Is CBN legal in Austria?

Across the EU, CBN is treated the same way as CBD: cannabinoid-containing extracts of Cannabis sativa are unauthorised novel foods under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, and no Union list authorisation exists in any member state.

Cannabinol is not controlled in Austria. It appears nowhere in the consolidated Austrian federal statute book, and the narcotics ordinance carries an express exemption for products of listed industrial hemp varieties.

Austria's food-law restriction reaches CBN directly rather than by inference: the 2018 health ministry circular is addressed to cannabidiol and other cannabinoids together, and holds that cannabinoid-containing extracts in foods, and in food supplements in particular, are unauthorised novel foods that may not be placed on the market. The circular is guidance rather than binding law — Austrian courts have said so — but the underlying novel-food regulation and food safety act are, and they do the real legal work. The food safety agency restated the position in November 2025.

A new law takes effect 1 September 2026 banning foods with “non-customary” psychoactive substances, backed by real enforcement powers including fines and website shutdown orders. Whether it reaches cannabinoids is genuinely unresolved — its only named example is caffeine (exempt), and Austria's own food agency says CBD isn't psychoactive. The novel-food question above remains the operative bar regardless.