North Korea: correct the death-penalty status and document the 2003 drug law

19251948

North Korea's first restricts cannabis restriction, estimated 1948–2003

No first law is recorded here forearlier North KoreaKorean cannabis law was located. ItsThe 2003 Narcotics Control Law is the first restrictions ontext found that expressly lists cannabis are assumed to date from, so the first restriction is dated as an estimate between the 1925 Geneva conventionstate's foundation in 1948 and that law. Earlier criminal codes were not available, which put Indian hemp under international control, and the 1961 Single Convention, which required a ban on non-medical useexact date remains unknown.

North Korea — Narcotics Control Law (2003, amended 2005), MOJ Unification Law text Wikipedia — International Opium Convention

1948, 2003

true

deathillegal

Legal status is opaque. OfficiallyCannabis is listed as a controlled substancenarcotic and unauthorised storage or use is prohibited; hemp is widely grown. Scored with low confidence because no cannabis-specific penalty, prosecution or execution is published.

Contrary to a persistent internet myth, cannabis is not legal in North Korea. The penal code2003 Narcotics Control Law lists it as a controlled substance alongside cocaine and heroin, and a 2005 narcotics-control law classifies cannabis (대마) and hempcannabis resin (대마수지) as narcotics, and unauthorised storage is prohibited. What penalties are applied in practice[@law2003] The 2022 Criminal Law provides five to ten years' labour reform for grave drug-storage cases, but sets no cannabis gram threshold or base term.[@cc2022] This segment is unknown; this entry is scored with low confidence.

aplaw2003, lccc2022

DrugGrowing narcotic raw plants requires a state plan, a production licence and a land-use licence, and unauthorised cultivation is prohibited. Industrial hemp with low [@law2003] The Criminal Law's express cultivation offence covers opium poppy, not cannabis, so the cannabis term is not published.[@cc2022] Low-THC hemp is legal and widely grown under official sanction for cloth, oil and other consumer goods — one source of the mythfood, but no published THC threshold or general hemp exception was found.[@piie,ap]

wikilaw2003, lccc2022, piie, ap

Unknown. Drug offences in general can bring labour-camp sentences, and executions for druglarge-scale narcotics manufacture or trafficking have beenare reported; no cannabis execution is verified.[@kinu2017,cc2022] A widely cited 2010 “firing squad” report concerned methamphetamine, not marijuana, and said the authorities did not treat opium or marijuana as drugs.[@guardian14]

lckinu2017, cc2022, guardian14

Distribution is prohibited by the narcoticsThe 2003 law prohibits unapproved transfer or sale of narcotics.[@law2003] The 2022 Criminal Law's trafficking ladder runs from up to five years to life or death for “extremely large” amounts; no cannabis quantity is published.[@cc2022]

lclaw2003, cc2022

Use is prohibited, and the 2022 Criminal Law's use article provides up to five years' labour reform in grave cases.[@law2003,cc2022] Reports of people openly smoking '“weed'” probably refer to ipdambae, a rough blend of herbs and tobacco leaf.[@ap]

wikilaw2003, cc2022, ap

None. A Western diplomatThe Swedish ambassador based in Pyongyang said there should be no doubt that drugs, including marijuana, are illegal.[@ap] No medical or adult-use supply route was found.[@law2003]

ap, law2003

Drug offences can bring labour-camp sentences, and executionsThe 2022 Criminal Law provides life or death for drug“extremely large” narcotics manufacture or trafficking have been, and the 2003 law lists cannabis as a narcotic.[@cc2022,law2003] No cannabis quantity, prosecution or execution is documented, and the reported 2010 firing-squad threat concerned methamphetamine, not marijuana.[@guardian14]

lccc2022, law2003, guardian14

There is no lawful recreational supply:. Cannabis is a narcotic, and unauthorised storage or use is prohibited.[@law2003] A diplomat said there should be no doubt that marijuana is illegal, a criminal offencewhile reports of open smoking probably refer to smoke with no leniency promised, even though personal cultivation may often go unpunishedipdambae.[@ap,wiki] No cannabis execution is verified.[@cc2022]

law2003, ap, wikicc2022

No lawful production of psychoactive cannabis. Low-THC industrial hemp is legally grown at scaleunder official sanction for cloth, oil and other goodsfood, but no licensed adult-use or medical cannabis production route was found.[@wikipiie,lclaw2003]

wikipiie, lclaw2003

standardnone

Low-THC hemp is legal and widely grown under official sanction for cloth, oil and other consumer goodsfood, which feeds the myth that marijuana is legal; no published THC threshold or general low-THC exception was found, and the narcotics law still lists cannabis and hemp resin as narcotics.[@wikipiie,lcap,law2003]

wikipiie, lcap, law2003

No medical cannabis programme or cannabis-based medicine was found. The 2003 law allows approved narcotics for treatment, education and research, but that is a general state-controlled route, not patient access.[@law2003]

lclaw2003

UnknownNo reliable account of the ordinary sentence for cannabis possession was found. Drug offences can bring labour-camp sentences, and a 2024 provincial campaign reportedly sought death even for small smuggled amounts, but the reporting concerns methamphetamine and opium, not cannabis.[@kinu2017,dailynk24]

lckinu2017, dailynk24

No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: unauthorised growing cannabis and supplying it to another personsupply are both prohibited, and the general narcotics law provides for thelife or death penalty for the most serious drug offencestrafficking cases.[@law2003,cc2022]

wikilaw2003, lccc2022

There is no legal recreational supply for anyone, so a visitor has no lawful way to buy cannabis. The sources behind this profile describe2021 Drug Crime Prevention Act applies to foreigners in North Korea and to cross-border smuggling or incitement; no separate visitor rule for visitorsor deportation detail was verified.[@law2021,law2003]

aplaw2021, law2003

North Korea — Narcotics Control Law (2003, amended 2005), MOJ Unification Law text North Korea — Drug Crime Prevention Act (1 July 2021), MOJ Unification Law text KINU — North Korea's 2022 Criminal Law drug offences (2023 report) KINU — North Korea Human Rights White Paper 2017 PIIE — North Korean Pot The Guardian — Mythbusters: uncovering the truth about North Korea (13 May 2014) Daily NK — North Hamgyong drug crime up 40% (17 July 2024) UNODC Data Portal — Drug seizures, reported seizures in kilogram equivalents Wikipedia — Cannabis in North Korea LegalClarity — Is cannabis actually legal in North Korea? 1 unchanged

label Unauthorised storage (Criminal Law article 236) · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · note Grave cases; no cannabis threshold or fine published

label Unauthorised cultivation of a narcotic raw plant · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · note Licensing offence; no cannabis-specific term published

label Narcotics trafficking, base · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison 5 years · note General narcotics ladder; no cannabis threshold published, label Large amount · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years, label Extremely large amount · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · life possible · note Confiscation also applies

grey

unclear

illegal

banned

No cannabis-specific seed rule was found.[@law2003] The 2003 law controls narcotic raw plants through state plans and licences, and clones are plants under the cultivation regime.[@law2003] These statuses are inferred from the licensing rules, not from a published seed provision.[@law2003]

law2003

unknown

No drug-driving provision or THC limit was found. The general narcotics ban applies, but a road-traffic trigger could not be verified.[@law2003,law2021]

law2003, law2021

No cannabis seizure or price series is published. UNODC has no North Korea cannabis rows.[@unodc_szr] The 2024 Hamgyong reporting concerns methamphetamine and opium, not cannabis.[@dailynk24]

unodc_szr, dailynk24

No cannabis arrest or prosecution count is published. A July 2024 provincial report said drug offences rose 40% year on year, with more than 900 cases in Chongjin; the reporting concerns methamphetamine and opium.[@dailynk24] No cannabis execution is verified.[@kinu2017]

dailynk24, kinu2017