdom Marijuana Laws
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United Kingdom (UK) Marijuana Laws

Key Points

  • Cannabis is illegal for recreational use in the UK. However, the UK made medical cannabis legal in November 2018
  • The UK’s cannabis laws apply to England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
  • Cannabis is a Class B controlled drug in the UK. It was briefly downgraded to a Class C drug between 2004 and 2008
  • Home cultivation of cannabis is not permitted in the UK, even for qualified medical cannabis patients

Is Marijuana Legal in the UK?

In the United Kingdom, cannabis is illegal for recreational use. However, medical use of cannabis became legal in the UK in November 2018. UK cannabis laws prohibit individuals from growing, manufacturing, and distributing cannabis for any purpose, except if authorised by the Home Office. Eligible patients can, however, possess and use prescribed doses of cannabis medications in accordance with the UK’s narrow medical marijuana program.

UK Marijuana Laws 2024

Currently, the UK government categorises cannabis as a Class B drug. This classification has been in place since the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 passed except for a brief period when cannabis was made a Class C drug. Following expert advice, the Tony Blair government sought to decriminalise cannabis possession when it downgraded it to a Class C drug in 2004. This meant that cannabis-related crimes attracted less severe penalties and law enforcement spent less time policing marijuana offences. During this period, there were fewer arrests for such offences in the UK. However, these gains were reversed in 2017 when Gordon Brown became the new Prime Minister. His government moved cannabis back to a Class B category, leading once more to more severe penalties for cannabis offences.

While medical cannabis became legal in the UK in 2018, its scope and implementation are quite limited. The UK’s medical cannabis law only allows certain NHS doctors to recommend medical cannabis for a select few debilitating conditions. Therefore, many deserving patients are left with little guidance and no access to cannabis medications that can significantly improve their quality of life.

Increasingly, there are calls for the expansion of the UK’s medical cannabis program and the legalisation of recreational marijuana. While the current government refuses to debate the issue, there are obvious signs that more people, including politicians and medical practitioners, are leaning towards making cannabis fully legal. As more countries in Europe and most states in the US legalise cannabis, to huge economic benefits and no public health crisis, many believe that the United Kingdom will legalise the drug sooner rather than later.

Timeline of Cannabis Laws in the UK

  • 1928: Decades after the drug first gained national attention in 1842, the United Kingdom finally announced its official position on the legality of cannabis. The government updated its Dangerous Drugs Act 1920 with an addendum that added cannabis to the list of banned controlled substances. This ban prohibited the cultivation, production, sales, possession, import, transportation, distribution, and export of cannabis and cannabis products in England, Scotland, North Ireland, and Wales
  • 1971: The UK Parliament passed the Misuse of Drugs Act as a collective legal framework for its agreements to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), the United Nations’ Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971), and Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988). Under this Act, the UK named these four categories of controlled substances: Classes A, B, and C and Temporary Class. Cannabis was placed in the second highest category, Class B
  • 2004: Cannabis was decriminalised in the UK with the government moving it from Class B to Class C. This downgrade was recommended by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and came with less severe penalties for cannabis-related crimes
  • 2008: A new UK government reversed the downgrade of cannabis by recategorizing it as a Class B drug against the advice of the ACMD. The number of cannabis-related arrests rose once more in the UK as Class B drugs required sterner policing and more severe penalties
  • 2018: The UK made medical cannabis legal following public anger over the NHS denying two epileptic children (Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley) continued cannabis medication. This change made medical marijuana legal in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland

Can I Use Cannabis in the UK?

The only form of cannabis allowed in the UK is medical cannabis. The recreational use of marijuana is strictly prohibited in the UK. To qualify for medical cannabis, a patient must be diagnosed with one of a few debilitating medical conditions such as a rare form of epilepsy and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis. In the UK, medical cannabis can only be recommended by a doctor listed in the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council. While approved medical cannabis patients can consume marijuana in the UK, they are not allowed to smoke cannabis.

Penalties for Cannabis-Related Crimes in the UK

The most common cannabis offence in the UK is possession. The severity of this offence depends on the amount of cannabis the offender has in their possession and whether they are a repeat offender or not. UK drug laws allow first offenders to settle out of court. In most cases, offenders are not even booked at local police stations. There are three out-of-court settlement options available to persons arrested with cannabis in their possession. These are community resolution, penalty notice for disorder (PND), and conditional caution.

UK law enforcement officers usually opt for community resolution if the arrest or offence of cannabis possession does not involve aggravation or any form of violence. This option is also the one given to most first offenders. It requires the offender to admit guilt and participate in a diversion scheme, usually a drug education class. One community resolution is allowed in a 12-month period. A community resolution also does not show up in the offender’s criminal record.

An offender issued a PND must pay the fine amount listed in the notice or contest the notice in court within 21 days. If found guilty, the offender will get a criminal conviction that appears on their criminal record. If they choose to pay the fine, they will not be charged. If they fail to pay the fine within the stipulated period, they will get a heavier fine.

A conditional caution is a more serious out-of-court settlement for cannabis offences. It results in a fine and participation in a diversion scheme. However, a conditional caution appears on the offender’s criminal record. A repeat, or violent, offender that is unqualified for any of these three settlements will be charged in a criminal court. If convicted of marijuana possession in a Magistrates' Court, they may be fined up to £2,500 and/or sentenced to prison for up to 3 months. A cannabis possession conviction in a UK Crown Court also carries a fine and a prison term of up to 5 years. However, anyone caught trafficking or illegally manufacturing cannabis in the UK will get a much heavier fine and.or a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Is Gifting Marijuana A Crime In the UK?

Yes. Unauthorised cannabis transfers between persons, even without compensation, is illegal in the UK. Both the gifter and gift receiver may be arrested for cannabis possession. The gifter may also be charged for drug trafficking.

Can I Cultivate Marijuana For Non-Medical Use In My Home?

No. UK’s cannabis law does not allow the home cultivation of cannabis even for qualified medical cannabis patients. Only businesses authorised by the Home Office can grow marijuana plants in the UK.

Is Transportation Of Marijuana Legal in the UK?

Yes. Transporting cannabis anywhere in the UK requires a licence from the Home Office. Individuals are not allowed to transport marijuana in public or private transports. Patients qualified for marijuana under the UK’s medical cannabis law may carry their cannabis prescriptions with them. However, they must have proper identification and proof that they are legally allowed to possess the amounts of cannabis on them when transporting their cannabis prescriptions.

What Is The Legal Implication Of Driving Under The Influence Of Marijuana in the UK?

Driving under the influence of marijuana is a crime in the UK. Law enforcement officers can conduct roadside drug assessment and are authorised to carry field drug test kits. Anyone caught driving while under the influence of cannabis may look forward to forfeiting their driving privileges for at least a year. They may also be fined and/or sentenced to up to 6 months in prison. If the drugged driving results in the death of another person, the court may give the offender a long prison sentence up to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Possible Remedies For The Defendant Violating the UK Marijuana Laws

The most potent defence for anyone in a UK court fighting a marijuana offence is proving that they unknowingly had cannabis in their possession and, as soon as they discovered it, made reasonable efforts to destroy or transfer it to another party legally allowed to possess it.

What Is the UK’s Cannabis History?

While cannabis use was widely reported in the British Colonies in the 1800s, the first record of the medical use of marijuana in the UK came in 1842 when Irish physician, William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, brought some cannabis home from Bengal. Similarly, while marijuana was getting banned in the colonies, it took the UK until 1928 to officially prohibit the drug and list it among controlled substances. The 1928 cannabis ban was established as an addendum to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920. The prohibition covered cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, processing, distribution, transportation, possession, and use. With this ban, the numbers of cannabis arrests and prosecutions rose in the countries making up the UK.

When the Misuse of Drugs Act passed in 1971, it confirmed the status of cannabis as a banned drug and named it among Class B controlled substances. This classification recommended severe penalties for cannabis-related crimes and stayed in place for over three decades.

In 2004, the UK government looked more favourably on cannabis use and downgraded it from Class B to Class C. This shift meant that law enforcement across the countries of the UK could devote less time to pursuing and prosecuting cannabis offences. It also led to less severe penalties for these offences. However, the decriminalisation of cannabis crimes did not last. At the end of 2007, a new government reversed the official categorisation of cannabis and reinstated it as a Class B drug.

Cannabis remained strictly prohibited in the UK until November 2018, when the government was forced to make medical marijuana legal. The change came after a public outcry over the health crises of two boys, living with severe forms of epilepsy, denied continued cannabis therapies that were proven to improve their conditions. Even as the UK made medical cannabis legal, it restricted who can use it and who can recommend it. Only physicians on the Specialist Register can recommend medical cannabis and only for a small set of qualifying medical conditions. On the other hand, recreational cannabis remains banned in all the countries of the UK despite increasing calls to debate the issue and legalise marijuana.