Which country in Europe smokes the most cannabis? The one where it is legal? The one with the coffeeshops? Wrong on both counts. The Europeans lighting up most often, according to prevalence surveys, are not the Dutch and not the Spanish — and one or two of the names further down the list will surprise you.
Here is how Europe actually tokes, country by country, with the legal situation alongside — because the two do not line up the way you would expect.
| Rank | Country | Adults who have used cannabis | Legal status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | ~45% | Illegal, but on-the-spot fines only |
| 2 | Italy | ~40% | Decriminalised for small personal amounts |
| 3 | Spain | ~35% | Private use legal, cannabis clubs tolerated |
| 4 | Czechia | ~30% | Decriminalised, medical cannabis legal |
| 5 | Netherlands | ~25% | Tolerated sale in coffeeshops, still technically illegal |
| 6 | Germany | ~25% | Legalised for personal use (2024 law, rolling out) |
| 7 | Denmark | ~30%+ | Illegal, but Christiania has tolerated sales for 50 years |
| 8 | UK | ~30% | Illegal, Class B, medical cannabis legal on private prescription |
| 9 | Portugal | ~15-20% | All drugs decriminalised since 2001 |
| 10 | Norway | ~20% | Illegal, but fines instead of prosecution for small amounts |
Figures are lifetime-prevalence estimates drawn from national surveys and the EU drugs agency (EUDA). Different countries survey differently, so treat this as a league table of honesty as much as consumption — the Dutch, famously, may just be less likely to admit it to a researcher.
The Danes lead — and the Dutch are nowhere
The headline that never gets old: the country most famous for cannabis freedom, the Netherlands, sits comfortably in mid-table, while the Danes — who have had the tolerated chaos of Christiania in the middle of Copenhagen for half a century — rank among the heaviest users in Europe. Availability does not create consumption. If anything, the countries that made a fuss have more smokers than the ones that shrugged.
The UK: third place, zero thanks to the law
Not that amazing that the UK sits near the top. We have struggled for many years to attain such heights in the face of archaic laws — a Class B ban that has survived every review, an evidence committee sacked for telling the truth, and now a medical system so restrictive that only a few thousand private prescriptions have ever been written. Yet here we are, among the most enthusiastic tokers in Europe. The law has achieved precisely nothing, at the cost of nearly 150,000 criminal records a year.
The French paradox
As for the French — well, they are just French. The highest prevalence in Europe, enforced with the toughest on-the-spot fines in Western Europe, and a government that re-legislates the question every two years and decides against it every time. Nearly half the adult population has tried it. The Republic remains unperturbed.
Italy and the quiet south
Italy was a bit of a surprise to me actually — clearly not all Italians spend their time on motorcycles, some of them are getting stoned. Southern Europe generally reads lower on the table, though whether that is genuinely less use or simply less willingness to tell a survey all about it, I will leave for you to decide.
The one-paragraph summary: the legal map and the smoking map of Europe are almost inverted. The most tolerant countries are mid-table; the most repressive are at the top. Prohibition, as ever, is decoration.
Where does your country land — and does the table match what you see out of your window?
Related reading: What is the Best THC Vape Pen For Sale in Europe? · A Holiday Guide for Cannabis Smokers · Where in the world can you grow cannabis legally?
Christiana is has risen to the challange after the police and new goverment choose to take action. Every goverment since its beginning have basiclly had the sam opinion, but newer taken action. They did in 2004.
But the pushers and day to day people out there started up again a few weeks later. Now there are stands again, around 15 of them, with skunk,hash,pot etc. many official guesses have been made, but around the 7-10kg a day sold are not too low imo. And with no limit to amounts its still the only free(unlimited) cannabis market place in europe.
Only bad thing is that the majority of the old pushers, the hippies that didnt care about having a huge profit have not come back since the police came in a removed all the stands. This means worse quality and higher prices. A few still remains and its always them that have the longest queues.
A must if your just near copenhagen. But be aware police still makes raids, once or twice a week. They usually stay for 2-4 hours and then leave, 1 hour later everybody is back and most pushers within 10 mins, the police are not violent unless provoked, just walks around and makes sure no selling are going on.
Thanks for the comment – I was wondering if you Danes were still holding out there, I visited a couple of years ago.
The police came whilst I was there and everyone just put their spliffs away.
That’s great news 🙂
There is some new data on this
https://www.dope-smoker.co.uk/european-cannabis-use/