Sweden doesn’t decriminalise personal use, and it has no tolerated amount. This page covers what the law actually says, what a realistic case costs a visitor, the CBD trap, and what changed for non-citizens on 1 September 2026.
When you need this
You come from somewhere cannabis is legal or tolerated, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Canada or a US state. You’re packing CBD oil or gummies, or you take a medicine that might be narcotic-classed. You want to drive in Sweden after a trip where you used cannabis. Or someone in your group has just been stopped by police.
Use itself is the offence
Sweden’s drug law, the Narcotic Drugs Criminal Act (narkotikastrafflagen, 1968:64), is short and broad. It makes it an offence to possess, use (bruka) or otherwise handle narcotics without authorisation.
So the offence isn’t only the drug in your pocket. It’s also the drug in your body. A positive urine or blood test is evidence of a crime even when nothing is found on you. “It’s legal at home” is no defence: Swedish law applies to what you possess and use in Sweden.
What counts as narkotika (narcotics) is set by lists, not by how strong a substance feels. The lists cover everything under the UN conventions plus substances Sweden adds itself. Cannabis, cannabis resin and THC are all in schedule I, the strictest schedule, which is reserved for substances with no normal medical use.
The penalty ladder
The statute runs from a fine to ten years. Most of that range is for dealing and trafficking. The bottom rung is where visitors realistically land.
| Offence | Statutory penalty |
|---|---|
| Ringa narkotikabrott (minor drug offence) | Fine or up to 6 months |
| Narkotikabrott (use, possession, other handling) | Up to 3 years |
| Selling, or handling drugs meant for sale | 6 months to 3 years |
| Grovt narkotikabrott (aggravated) | 2 to 7 years |
| Synnerligen grovt narkotikabrott (exceptionally aggravated) | 6 to 10 years |
| Narkotikasmuggling (bringing drugs across the border) | Up to 3 years; minor case fine or up to 6 months |
Whether a case is minor depends on the kind and amount of drug and the other circumstances. For use, the Swedish Prosecution Authority’s own normal-case guidance, updated June 2026, is 30 day-fines for any narcotic. Possession of cannabis for your own use starts at the same 30 day-fines for up to one gram and rises in steps up to 50 grams. That guidance describes normal cases. It isn’t binding, and each prosecutor decides.
A dagsbot (day-fine) is 50 to 1,000 kronor depending on your income and assets. That puts 30 day-fines somewhere between 1,500 and 30,000 kr.
A minor case usually ends with a strafföreläggande, a prosecutor’s fine order. Don’t mistake it for a parking ticket. Accepting it has the same effect as a court judgment, and it stays in the Swedish criminal record for five years. You don’t have to accept it. If you refuse or don’t answer, the prosecutor will in most cases take the case to the district court.
Testing: when police can ask for a sample
Police can carry out a kroppsbesiktning (body examination) on anyone reasonably suspected of an offence that can carry prison. Drug use qualifies. A body examination includes taking samples and analysing them, so it can mean urine or blood.
- A police officer can decide on the examination when waiting would be risky.
- Only a doctor or registered nurse may take blood.
- Refusing doesn’t end the matter, because the examination is a coercive measure.
The national forensic medicine agency analyses the samples. When Brå, the National Council for Crime Prevention, studied the practice in 2016, police were requiring close to 40,000 samples a year from people suspected of minor drug offences.
CBD and THC: no threshold
This is the rule that catches the most careful visitors. In June 2019 the Swedish Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen, case B 177-19) ruled that CBD oil containing THC is a narcotic preparation. That holds even if the THC comes from legal industrial hemp.
Swedish narcotics law has no THC percentage limit, unlike several other EU countries. A label saying “under 0.2% THC” means nothing here. Any THC makes it narcotics.
CBD with genuinely no THC isn’t narcotics, but it still isn’t a lawful food product in Sweden. It’s an unapproved EU novel food, and CBD products you swallow or inhale are generally treated as medicines. Leave the gummies at home.
Medicines and medical cannabis
Prescribed narcotic-classed medicines are lawful within short limits. ADHD medication and strong painkillers are the usual examples. Arriving from a Schengen country you may bring up to 30 days’ supply, with an Article 75 certificate from your home country for 22 named substances. From outside Schengen the limit is five days for schedules II–III and three weeks for IV–V. The full rules are in our guide to bringing medicines into Sweden. Read it before you pack, because the ordinary one-year allowance doesn’t apply to these medicines.
Medical cannabis prescribed at home can’t lawfully be carried in. Cannabis is in schedule I. Schedule I medicines need an individual permit from Läkemedelsverket (the Medical Products Agency), granted only on exceptional grounds and applied for in writing before travel. There is no general exemption for a foreign prescription. Bringing it across the border undeclared is narkotikasmuggling.
Driving: zero tolerance
Driving with any narcotic substance left in your blood is rattfylleri (drink- or drug-driving). There’s no minimum amount. The exception is medicine taken as your prescriber ordered, although driving while impaired by it is still an offence.
THC can stay in the blood after the effect has gone, so cannabis used before the trip can turn a later drive into drug-driving. Prosecutors’ normal case for use combined with drug-driving is 50 day-fines. The right to drive in Sweden is normally revoked for 12 months, and that applies to a foreign licence’s validity here too. Testing, penalties and the licence are covered in depth in our drink- and drug-driving guide.
Non-citizens and expulsion: the September 2026 change
Since 1 September 2026, tightened rules make utvisning (expulsion) the main rule for a non-citizen sentenced for a crime. Three conditions apply:
- The sentence is stricter than a fine, such as prison.
- The special conditions for protected groups, such as refugees, EEA citizens and long-term residents, are met.
- The reasons for expulsion outweigh the reasons against.
The prosecutor is now obliged to ask for expulsion when the first two conditions are met. Every expulsion order carries an återreseförbud (re-entry ban). It’s normally five years where the offence’s penal value is under six months, ten years up to eighteen months, and without time limit above that.
Two points keep this in proportion. A minor-use case settled with a fine doesn’t meet the first condition. And citizens of EEA countries, and their family members, can only be expelled on grounds of public order or security, which is a much higher threshold.
Airports are no gap either. The UK Foreign Office notes that transit passengers’ baggage is scanned and that transit passengers are prosecuted too.
Mistakes to avoid
- Believing only dealing is illegal, as it is in countries that decriminalise use.
- Packing CBD oil, gummies or vapes bought legally elsewhere in the EU.
- Assuming a medical-cannabis card travels with you.
- Driving soon after arriving from a cannabis-tolerant country.
- Treating a fine order as a minor ticket rather than a conviction.
- Counting a year’s supply of ADHD medication or strong painkillers.
Practical information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Use of any narcotic | Offence — narkotikabrott; minor case fine or up to 6 months |
| Normal case, use | 30 day-fines (1,500–30,000 kr, set by income) |
| Use plus drug-driving | 50 day-fines; licence normally revoked 12 months |
| Criminal record | Fine order kept 5 years |
| Testing | Urine or blood on reasonable suspicion |
| CBD | Narcotics if it contains any THC; no threshold |
| Medical cannabis | Individual Läkemedelsverket permit only, exceptional grounds |
| Narcotic medicines | 30 days from Schengen; 5 days / 3 weeks from outside |
| Expulsion (from 1 Sep 2026) | Main rule for a sentence stricter than a fine; EEA citizens only on public-order grounds |
| Emergency | 112 |
FAQ
Is cannabis legal in Sweden?
No. Cannabis, cannabis resin and THC are in Sweden’s strictest narcotics schedule, and possessing or using them is narkotikabrott. A minor case is punished with a fine or up to six months in prison; prosecutors’ normal case for use is 30 day-fines. Sweden has no decriminalised personal-use amount and no tolerated coffee-shop system.
Is it illegal to use drugs in Sweden, or only to carry them?
Both. The Narcotic Drugs Criminal Act names use (bruk) alongside possession, so a positive urine or blood test is evidence of an offence even when nothing is found on you. Police may require a sample from anyone reasonably suspected. Prosecutors’ normal penalty for use is 30 day-fines, entered in the criminal record for five years.
Is CBD legal in Sweden?
Only if it contains no THC at all. Sweden’s Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that CBD oil containing THC is narcotics regardless of amount, and Swedish law sets no THC threshold. Even THC-free CBD cannot lawfully be sold as food, because it is an unapproved EU novel food. A product sold legally elsewhere in the EU can be illegal to carry here.
Can I bring medical cannabis to Sweden?
No, not on a foreign prescription. Cannabis is in schedule I, and schedule I medicines may be brought in only with an individual permit from Läkemedelsverket, granted on exceptional grounds and applied for in writing before travel. Other narcotic-classed medicines, such as ADHD medication and strong painkillers, are allowed within short limits — see our medicines guide.
Can Swedish police make me take a drug test?
Yes, if you are reasonably suspected of an offence that can carry imprisonment, which includes drug use. The test is a body examination under the Code of Judicial Procedure and can mean a urine or blood sample; only a doctor or nurse may take blood. Brå’s 2016 study counted close to 40,000 such samples a year for suspected minor drug offences.
Can a tourist be deported from Sweden for drugs?
It depends on the sentence. Since 1 September 2026 expulsion is the main rule when a non-citizen is sentenced to anything stricter than a fine, with a re-entry ban of five years or more. A minor-use case settled with a fine does not meet that condition, and EEA citizens can only be expelled on public-order or security grounds.
Can I drive in Sweden if I used cannabis at home?
Only if no THC remains in your blood. Driving with any narcotic substance left in the blood is drug-driving under Swedish law, with no minimum amount, and THC can stay detectable after the effect has gone. The usual consequence is losing the right to drive in Sweden for about twelve months, on top of the fine.
Related guides
- Bringing medicines into Sweden: the exact limits and certificate for narcotic-classed medicines.
- Drink- and drug-driving in Sweden: tests, penalties and what happens to your licence.
- Swedish laws tourists break without knowing: the fines and offences that catch visitors elsewhere.
- Is Sweden safe?: the wider safety picture, drugs included.
- Emergency numbers in Sweden: 112 and the other numbers to save.
Facts verified 2026-09-24. Sources: Sveriges riksdag (statute texts), Åklagarmyndigheten, Läkemedelsverket, Livsmedelsverket, Brå, Transportstyrelsen, Trafikverket — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.