What does “Home Office personal licence” mean?

The licence required to carry three months' supply or more of a controlled drug into or out of the UK.

Home Office personal licence in plain English

The licence required to carry three months' supply or more of a controlled drug into or out of the UK.

Below three months' supply no licence is needed, but a letter from the prescriber covering the medicine, dose, quantity and travel dates should be carried.

A Home Office licence covers the UK side of a journey only. It confers no rights in the destination country, whose own law determines whether the medicine may be brought in at all.

Frequently asked questions

What does home office personal licence mean?

The licence required to carry three months' supply or more of a controlled drug into or out of the UK.

Sources and further reading

Every factual statement on this page is drawn from the following public sources. Links open in a new tab and are not affiliated with Flora House.

  1. NICE guideline NG144: Cannabis-based medicinal products
  2. NHS: Medical cannabis (and cannabis oils)
  3. MHRA: The supply, manufacture, importation and distribution of unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use

Patient guide · Written by the Flora House editorial team · Last reviewed: 8 September 2026