Who keeps cannabis safe? A map, country by country

A licensed distributor drives the chain: it packages the batch, arranges lab sampling, and clears the pass. COA QR optional; universal "!THC" triangle.

No distributor tier: the cultivator self-samples and sends to the lab. Untested "R&D" product carries a blunt "produced without regulatory oversight" warning.

The producer self-samples to an accredited lab. The only required mark is a red-hand "NOT FOR KIDS" symbol, no THC triangle; traceability runs on the state's CCRS, not Metrc.

An independent sampling firm pulls the sample on video. The COA QR is required on the label (opposite of California), alongside a yellow "THC!" triangle and "21+".

The lab comes on-site to sample. The symbol is a green inverted triangle reading "MARIJUANA PRODUCT" (no "!"), and potency carries a "±10%" allowance note.

A split regulator (IDFPR licenses stores, the Dept. of Agriculture licenses growers). There is no required cannabis symbol, the long text warning does the work.

The licensee self-samples to a single independent lab. The package carries two marks, a red "CONTAINS THC" triangle and a "Not Safe for Kids" octagon; edibles cap at 5 mg per serving.

Medical only, and vertically integrated: one company grows, makes, and sells. An arm's-length state-certified lab clears every batch and a state registry decides who can even buy. Gas-station delta-8 sits outside it all.

Two systems: a tiny low-THC medical program, plus a hemp market just reined in. As of mid-2026 delta-8 is banned; low-dose delta-9 stays legal 21+, its safety resting on a COA you can scan.

One statute since March 2026, but two rulebooks. The lab comes on-site to sample, potency is reported as received, and the label names the lab (a COA QR is optional). Over 0.4 mg THC outside a dispensary is illegal.

The lab pulls the sample and tests to Maryland's rulebook; the label carries a terpene profile and the red-octagon NOT SAFE FOR KIDS symbol, and the CRC's consumer guide says any dispensary must hand you the COA on request. Per-batch testing rules only took effect in December 2025.

The lab's own employee drives to the farm and cuts the sample, and a grower-pulled sample is not a valid test at all. Terpenes are mandatory, ten cannabinoids print on the label, and then the rule stops: the certificate of analysis goes only to the grower and the state. No QR code, no copy for the patient.

One federal rulebook coast to coast: every legal pack is licensed, batch lab-tested, and sealed with a CRA excise stamp you can check yourself, plus the red "THC" symbol.

Legal cannabis is a pharmacy medicine: an ANVISA authorization number on the label, made under GMP, and batch-tested by a Brazil-accredited (REBLAS) lab before sale.

Legal to hold, hard to buy. The strongest controls live in the pharmacy channel, where medical cannabis is batch-released to a pharmacopoeia standard; clubs test under lighter rules.

Two regulators: specialist-only medical prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies, and everyday CBD vetted as a food on the FSA public list, capped near-zero THC.

Strict by default: recreational stays a crime, medical is a stalled pharmacy pilot, and shop CBD is legal only at or under 0.3% THC with no health claims.

A low-THC (≤0.3%) pharmacy medicine, ISO 17025 lab-verified and tracked unit-by-unit with a QR code the state can audit end to end.

No legal rec market, but a huge medical one. Even "unapproved" products must pass the national TGO 93 standard before a pharmacy dispenses them on prescription.

A 2025 U-turn made cannabis prescription-only again: a GACP-certified farm, a batch COA from the medical-sciences lab, and a licensed dispensary with a practitioner on-site.

The only legal "cannabis" is near-zero-THC CBD. The safety net sits at the border: a lab report must prove the THC is under a strict ppm limit before customs lets it in.

Three systems at once: ten experiment cities sell only sealed, lab-tested, tracked packs from licensed growers, while Amsterdam's coffeeshops stay untested, and pharmacy cannabis runs on its own batch-release track.

Eight federally authorised pilot trials sell Swiss-grown, organic, lab-tested cannabis capped at 20% THC in sealed neutral packs to more than 10,000 registered participants (mid-2025). Everyone else buys untested.

The world's first national legal market. Private producers grow on state land run by the regulator, every commercial lot is lab-screened before release and capped at 20% THC, and 60 pharmacies sell sealed 5 g bags to 89,000 registered buyers by fingerprint. The 585 clubs and 10,000 home growers are not lab-tested.