Can Tourists Legally Get Cannabis in Greece?

Yes, with a Greek prescription. Greece is a medical-prescription country: tourists can see a Greek-licensed doctor online, get an e-prescription sent by email, and fill it at a Greek pharmacy. In September 2026 the consultation cost me €8, 10 g of flower cost €100, and the pharmacy needed one day to order it in.

Pathway: Medical prescription · Last verified: 2026-10-07 · Verified in person (September 2026)

This guide is general information, not legal or medical advice. Laws change, so check the sources and the last-verified date before you act. Full disclaimer

Is medical cannabis legal for tourists in Greece?

Yes, but only on a prescription from a doctor licensed in Greece. A US medical card or a prescription from home does not count.

Greece legalized medical cannabis in 2017, and pharmacy products reached patients in early 2024. Recreational cannabis is still illegal for everyone, tourists included. Foreign medical prescriptions aren't recognized, and you can't bring cannabis into Greece, even with a prescription from home (TripBase, verified June 2026).

What makes Greece work for visitors is a provision for patients without a Greek social security number (AMKA). Relief Time, the telemedicine service I used, says visitors need a passport, and the prescription is emailed to you instead of being sent to the Greek e-prescription app (Relief Time).

Possession note: I couldn't find an official numeric possession limit for prescription holders. Keep the prescription and the labeled pharmacy packaging with your product. Don't carry more than you were prescribed.

Can you smoke medical cannabis in Greece?

Officially, prescription flower in Greece is meant to be vaporized, not smoked. In practice, I smoked mine without any trouble.

My prescriber's site lists only two ways to take it: sublingual oil, or dried flower through approved vaporizing devices (Relief Time). Some clinics go further and say smoking takes you outside the medical framework (Alternaleaf). I couldn't find an official Greek source on what happens to a prescription holder who smokes. If you want to stay strictly within the rules, bring a dry-herb vaporizer. It contains no cannabis, so it's just another piece of electronics in your bag.

Here's what I actually did: rolling papers were easy to buy, and I smoked in my hotels' designated smoking areas with no issues. Tobacco smoking is everywhere in Greece, with ashtrays on café tables and smoking areas at hotels. Even so, I'd keep cannabis to private or semi-private spots like a hotel smoking area, balcony, or patio, and stay away from cafés, crowded tourist areas, and busy streets.

How do tourists legally get cannabis in Greece?

You chat with a Greek-licensed doctor online, pay a small fee, receive an e-prescription by email, and take it to a pharmacy.

1. Open a telemedicine chat with a Greek-licensed doctor. I used Relief Time (English version at relieftime.com/en). I was connected to a doctor in chat right away, before paying anything. The doctor opened in Greek, I replied in English, and they switched to English without any problem.
2. Discuss your condition. The doctor asked about my condition and whether cannabis was right for it. Relief Time says it only prescribes for documented conditions where standard treatments haven't been enough (Relief Time). Be honest, and have your diagnosis and any records from home ready. Relief Time asks visitors for passport details; that was all I had to give.
3. Pay the consultation fee. About five minutes in, the doctor sent an €8 payment request inside the chat, and I paid by credit card.
4. Choose your prescription. The only option was dried flower: 5 g or 10 g, at one of several THC strengths. The prescription arrives by email.
5. Take the prescription to any pharmacy. Pharmacies don't stock it, so they order it in. Every pharmacy I tried in Athens told me the same thing: come back tomorrow. The pharmacies didn't differ, so the nearest one is fine.
6. Pick it up the next day and pay. No insurance applies; medical cannabis isn't reimbursed in Greece. I paid by credit card.
7. Need more? Start a new consultation. Each prescription is a new chat and a new fee.

Are there other telemedicine services?

Yes. MedTourist GR markets itself to travelers, but it works differently: it describes itself as a non-clinical administrative service that prepares your documents and passes them to independent Greek doctors. Its packages run €22–€39, and it offers a full refund if no prescription is issued (MedTourist GR). I haven't used it. Since the prescriptions come from the same kind of Greek-licensed doctors and are filled at the same pharmacies, I'd expect the end result to be the same, but I can only vouch for Relief Time.

How much does medical cannabis cost in Greece, and how long does it take?

Budget about €110 for 10 g, and allow one day between taking the prescription to the pharmacy and pickup.

Price check: Relief Time's €8 rate was listed as a special offer valid through 30 September 2026, so it may cost more now. Greece's Ministry of Health sets pharmacy prices for each product. The list was updated in May 2026 with price reductions (Ministry of Health price bulletins), so expect different products to cost somewhat different amounts.

What should you avoid in Greece?

⚠️ Never carry cannabis across an international border, even between two countries where it's legal. Buy it where you'll use it, and don't take any with you when you leave. Why this matters.

• Bringing cannabis into Greece. A US card or prescription doesn't let you bring any in. Get your prescription after you arrive.
• Hemp or "CBD flower" shops. Since May 2026, selling dried cannabis flower to consumers outside the medical system has been banned nationwide, whatever its THC content (To Vima; Greek Reporter). Older articles describing island CBD shops are out of date. The pharmacy is the only legal source of flower.
• Using it in public. Cigarettes are everywhere, but that doesn't extend to cannabis. Don't light up at a café table or in a busy square. Keep it to your hotel's smoking area, a balcony, or a patio. (Officially, prescription flower is for vaporizing; see above.)
• Anyone selling outside a pharmacy. Recreational sale and possession are criminal offenses in Greece.
• Leaving with leftovers. Plan your quantity so you finish it before you leave, and throw away anything left over before you head to the airport. Start with 5 g if you're unsure.

My experience in Athens and Zagori

I was in Greece from September 12 to 23, 2026: Athens first, then a bus north to Zagori on the 17th.

I learned about the medical route from a Relief Time billboard at Athens airport. I opened their site from the arrivals hall and was chatting with a doctor before I'd paid anything. It started in Greek, I explained in English that I'm a US medical patient, and the doctor switched to English straight away. Within about five minutes I had a payment request for €8, and soon after I had a prescription in my email.

The one snag was the pharmacy. I assumed I could walk in and buy it, but the first pharmacy said they'd have to order it for the next day. I tried a few more and got the same answer. That seems to be how it works everywhere I tried, so now I'd plan on it. With a pharmacy on nearly every block in Athens, that's not a hardship as long as you aren't counting on cannabis your first night.

I chose 10 g at 27% THC for €100. It was Tikun Olam product, and I thought the quality was very good. For a pharmacy-grade product, the price felt more than fair.

The whole process was easier than I expected: an online chat, a credit card payment, a one-day wait.

Papers were easy to buy, and I smoked rather than vaporized. Greece is a smoking country: there are ashtrays on every café table and designated smoking areas everywhere. Every hotel we stayed at had a smoking area where it was a non-issue. In Zagori, every hotel had a patio smoking area looking out over the mountains, and it's one of the loveliest places to smoke I've found anywhere. The one thing I wouldn't do is sit at a café and light a joint, even surrounded by people smoking cigarettes. I kept to hotel smoking areas and away from busy spots.

By the end of the trip I had one bud left, and I threw it away before leaving Greece.

What I'd do differently: Start the chat as soon as you land, and drop the prescription at a pharmacy on day one, so the overnight wait doesn't cost you a day.

Recommended services for Greece

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. I recommend the same things with or without a deal. How this works

• Relief Time: the telemedicine service I used. It was fast, worked in English, and was cheap. No affiliate deal.
• MedTourist GR: a travel-focused alternative that handles the paperwork for you. I haven't used it. No affiliate deal.
• Any Greek pharmacy: you don't need a special one. Expect next-day pickup.
• Private gourmet food walking tour in Athens (Viator): I took this tour in Athens and really enjoyed it. Affiliate link.
• The Natural Adventure: Walking in Zagori: the self-guided walking tour I did through Zagori, and the best way to see the villages and gorges. TNA runs a refer-a-friend program: give LCT as your referrer when you book, either to their adventure specialists or in the Notes field of the booking form, for a 5% discount. This is a referral relationship, so I may benefit when you use it.

My ratings (September 2026)

Ease: 4/5

Product Quality: 4/5

Trip Overall: 5/5

Sources and change log

• Relief Time: how it works, administration methods, visitors without AMKA
• Relief Time: pricing policy (from 2026-04-01)
• MedTourist GR: service and pricing
• Greek Ministry of Health: medical cannabis price bulletins
• To Vima: Greece bans retail sale of dried cannabis flowers (May 2026)
• Greek Reporter: nationwide flower retail ban (May 2026)
• TripBase: Greece cannabis law summary (verified June 2026)
• Alternaleaf: medical cannabis and Greece (on smoking vs. vaporizing)
• The Natural Adventure: loyalty and refer-a-friend terms

How I verify · Affiliate disclosure · Not legal or medical advice · All Countries

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