Is CBN legal in Greece?

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A flag of Greece, next to the chemical structure of CBN

Formal status

Like CBD, cannabinol falls under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 as an unauthorised novel food across the EU. No member state has granted authorisation for it.

Greece captures CBN by umbrella wording rather than leaving it to inference. The Greek medicines agency's circular of November 2022 states that all cannabinoids, natural and synthetic, including cannabidiol, are Novel Foods, with CBD given as an example rather than as the limit of the category. Only seeds, seed oil and seed flour are recognised edible parts, and extraction that modifies the plant's natural cannabinoid content falls outside what is permitted.

A second Greek requirement bars the same product independently of that circular, and it sits in a higher instrument. ΚΥΑ Δ3(α)20492, published in ΦΕΚ Β΄ 2712/01.06.2022, governs the lawful marketing of food supplements containing Cannabis sativa L. Article 3(2) makes a certificate of analysis proving the absence of THC from the finished supplement a condition of notification, with THC not exceeding the limit of quantification of the most sensitive analytical method available. HPLC, at a limit of quantification of the order of 0.1 mg/l, and LC/MS-MS, of the order of 0.001 mg/l, are named in the text. A full-spectrum extract contains trace THC by design, so a CBN product of that kind cannot satisfy Article 3(2) whatever is said about CBN itself.

Greece has also acted on CBN by name. In April 2025 the agency prohibited the distribution in the Greek market of a melatonin, CBD and CBN sleep supplement, citing CBD and CBN specifically as unapproved novel ingredients.

Do we sell here?

Yes, for now: Sleep spray, Sleep capsules.

Most European countries have never said anything about CBN specifically. Greece has. Its medicines agency treats all cannabinoids as unauthorised novel foods, and in April 2025 it named CBN directly when ordering a sleep supplement containing CBD and CBN off the Greek market.

So we are not relying on silence here - we know the Greek position and it is against us on the paper rules. We still ship to Greece, because the measures we can see are aimed at products placed on the Greek market and at retailers inside the country rather than at European sellers delivering to customers.

We review this regularly, and Greece is near the top of the list of markets we would expect to change.

Outlook

Greece is one of the few member states where CBN's position is a matter of record rather than read-across, and the record is adverse. That cuts both ways: the rule is clear, so there is no arguable good-faith uncertainty to fall back on, but we are also not guessing about where we stand.

Watch whether the Greek medicines agency repeats the April 2025 approach against further cannabinoid sleep supplements, which would show whether that decision was isolated or the start of a pattern. Note also that an EU-level Novel Food authorisation for CBD would not carry CBN with it; CBN has been assessed by no EU regulator. Greece also tightened in July 2026, bringing supplements containing cannabinoids inside its licensed retail regime, and a September 2026 ministerial circular restated that framework and extended sampling instructions to online shops without naming cannabinol; see our CBD page for what that does and does not reach.

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Joint Ministerial Decision D3(a)20492 published in Gazette 2712/B, setting the conditions for lawfully producing and marketing food supplements containing Cannabis sativa L.: notification to EOF with standard food supplement documentation, an analysis certificate for raw materials, a THC analysis certificate for the finished product, a certificate of lawful cultivation, and a production flow diagram.

Εθνικό Τυπογραφείο, ΚΥΑ Δ3(α)20492 in ΦΕΚ Β΄ 2712/01.06.2022 on cannabis food supplements

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EOF issues clarifications on the application of Ministerial Decision D3(a)20492, stating that all cannabinoids, natural and synthetic, including cannabidiol, are Novel Foods; that the only currently recognised edible parts of the plant are the seeds, seed oils and seed flours; and that the 0.2 per cent THC limit set by Article 1 of Law 4139/2013 concerns the harvested material and not the final product, with the aim that in the final product the substance be almost non-detectable.

EOF circular 118342/08.11.2022, clarifications on applying ΚΥΑ Δ3(α)20492/2022

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EOF prohibits the circulation and supply in Greece of the food supplement MELATONIN+CBD+CBN, commercial name CANNALINE, of the company EUPHORIA TRADE, on the ground that it contains the unapproved novel ingredients CBD and CBN and was not notified to EOF. The decision cites Article 6 para. II of L. 1316/83 as replaced by Article 25 of L. 3730/2008, Article 10 of ΥΑ Γ5α/53625/2017, and an EFET document of 27 March 2025 relaying RASFF alert 2025.0505-fup4. It is addressed to three Greek-established businesses that had obtained the product from EUPHORIA TRADE, s.r.o. of the Czech Republic, and EOF describes it as a precautionary measure for the protection of public health. The decision says nothing about online sale, distance selling or sellers established in other member states.

EOF decision 42508, Directorate of Production and Circulation Control

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Law 5302/2026 published in Gazette A' 78. Article 43(2) prohibits throughout Greek territory the retail sale, distribution and supply to consumers, and the purchase and use by consumers, of dried flower of Cannabis sativa L. varieties with THC up to 0.3 per cent, in processed or unprocessed form. EOF announced the prohibition on 21 May 2026, citing Articles 43(2) and 46 and stating that the framework applies immediately. Article 43 also replaces the 0.2 per cent figure with 0.3 per cent throughout Article 1(3) of Law 4139/2013, raising the industrial hemp threshold, and states that the flower prohibition does not catch import, storage or wholesale distribution for industrial processing.

Εθνικό Τυπογραφείο, Law 5302/2026 in ΦΕΚ Α΄ 78/20.05.2026, Article 43 dried flower ban

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Ministry of Health interpretative circular οικ. 3424 on the scope of the dried flower prohibition in Article 43(2) of Law 5302/2026. It confirms that the prohibition applies regardless of THC or other cannabinoid content and in both processed and unprocessed form, and was prompted by plant material being sprayed with synthetic or semi-synthetic cannabinoids to give products an appearance of legality. Working from a scientific opinion supplied by EOF, it identifies the plant parts caught as the flower or inflorescence including bracts, stigmas and trichomes, fan leaves, resinous sugar leaves and bracts, and glandular trichomes. It reaches no further than those plant parts, and refers foods and cannabinoids produced from Cannabis sativa L. to EFET decision 12280/21.10.2025 and EOF circular 118342/08.11.2022.

Ministry of Health interpretative circular οικ. 3424/26.06.2026 on Διαύγεια, ΑΔΑ Ρ52Τ465ΦΥΟ-Ν6Ε

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Law 5322/2026 published in Gazette A' 117. Article 85 redefines cannabis products to include cosmetics and food supplements meeting the conditions of Article 1(3) of Law 4139/2013, and products containing only cannabidiol. The May 2026 definition had excluded foods outright; the new wording excludes foods with an express exception for those supplements. Retail sale of cannabis products is reserved by Article 47 of Law 5302/2026 to licensed cannabis-product businesses and pharmacies. The law is silent on distance selling and on sellers established in other member states.

Εθνικό Τυπογραφείο, Law 5322/2026 in ΦΕΚ Α΄ 117/24.07.2026, Article 85 on cannabis products

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The Minister of Health issues interpretative circular Α.Π. οικ. 4941, restating that Greek cannabis law works by closed enumeration, so anything not expressly permitted is prohibited. Production, supply and retail sale of food supplements is confirmed prohibited in its entirety regardless of THC content, apart from THC-free supplements meeting the 2022 joint ministerial decision and carrying a lawful notification number. The circular directs the medicines and food authorities to carry out controls and sampling at points of supply, naming electronic as well as physical shops, and states that claims such as legal, under 0.2% or THC-free do not cure illegality. It creates no new prohibition.

Ministry of Health interpretative circular Α.Π. οικ. 4941/15.09.2026 on Διαύγεια, ΑΔΑ 9ΧΡΕ465ΦΥΟ-ΠΞΑ

Ingredients

Browse legality of our other ingredients in Greece.