Law and everyday life ยท Austria
Driving on cannabis medicines in Austria
Austria has no THC limit. What counts is being impaired โ established by a medical examination.
ยง 5 Abs. 1 StVO prohibits driving while impaired; the penalty under ยง 99 Abs. 1b StVO is between 800 and 3,700 euros. Where the therapy is followed properly and a supporting specialist statement exists, ยง 14 Abs. 4 FSG-GV protects the driving licence โ but not against being reported.
No limit is not an advantage. In Germany you can argue from a laboratory figure. In Austria that figure does not exist: whether you were impaired is established by a medical examination โ and arguing against that after the event is considerably harder.
What ยง 14 Abs. 4 FSG-GV does
Where the therapy is followed properly and a supporting specialist statement exists, the provision protects your Lenkberechtigung โ the right to keep your driving licence. It does not protect you from being reported on the spot if the examining doctor finds impairment. These are two different levels, and they are regularly confused.
In practice that means:
- Have the therapy confirmed by a specialist before you need the confirmation โ a statement issued after the event carries less weight.
- Carry the Suchtgiftrezept (narcotics prescription) or the pharmacy label.
- Do not drive during the adjustment phase, while the dose and the preparation are still changing.
The three-country comparison that matters here
Anyone arriving from Germany brings with them the idea of a limit and of a medical exemption โ neither exists in Austria in that form. Anyone driving on into Switzerland meets yet another system: zero tolerance with an explicit exception for patients written into the ordinance.
Germany ยท Switzerland ยท All three side by side
This is not legal advice. If proceedings are under way, a lawyer specialising in administrative penal law is the right address.