Cannabis — Laos
What travelers need to know about cannabis in Laos. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Cannabis in Laos: prohibited — what is legal at home can be a serious crime here.
Cannabis is illegal in Laos and there is no legal way to buy it, however relaxed the country's reputation. Laos's own Penal Code (No. 26/NA, 17 May 2017) draws the lines by weight: holding under 5 g of marijuana for your own consumption is not punished with prison - the Code treats that person as a victim, to be treated or sent for treatment - while 5 to 10 g for consumption is 6 months to 2 years in prison plus a fine. Anything held "for trading" is trafficking, from 6 months to 3 years for under 5 kg of dry marijuana up to 5 to 10 years above 10 kg, and running a place that serves cannabis is a separate offence. Hashish and THC concentrates are punished far harder than leaf: the bands start at 0.3 g and reach life imprisonment above 500 g.
Penal Code of the Lao PDR No. 26/NA, adopted by the National Assembly on 17 May 2017 and promulgated by Presidential Decree No. 118/PO of 26 June 2017; figures taken from the English version published by the Lao Official Gazette. Art. 320 (consumption or possession for consumption): marijuana under 5 g - the person is regarded as a victim and is treated or sent for treatment; 5 to 10 g of dry marijuana - 6 months to 2 years plus a fine of 5,000,000 to 20,000,000 kip; providing a service for consuming marijuana - 3 months to 5 years plus 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 kip. Art. 318 (trading): under 5 kg of dry marijuana - 6 months to 3 years plus 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 kip; 5 to 10 kg - 3 to 7 years plus 5,000,000 to 20,000,000 kip; over 10 kg, or on a regular basis or as an organised group - 5 to 10 years plus 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 kip; marijuana seeds over 10 g - 1 to 3 years. Tetrahydrocannabinol, hashish and THC derivatives by net weight: 0.3 to 50 g - 2 to 4 years; 50 to 100 g - 5 to 7 years; 100 to 200 g - 10 to 14 years; 200 to 500 g - 15 to 20 years; over 500 g - life imprisonment plus 100,000,000 to 200,000,000 kip and confiscation of assets. The Code reserves the death penalty for the heaviest offences involving other drug classes; for marijuana the top band in art. 318 is life imprisonment.
§ Lao Official Gazette (laoofficialgazette.gov.la) - Penal Code of the Lao PDR No. 26/NA (17 May 2017), English version, arts. 318 and 320Verified Sep 30, 2026