Gabon countries/ga.yaml
Outside separately specified trafficking offences, Article 208 of the 2020 code sets ten y … francs for illicit transport, possession, offering, transfer or acquisition of narcotics.[@code20] Cannabis and its derivatives are expressly included.[@code20] This differs from the separate, shorter offence of use.[@code20]
The 2020 code punishes organising illicit drug production or manufacture with twenty years and a fine of up to 50 million CFA francs, rising to thirty years for an organised group.[@code20] Its drug clauses do not define a separate penalty tier for a small personal crop.[@code20]
In May 2026, Libreville prosecutors destroyed three truckloads of seized drugs, including cannabis, in the presence of the justice minister.[@justice26] The ministry said the aim was to prevent seized drugs returning to sale.[@justice26] Courts may order medical supervision or detoxification and withhold the use penalty; evading the order carries up to three years and a fine.[@code20]
Giving or offering narcotics directly for another person's consumption carries up to five years and a fine of up to 10 million CFA francs.[@code20] Helping another person obtain or use drugs, whether free or for payment, has the same maximums.[@code20] The general possession and supply clause and organised-trafficking offences carry longer terms.[@code20]
Illicit use carries up to one year and a fine of up to 1.5 million CFA francs.[@code20] If the person needs medical treatment, a court can order supervision or detoxification in a public or private centre and withhold that punishment.[@code20] Evading treatment carries up to three years and a fine of up to two million francs.[@code20]
Recreational supply is prohibited.[@code20] The 2026 Health Code limits specially authorised controlled-drug activities to medical and scientific purposes and requires special prescriptions for authorised narcotics.[@health26]
The Health Code requires renewable special authorisation for controlled-drug production and other specified activities, exclusively for medical and scientific purposes.[@health26] Conditions are to be set by regulation.[@health26] Organising illicit production remains a serious criminal offence.[@code20]
The retained sources do not identify cannabis products available through a lawful patient supply programme.
The 2026 Health Code provides for specially authorised medical and scientific activities involving controlled drugs and for special narcotic prescriptions.[@health26] The retained sources do not establish an operating medical cannabis programme, and they identify no cannabis products available through a lawful patient supply.[@health26]
Courts must order confiscation and destruction of drugs seized under the relevant drug provisions.[@code20] Additional penalties can include restrictions on civic rights, residence or professional activity, withdrawal of a passport and closure of premises used in an offence.[@code20]
The code's drug provisions expressly cover cannabis and its derivatives and punish organising illicit production.[@code20] They do not specify a personal plant allowance or separately settle possession and trade in ungerminated seeds.
No cannabis clubs are known. Supplying drugs to another person remains criminal, including direct gifts for that person's consumption.[@code20]
Visitors have no lawful recreational supply route.[@code20] The 2020 code expressly covers cannabis; possession and use have separate criminal penalties.[@code20]
Cannabis is the drug Gabon's police intercept most.[@gmt26] The commander of the National Police Forces reported in January 2026 that seizures rose from 433 kg in 2024 to 975 kg in 2025, and that the anti-drug office OCLAD took part in operations accounting for nearly a tonne.[@gmt26] He presented the increase as a sign of growing use and trafficking.[@gmt26]
Buying and Banning 4 unchanged
XAF
label Illicit transport, possession, offering, transfer or acquisition (Article 208) · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 10 years · fine 100000000 · note Cannabis and derivatives expressly included; use punished separately
XAF
label Organising illicit production or manufacture · treatment criminal · term Unlicensed cultivation · prison 20 years · fine 50000000 · note Thirty years for an organised group
XAF
label Giving or offering for another person's consumption · treatment criminal · term Supply to a user · prison 5 years · fine 10000000 · note Same maximums for helping another obtain or use drugs
XAF
label Illicit use · treatment criminal · term Drug use · prison 1 year · fine 1500000 · note Court may order treatment instead; evading treatment brings up to three years
Cannabis is prohibited, but the penalties are tiered: illicit use carries up to one year, while general possession runs to ten years and organising production to twenty or thirty.[@code20] The ban reaches back to the [1926 colonial decree](/history/chad-french-equatorial-africa-1926/), which banned hemp-growing and ordered the repression of narcotic use across French Equatorial Africa, including what is now Gabon.[@duvallbb] Police action is visible: in May 2026 Libreville prosecutors destroyed three truckloads of seized drugs, including cannabis, in the presence of the justice minister.[@justice26]
code20, duvallbb, justice26
none
No industrial-hemp exception was verified: the 2020 code covers cannabis and its derivatives with no low-THC distinction, and no hemp production is documented.[@code20]
code20