Kenya countries/ke.yaml
Section 3 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, as amended in M … ngs, and the court may add a treatment or rehabilitation programme of at least six months.[@act] Where that is not shown the trafficking section applies, which also covers possession: a fine of at least 30 million shillings or thirty years for 1 to 100 g, and at least 50 million shillings or fifty years above 100 g.[@act,sn]
label Personal consumption (proved to court) · treatment criminal · term Possession · fine 100000 · prison 5 years · note Fine up to 100,000 shillings or up to five years; court may add at least six months or more of treatment or rehabilitation, label Possession treated as trafficking, 1 to 100 g · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · fine min 30000000 · prison 30 years · note Fine of at least 30 million shillings or thirty years, or both, label Possession treated as trafficking, above 100 g · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · fine min 50000000 · prison 50 years · note Fine of at least 50 million shillings or fifty years, or both
Section 6 punishes cultivating a prohibited plant, or letting premises be used for it, wit … mes the plants’ market value, whichever is greater, up to twenty years in prison, or both.[@act] Section 7 requires forfeiture of non-government land when the convicted person owns it, or a lessee grew with the owner’s consent, cooperation or assistance.[@act] If the lessee acted without that involvement, the offender’s lease or right ends and possession returns to the owner.[@act]
label Cultivating a prohibited plant or letting premises be used for it · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · fine 250000 · prison 20 years · note Fine of 250,000 shillings or three times the plants' market value, whichever is greater, up to twenty years, or both; land or lease consequences under section 7
One of Africa's harshest laws on paper since 2022.[@sn] Courts in practice impose much shorter terms and fines for small amounts, but arrests are frequent.[@sn,cfm]
Section 4 punishes trafficking, and possession it treats as trafficking, with a fine of at … t least 50 million shillings or three times the market value, or fifty years, above 100 g.[@act]
label Trafficking, 1 to 100 g · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · fine min 30000000 · prison 30 years · note Fine of at least 30 million shillings or thirty years, or both, label Trafficking, above 100 g · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · fine min 50000000 · prison 50 years · note Fine of at least 50 million shillings or three times the market value, or fifty years
Smoking, inhaling, sniffing or otherwise using a narcotic drug, or being found without exc … 5 with a fine of not less than 250,000 shillings, at least five years in prison, or both.[@act]
label Using a narcotic drug or frequenting a place used for it · treatment criminal · term Use · fine min 250000 · prison min 5 years · note Fine of not less than 250,000 shillings, at least five years in prison, or both
None. The national drug agency has repeatedly insisted cannabis remains prohibited despite legalisation petitions.[@cfm]
There is no legal recreational supply — nothing is lawfully produced or sold. A person who satisfies the court the cannabis was solely for their own consumption faces … impose much shorter terms and fines for small amounts, but arrests are frequent.[@sn,cfm]
NoneNo licensed production exists: cultivation is punished under section 6 with no licensing route, and the drug agency insists cannabis remains prohibited.[@cfm,act]
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None.
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No medical cannabis; a programme exists.[@cfm] A bill has been proposed in the Senate, but the drug agency insists cannabis remains prohibited.[@cfm]
A conviction creates a criminal record.[@act] Cultivation can also cost land or a lease under section 7: owner involvement determines whether non-government land is forfeited or an innocent owner recovers it.[@act] Rights over government land revert to government. Sections 7(4) and 9–10 protect qualifying security and intermediate interests and require notice and an opportunity to be heard.[@act]
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops, excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops.[@ndpsa] Cultivating any cannabis plant counts as illicit traffic, so cuttings fall under the ban; the Act does not say whether seeds may be sold.[@ndpsa]
No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: growing cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibited.[@act,sn]
Cannabis accounts for most drug arrests.[@cgh] Police statistics for 2016 show 776 people arrested in relation to cannabis, against 92 for heroin and 11 for cocaine.[@cgh] Sentences can be heavy for very little: in one case reported in a 2021 study a man received two years in prison for a single "stick" worth twenty shillings.[@cgh] No more recent national breakdown was found.
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone.[@act] Cannabis held solely for one's own consumption carries up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 100,000 shillings;[@act] using it carries a fine of not less than 250,000 shillings or at least five years;[@act] and possession treated as trafficking carries, from one gram up to 100 grams, a fine of at least 30 million shillings, thirty years in prison, or both.[@act,cfm]
The Traffic Act makes it an offence to drive, attempt to drive or be in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of an alcoholic drink or a drug 'beyond the prescribed limits'.[@ta44] The penalty is a fine of up to 100,000 shillings, up to two years in prison, or both, with disqualification for twelve months.[@ta44] The section itself gives no figure for cannabis, and no numerical THC cutoff has been verified.[@ta44] The reviewed 2026 Drink-Driving Rules prescribe blood-alcohol concentrations, not THC; the cannabis-specific conviction trigger remains unverified.[@ta44,drink2026]
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 28,153 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 25,840 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 Swahili word for the plant is [bangi](/culture/language/bangi/) — locally called bhang, banghi or bangi.[@wiki,act] C. W. Hobley's 1902 survey already recorded bhang grown for home consumption in what is now western Kenya, smoked in gourd water-pipes with customs differing by people — see the [1902 survey](/history/kenya-hobley-bhang-customs-1902/).[@hobley02] The [Rastafari sacrament](/culture/traditions/rastafari-sacrament/) remains subject to Kenya’s cannabis prohibitions.[@rastafari2026] In July 2026 the [High Court dismissed a religious-use challenge](/history/kenya-high-cour … y licensing or exemption procedures and had not established the claimed rights violations.[@rastafari2026] The judge also called for a national cannabis debate.[@rastafari2026] Parliament has heard the other case: [Ken Okoth](/culture/people/ken-okoth/) tabled a Marijuana Control Bill in 2018 to replace prohibition with regulation, taxation and relief for past convictions ([2018 bill](/history/kenya-marijuana-control-bill-2018/)).[@okoth18]
rastafari2026, wiki, act, hobley02, okoth18
Wikipedia — Cannabis in Kenya Eastern Uganda, an Ethnological Survey The Standard — MP Okoth tables four-point bid to have bhang legalized (21 September 2018) 9 unchanged
word Bangi · lang Swahili · meaning cannabis; the Swahili word, also written bhang in Kenyan English · sources act
none
No industrial-hemp exception was verified: the Act defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops, excluding seeds and leaves when unaccompanied, but provides no separate hemp regime.[@ndpsa] CBD has no lawful channel either, with no medical programme.[@cfm]
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