Cannabis — Sri Lanka

Cannabis is illegal in Sri Lanka, and there is no legal amount and no personal-use exception. Possessing, using, growing or bringing in any part of the cannabis plant is a crime — even less than 1 kilogram is punishable by one to two years in prison plus a fine, and cannabis was the single biggest category of drug arrests in 2024, with over 75,000 people arrested. CBD counts too: cannabis extracts and tinctures are listed as dangerous drugs and it is illegal to bring any cannabis preparation into the country, so leave CBD oil, vapes and gummies at home — airport scanners are used on transiting passengers as well as arrivals.

Under Part III of the Third Schedule to the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, as substituted by Act No. 41 of 2022, penalties for trafficking, possessing, importing or exporting cannabis are banded by quantity: less than 1 kilogram — a fine of not less than 20,000 rupees and not exceeding 50,000 rupees and imprisonment of not less than one year and not exceeding two years, or both; 1 kilogram to less than 5 kilograms — a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 rupees and two to five years; 5 kilograms to less than 100 kilograms — a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 rupees and five to ten years; 100 kilograms or above — a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 rupees and ten to fifteen years. Cannabis is not in the Ordinance's death-penalty tier, which applies to opium and to morphine, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office warns that these penalties apply even when transiting through a Sri Lankan airport.