Argentina countries/ar.yaml
Possession is still a crime in the drug law: simple possession carries one to six years in prison, butand possession for personal use one month to two years, which a court can replace with treatment or an educational course.[@lc] But the Supreme Court's 2009 Arriola ruling made it unconstitutional to punish an adult for a small amount for personal use in private, so those cases are dismissed.[@lc] No gram threshold was ever set, so judges decide case by case.[@lc] People registered in the medical registry REPROCANN may carry up to 40 g of flower.[@res] [Personal use was first spared in 1968.](/history/argentina-personal-use-1968/) [Possession was made a crime again in 1974.](/history/argentina-recriminalisation-1974/) [The current penalties date from 1989.](/history/argentina-law-23737-1989/) [The court protected private use in 2009.](/history/argentina-arriola-2009/)
Legal only through REPROCANN: with a doctor's indication, a registered person may grow up to nine flowering plants, or have a designated grower or association do it.[@res] 2025 rules tightened registration and oversight.[@sechat] Unregistered growing is a crime carrying four to fifteen years, though courts sometimes apply Arriola to a few plants, and a small sowing clearly for personal use draws one month to two years.[@ley23737] [Patients were allowed to grow in 2020.](/history/argentina-reprocann-2020/) [Unauthorised cultivation was criminalised in 1989.](/history/argentina-law-23737-1989/)
res, sechat, ley23737
Small private possession is usually dismissed under Arriola, but arrests still occur and outcomes depend on the judge.[@lc] Trafficking and unregistered cultivation carry four to fifteen years on paper.[@lc] [The court protected private use in 2009.](/history/argentina-arriola-2009/)
No protection. Supplying cannabis free of charge is a specific offence under the drug law, with a lighter sentence when occasional and clearly for personal use.[@lc] [Supply offences date from 1989.](/history/argentina-law-23737-1989/)
Private use by adults is constitutionally protected.[@lc] Use in public is not, and can lead to arrest and a court-ordered treatment or education measure.[@lc] [The court protected private use in 2009.](/history/argentina-arriola-2009/)
No legal adult-use sales.[@sechat] Registered patients can obtain cannabis from authorised associations or growers; pharmacies sell a small number of approved products.[@res] [The medical law passed in 2017.](/history/argentina-medical-law-2017/) [Patients were allowed to grow in 2020.](/history/argentina-reprocann-2020/)
A 2022 law created a framework and agency for medical cannabis and industrial hemp product … rking days after their 3 September publication.[@res69] No adult-use production.[@sechat] [The medical law passed in 2017.](/history/argentina-medical-law-2017/) [The licensing agency launched in 2023.](/history/argentina-cannabis-agency-2023/) [Medicinal seeds got a licence in 2026.](/history/argentina-medicinal-propagation-licence-2026/) [Horticultural hemp got licences in 2026.](/history/argentina-horticultural-hemp-licences-2026/)
Home-grown flower and oils for registered patients; a few pharmacy products. Nothing for general sale.
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The medical route is the main legal path.[@sechat] A REPROCANN physician must be registered with REFEPS, have accredited academic training in medical cannabis, register a digital signature with the health ministry and submit bilateral informed consent.[@reprocann_current] These prescriber requirements were tightened in May 2025; the programme sets no closed diagnosis list.[@reprocann_current,reprocann_faq] Registered patients use home-grown flower and oils, or a few pharmacy products.[@sechat] [The medical law passed in 2017.](/history/argentina-medical-law-2017/) [Patients were allowed to grow in 2020.](/history/argentina-reprocann-2020/)
reprocann_current, reprocann_faq, sechat
Cases dismissed under Arriola leave no conviction.[@lc] Registration in REPROCANN places patients in a government database.[@res] [The court protected private use in 2009.](/history/argentina-arriola-2009/)
Law 23.737 punishes anyone who, without authorisation, sows or grows plants or keeps seeds … pplicants until 1 March 2027.[@res41] Selling flowers stays outside that licence.[@res41] [Unauthorised cultivation was criminalised in 1989.](/history/argentina-law-23737-1989/) [Medicinal seeds got a licence in 2026.](/history/argentina-medicinal-propagation-licence-2026/)
Clubs work under the medical cannabis register REPROCANN, as civil associations or foundations growing for registered patients; there is no recreational club model.[@res1780] Resolution 1780/2025 of the health ministry tightened the rules: an association must be le … re its plants and patients every six months, and may grow at no more than three addresses.[@res1780] Its certificate lasts one year, against three for individual growers.[@res1780] The ministry justified the change by abuse of the earlier rules, mostly by people using the solidarity-grower permit to sell.[@res1780] [Patients were allowed to grow in 2020.](/history/argentina-reprocann-2020/)
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone.[@sechat] Possession is still a crime in the drug law, though the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that a … unt for personal use in private; no gram threshold was set, so judges decide case by case.[@lc] [The court protected private use in 2009.](/history/argentina-arriola-2009/)
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Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 122,964 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 149,434 kg in 2023, and 1.3 kg of cannabis resin seized in 2024, against 18.5 kg in 2023.[@unodc_szr] The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents, and countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across borders.[@unodc_szr]
The last national breakdown found dates from 2015: the federal prosecutors' narcotics unit … use, the single most common offence; with simple possession the share reached about half.[@chequeado16]
TNI — About drug law reform in Argentina (30 June 2015) Wikipedia (Spanish) — Cannabis en Argentina Revista THC — Expo Cannabis 2022, más de 59 mil personas (7 November 2022) Revista THC — Expo Cannabis 2023, miles de personas (6 November 2023) La Nación — La carta en repudio a la Expo Cannabis (5 November 2024) 14 unchanged
upto 40 g · treatment tolerated · term Registered medical possession · note REPROCANN patients may carry up to 40 g of flower, label Small amount for personal use in private · treatment tolerated · term Constitutionally protected possession · note Arriola makes punishment unconstitutional; cases dismissed, judges decide amounts, label Personal use (statute) · treatment criminal · prison 2 years · prison min 1 month · term Possession for personal use · note Court may order treatment or an educational course instead, label Simple possession · treatment criminal · prison 6 years · prison min 1 year · term Simple possession · note No personal-use showing; trafficking carries four to fifteen years
upto 9 plants · treatment tolerated · term Registered medical cultivation · note REPROCANN person, designated grower or association with a doctor's indication, label Small sowing clearly for personal use · treatment criminal · prison 2 years · prison min 1 month · term Personal-use cultivation · note Courts sometimes apply Arriola to a few plants instead, label Unauthorised cultivation · treatment criminal · prison 15 years · prison min 4 years · term Unlawful cultivation · note Sowing, growing or keeping plants or seeds to produce narcotics without authorisation
Decriminalised but with no market. Adults may hold a small amount for personal use in private under the Arriola ruling, and grow a few plants where courts extend it, but buying and selling stay criminal and there is no legal recreational supply.[@lc] Reform bills have been debated in Congress without passing: in 2012 the Chamber of Deputies heard eight bills, most decriminalising personal-use possession and some home growing.[@tni] [Personal use was first spared in 1968.](/history/argentina-personal-use-1968/) [The court first protected personal use in 1986.](/history/argentina-bazterrica-1986/) [The court protected private use in 2009.](/history/argentina-arriola-2009/) [Reform hearings were held in 2012.](/history/argentina-reform-hearings-2012/)
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high
The THC line sits at 1%: 2026 horticultural-hemp licences allow up to 1% total THC, a higher ceiling than the 0.3% standard elsewhere.[@res69] Hemp still needs a licence — a 1977 law banned sowing Cannabis sativa outright, and no unlicensed growing is allowed.[@res69] The licensed track builds on a real hemp past: a Belgian textile maker grew fibre hemp at Jáuregui from 1953, reaching 200 hectares by the late 1950s.[@eswiki] [Hemp was banned in 1977.](/history/argentina-cannabis-cultivation-law-1977/) [Horticultural hemp got licences in 2026.](/history/argentina-horticultural-hemp-licences-2026/) [Jáuregui grew fibre hemp from 1953.](/history/argentina-jauregui-hemp-1953/)
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Argentina's cannabis culture is the oldest organised in the region. Manuel Belgrano proposed hemp for textiles as early as 1796, and a Belgian mill owner grew fibre hemp at Jáuregui from 1953 into the 1970s.[@eswiki] The rock guitarist Gustavo Bazterrica — caught with 3.6 grams in the case that reached the Supreme Court in 1986 — ties the plant to Argentine rock.[@eswiki] Each year [Expo Cannabis](/culture/traditions/expo-cannabis/) fills La Rural with tens of thousands of visitors, covered by a specialist press led by Revista THC.[@thc22,thc23] The 2024 edition drew an open letter of repudiation from 27 mental-health institutions and professionals.[@lanacion] [Hemp was banned in 1977.](/history/argentina-cannabis-cultivation-law-1977/) [The court first protected personal use in 1986.](/history/argentina-bazterrica-1986/) [Jáuregui grew fibre hemp from 1953.](/history/argentina-jauregui-hemp-1953/)
eswiki, thc22, thc23, lanacion