Austria has a very complex system when it comes to its drug laws and regulations, but in short: no, cannabis is not legal in the alpine country.
People are not allowed to consume, buy, sell, or grow the plant (growing it at home has some very strange specifications, such as it must never be allowed to bloom).
However, since 2016, a person caught with a small quantity of cannabis could face only small charges, similar to traffic violations.
READ ALSO: Reader question: Am I liable for ambulance costs in Austria?
Still, Austria won't allow adults to consume the plant product privately.
With legalisation and decriminalisation movements sweeping the globe, could this change?
In 2021, the country's constitutional court evaluated a private petition by Paul Burger, a (at the time) 26-year-old Viennese, asking for the decriminalisation of consumption—and denied it.
In a statement, the court said, "It is in the legislator's legal scope to regulate the consumption of addictive substances." This means the issue is political and should be decided in Parliament. Therefore, the court cannot rule on it.
Burger was caught with a half-burned joint at the end of 2020 by two police officers in plain clothes.
"Isn't it my decision whether I use cannabis?" Burger has stated in his individual application submitted to the Austrian Constitutional Court. Vienna attorney Dr Helmut Graupner, a known advocate for equal and personal rights, counselled him.
Previously, Graupner successfully challenged Austria's same-sex marriage ban.
READ ALSO: Austria's top court legalises same-sex marriage
Is a ban on cannabis constitutional?
Austria's highest court had to decide whether the current Austrian Narcotic Drugs Act, which criminalises the private use of cannabis, is constitutional. The court in 2021 decided that the issue was a political matter and unanimously rejected the treatment of the application.
Dr Graupner states that the use of the narcotic, which happens without harming others, should be protected by the right to privacy and self-determination.
"Currently, in Austria, people are allowed to decide if they want to live or not. They have the right to the private decision on assisted suicide. Still, they cannot decide on such a private and harmless matter as to whether or not to smoke a joint?" Graupner told The Local.
Assisted suicide has been legal in Austria since early 2022 after the Constitutional Court decided that a ban was against a person's self-determination right.
READ ALSO: Austria votes to make assisted dying legal
Cannabis-Verbot auf dem Prüfstand
— Helmut Graupner (@HelmutGraupner) February 8, 2022
Verfassungsgerichtshof leitet Verfahren ein
Aufgrund eines Individualantrags vom Oktober 2021 hat der Verfassungsgerichtshof (VfGH)jetzt ein Verfahren zur Prüfung des Cannabis-Verbots auf seine Vereinbarkeit mit der österreichischenVerfassung pic.twitter.com/8N8xPP5LQU
What are the current rules regarding cannabis?
Austria has many different rules and penalties related to cannabis. The country allows cultivation for medicinal purposes, but its health agency, AGES, strictly controls this. As mentioned, personal use is illegal as well.
"We have the opinion that criminalisation does not work", Graupner says. He explains that small instances of this "crime" end up consuming a large part of police work.
"Legalising or decriminalising would free police and authorities to deal with real issues since 80 per cent of the cases caught end up being only for personal use. This is a waste of tax money", he adds.
According to the federal government, cannabis is the most common drug consumed, with a lifetime prevalence of around 30 per cent to 40 per cent among young adults.
Most studies also reveal a maximum consumption rate of four per cent for ecstasy, cocaine and amphetamine and a maximum of two per cent for opioids and new psychoactive substances (NPS), the federal government added.
READ ALSO: Reader question: Is abortion legal in Austria?
Growing the plant "for the purpose of addictive substance production" is strictly forbidden and could lead to imprisonment of up to a year and fines. Selling it leads to higher fines and prison time, and even being caught with low amounts can bring problems to the user.
However, some stores sell the cannabis plant - or a hemp plant, provided that they are not allowed to bloom (the flowers concentrate the substance THC, which produces the intoxicating effect of marijuana).
What about all the 'marijuana' stores in the streets?
One thing that may confuse people is the stores selling CBD products all over Austria. They are trendy in the city centre of Vienna.
Despite the green and cannabis-themed illustrations, they are not selling the narcotic but only products made with parts of the plant that contain no THC.
Both substances, CBD and THC, work with receptors in the brain and can affect things like pain, sleep, and memory. The difference is that THC works directly with receptors in the brain and can give the so-called "high" feeling. CBD works with other body elements and is not considered a narcotic.
READ ALSO: 'Taboo in Austrian society': How women still face barriers accessing abortion
CBD products, then, are legal in Austria like other products that can be considered mood changers, including alcohol (and the legal age for drinking beer in Austria is 16) and cigarettes.
"Alcohol is legal and acceptable, even desirable socially; you can get judged if you don't drink. While cannabis, which is less dangerous than alcohol, has a consumption ban and you are viewed as a criminal when you consume it", says Dr Graupner.
Comments