Cannabis — Pakistan

Cannabis is illegal in Pakistan, and possessing even a small amount is a criminal offence that carries a minimum prison sentence - there is no quantity treated as legal. Under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997 the lowest penalty band starts at no less than six months in prison for bhang and no less than ten months for charas (hashish), and bail is not normally granted. Pakistan did pass a Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority Act in 2024, but it only licenses businesses to grow and process cannabis for medical and industrial products - it gives individuals no right to possess or use cannabis. The Act also reaches the people around the drugs: a 2022 amendment put handling or letting out premises for drug activity - including simple use or consumption - and harbouring people involved inside the statutory definition of illicit traffic, and running any premises, place, equipment or machinery to produce cannabis without a licence carries ten to twenty-five years.

Penalties are set by quantity under section 9 of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, and every band carries a mandatory minimum prison term. Bhang: up to 999 grams - imprisonment which may extend to three years but shall not be less than six months, along with a fine which may be up to ten thousand rupees; 20,000 grams or more - up to life imprisonment but not less than fourteen years. Charas (cannabis resin or hashish): up to 499 grams - imprisonment which may extend to five years but shall not be less than ten months, along with a fine which may be up to forty thousand rupees; 10,000 grams or more - up to life imprisonment but not less than twenty years. Hashish oil or liquid hashish: up to 499 grams - imprisonment which may extend to seven years but shall not be less than fourteen months. Bail shall not normally be granted (section 51(2)); no remission, probation or parole is available (section 9A), and life imprisonment means twenty-five years. Owning, managing, operating or controlling any premises, place, equipment or machinery for the purpose of manufacturing or producing cannabis without a licence: not less than ten years, extending to twenty-five years, plus a fine of not less than one million rupees (sections 10 and 11). At trial the court may presume, unless the contrary is proved, that the accused committed an offence in respect of any narcotic drug, any cannabis plant growing on land he has cultivated, any apparatus specially designed for producing narcotics, or any production materials or residue for the possession of which he fails to account satisfactorily (section 29).

Verified Sep 16, 2026