Bringing a medicine containing Cannabis Sativa from India to the Netherlands
A few months ago, a friend of mine (who is a Dutch citizen) wanted to bring this over-the-counter medicine back from India to the Netherlands.
It's a specially prepared herbal medicine. Herbal medicines would normally be fine to bring to Europe in small quantities (I believe). This one, however, contains roughly 7-9% Cannabis Sativa.
My friend would bring perhaps 100 grams of this medicine (out of which less than 10 grams is actual Cannabis Sativa.)
Now, medicinal use of this plant is locally and partially permitted in India. This particular product is sold in local medical shops, in industrially packed containers by licensed Ayurvedic companies. So as far as Indian law is concerned, in his case, I don't believe that should be a problem.
As far as I know, Cannabis Sativa is also permitted in the Netherlands?
My friend said the medicine would have been a huge help for his condition (hypertension). However, since he was transiting through another European country (I believe Germany or France), I warned him about possible problems at the transit airport. In the end, he decided not to do it.
Was this a well-founded concern?
What if, on his next visit, he takes a direct flight from India to the Netherlands? Would there be any legal problems then?
In both cases, what sort of risks could my friend face in Europe/The Netherlands?
Best Answer
Actually, the Netherlands is not necessarily any different than France or Germany in this respect and this is very likely not to be allowed. The country is notorious for its very visible "tolerance" policy towards recreative use but it is still forbidden to grow and/or import cannabis and your friend could easily run into problems for trying to cross the border with a cannabis product.
Briefly, the way the policy regarding recreational use of cannabis works is that so-called "coffee shops" are allowed to sell cannabis (under a number of conditions) without fearing enforcement but the law itself hasn't been changed and the Netherlands is still a party to the relevant international treaties. Most notably, there is no legal way to procure cannabis in the first place. Growing is forbidden, importing is forbidden, large transactions are forbidden and all these rules are actively enforced, all the way to police razzia and jail terms for people making money in the production of cannabis. This is usually called achterdeurbeleid or "back-door policy" because everybody knows that if businesses can sell cannabis it must come from somewhere but it can't come through the front-door.
For small quantities (plants at home, smoking cannabis in public), the main consequence would be seizure, perhaps a fine. I don't know exactly about medicinal products found at the airport but I would guess it's the same and your friend would not risk jail (but if he is a third-country citizen, this might very well have consequences for his visa). I still wouldn't try it.
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