Legality of Cannabis - Detection and The Law - Poland

Poland

Cannabis is a controlled substance in Poland and its possession remains a criminal offence which can be punished with imprisonment up to 3 years, or up to 8 years if the quantity in possession is considered 'large' upon current law. No specific measurements are given to determine if an amount is to be considered 'small' or 'large'. Cultivation is also illegal and is threatened with up to 3 years of imprisonment and up to 8 years if considered 'large'. On 1 April 2011, the Polish parliament passed an amendment to the 2005 'Ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu narkomanii' ("Drug-dependence Counteract Law") to create a possibility of dropping prosecution for possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use. The law introduces the possibility when a person caught possesses negligible amounts of drugs for personal use only and the 'social harmfulness' of the case is considered to be low (i.e.-negligible). Nonetheless the "small amounts" are still undetermined and a temporary detention and house search by the police continues to apply in virtually every case. At the same time the reformed law raised the maximum applicable penalties for possession of large amounts of controlled substances (including cannabis) from 8 to 10 years of imprisonment and from 10 to 12 years for trafficking of large amounts of controlled substances, among other related crimes. This implies hardening the law without eliminating the ambiguous terms 'small amounts'/'large amounts'. These amendments entered into legal force on 8 December 2011.