Is THC legal in Cyprus?

Formal status

The EU's general threshold for THC in industrial hemp is 0.3 per cent (Regulation (EU) 2021/2115), applied to the crop rather than to a finished supplement.

Cyprus applies that figure. The 2016 Production and Marketing of Industrial Hemp Law originally set 0.2 per cent; on 1 February 2024 the House of Representatives passed an amending bill raising the definition of industrial hemp to 0.3 per cent THC on a dry-weight basis, aligned with the EU regulation and applied retroactively to 7 December 2021. THC above that threshold falls under the Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law of 1977.

Cyprus separately maintains a Ministry of Health instrument setting maximum THC levels in hemp foods by category. We have not been able to retrieve its current text - the Ministry page fails certificate validation - so we do not state its figures here rather than repeat a secondary account of a document we have not read.

THC content is not what constrains this product in Cyprus. The operative bar is the medicines classification of CBD, which applies regardless of quantity.

Do we sell here?

Yes, for now: Sleep spray, Sleep capsules.

Cyprus sets its hemp THC threshold at 0.3 per cent on a dry-weight basis, having raised it from 0.2 per cent in February 2024 to match the EU figure. Our batches test meaningfully below 0.2 per cent, so we clear it with room to spare, and we publish the certificates.

THC is not what makes Cyprus complicated for us. That is the Cypriot rule treating CBD as a medicinal product, which applies whatever the dose, and which we set out on our CBD page. We ship to Cyprus and review the position weekly. We would rather say that plainly than let a comfortable number stand in for the whole picture.

Outlook

Cyprus moved toward the EU position in February 2024 rather than away from it, and nothing suggests it will tighten the hemp threshold again.

The open item is the Ministry of Health's maximum-THC-in-foods instrument, whose current text we have not been able to retrieve; closing that is on our list rather than assumed away. Seized products in Cyprus are laboratory-tested against the statutory threshold, so a declared specification would need to hold up analytically if a shipment were ever examined - which is one reason we publish batch certificates.

Timeline

April 2023

Police raid shops in Latsia and central Nicosia over unlicensed CBD, THC and HHC products, with seized goods sent to the Health Ministry for laboratory testing. Pharmaceutical Services and the police drug squad separately confirm that CBD products may be distributed only through licensed pharmacies.

Cyprus Mail

February 2024

House of Representatives passes a bill amending the industrial hemp production and trade law, raising the definition of industrial hemp from 0.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent THC on a dry-weight basis to align with EU regulation, applied retroactively to 7 December 2021.

Cyprus Mail

January 2025

Joint Police and Health Ministry operation raids shops in Nicosia and Paphos, seizing 244 packages of suspected CBD product and 43 of suspected THC product. The stated basis is that CBD products are medicinal products requiring a valid circulation licence; owners face trial and possible permanent closure of the business.

Cyprus Mail

February 2025

Police, the National Cannabis Control Authority and Pharmaceutical Services report a nationwide crackdown: over 1,450 cannabis-based items totalling 29 kg seized, and 2,142 illegal preparations identified during 2024, roughly 1,800 of them containing CBD or THC. Targets are commercial retail premises, with criminal charges against shop owners.

Cyprus Mail

June 2026

Customs Department and the drug squad seize 1,440 cannabis lollipops at a Limassol transport company's premises, from three containers arriving from Greece, alongside suspected counterfeit goods. Detection followed random inspection of a consignment mis-declared as personal items.

Cyprus Mail

July 2026

Customs officers and police intercept two packages at Larnaca airport arriving from another EU member state, containing 24 kg across 1,600 cannabis-based products including tea, coffee, chewing gum, jelly and electronic cigarettes, declared as souvenirs. The consignment was destined for retail sale in Cyprus; the intended recipient and a shop employee were arrested.

Cyprus Mail