China: correct penalty tiers, driving and planting, add 11 history entries

2024-08-2502

Six government departments issued an announcement on seven substances2 August 2024, published on 8 August and effective on 1 September, adding cannabidiol among themand six other substances to the precursor-chemical rules. Production, bringing their productionoperation, trade andpurchase, transport and import or export of CBD now require precursor-chemical reporting, and preclinical medical CBD research is brought under the Regulations on the Administration of Precursor Chemicalsnarcotic-drug regulations.

China Ministry of Emergency Management — announcement on CBD precursor controls (8 August 2024) 1 unchanged

label Small possession, Article 84 (from 2026) · treatment civil · term Small possession · fine 3000 · note Ten to fifteen days' detention plus a fine of up to 3,000 yuan; lighter cases five days or 1,000 yuan, label Relatively large amount30–150 kg leaf, crime threshold2–10 kg resin or 1–5 kg oil · treatment criminal · term Illegal possession · prison 3 years · note Crime of illegal possession from 30Up to three years, detention or control plus a fine; serious cases three to seven years, label 150 kg ofor more leaf, 210 kg ofor more resin or 15 kg ofor more oil · treatment criminal · term Illegal possession · prison min 7 years · note Seven years or more, or life imprisonment, plus a fine

label Small growing, Article 83 · treatment civil · term Cultivation · fine 5000 · note Te … uan; lighter cases five days or 1,000 yuan; no penalty if uprooted before maturing, label Growing as a crime5,000–30,000 plants, Article 351 · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · note Crime fromprison 5 years · note Up to five years, detention or control plus a fine, label 30,000 or more plants, Article 351 · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 5 years · note Five years or more plus a fine or confiscation

label Trafficking any amount, Article 347small or serious · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death trueprison 7 years · note No minimum quantity;Up to three years for a small amount, three to seven for a serious case, plus a fine, label Relatively large amounts can bring lifeamount · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 7 years · note From 30 kg of leaf, 2 kg of resin or death1 kg of oil; seven years or more plus a fine, label Large amount, heaviest tier or aggravating facts · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · prison min 15 years · note From 150 kg of leaf, 10 kg of resin or 5 kg of oil, or a ringleader, armed cover, violence or international organised trafficking; death is discretionary

Trafficking in a "large amount" falls in the tier of the Criminal Law that carries fifteen … ath penalty is available for the most serious trafficking cases, not for possession or use, and it is discretionary: the court may impose fifteen years or life instead.[@lc,spc16] No death sentence or execution for plant cannabis was verified in 2024–2026; the recent capital cannabinoid case concerned a synthetic substance.[@synthetic24]

lc, spc16, synthetic24

The Drugs ProhibitionNarcotics Control Law forbids illicitly growing cannabis plants and makes it illegal to trade in, transport, carry or possess seeds or seedlings of drug plants that have not been inactivated.[@cmsg] Only enterprises State-designated by the stateenterprises may cultivate suchmedicinal narcotic plants; licensed industrial-hemp growers are a separate exception.[@cmsg] Cannabis seed itself is listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as a traditional medicine.[@cmsg]

zerounknown

The Road Traffic Safety Law says a person who has takenprohibits driving after taking any state-controlled psychotropic or narcotic drugs may not drive a motor vehicleor psychotropic drug.[@rtsl22] It sets no levelA mandatory national standard, GB 45248-2025, took effect on 1 September 2025 and does not ask whethersets concentration cutoffs for eleven drugs including delta-9 THC; the driver is impairedpredecessor standard used 2 ng/mL in blood and 1 ng/mL in saliva.[@rtsl22gb2025] The article itself carries no penalty of its own for drugs;exact 2025 cutoff table could not be read, so the law's detailed drunk-driving penalties refer only to alcoholnumeric limit remains unverified.[@rtsl22gb2025]

rtsl22, gb2025

Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 328 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 421 kg in 2023.[@unodc_szr] The UNseries is volatile and incomplete, and China publishes them as kilogram equivalentsno cannabis-only seizure total.[@report25] In 2025 the authorities reported 15,000 existing cannabis users and countries count seizures differently3, so the figures are not comparable across borders000 cannabis users punished, both down on 2024.[@unodc_szrreport25] No cannabis-specific price data were foundMajor cases include 735 kg seized in the South China Sea in April 2026 and 70.83 kg in transit at Beijing airport in June 2025.[@gd26,beijing25]

unodc_szr, report25, gd26, beijing25

NoChina publishes aggregate drug statistics, not a cannabis-specific arrest figures were foundcount. The available national series is the UNODC seizure data2025 drug report recorded 27, which records 328 kg of herbal cannabis in000 drug cases and 41,000 suspects, down 27.6% and 33% on 2024, and 134,000 users handled; it separately counted 15,000 existing cannabis users and 3,000 punished.[@unodc_szrreport25] China publishes aggregate drug-user and drug-crime statistics rather than a cannabis breakdown, and those aggregates were not available in the sources readThe figures cover all drugs.[@report25]

unodc_szrreport25

China — 2025 drug situation report (China Anti-Drug Network, 16 June 2026) Guangzhou Daily — 735 kg cannabis seized in the South China Sea (22 June 2026) Guancha — Beijing airport transit cannabis case (16 August 2026) China Anti-Drug Network — Changzhou synthetic cannabinoid death sentence (18 July 2025) China — GB 45248-2025, mandatory drug-driving threshold standard (in force 1 September 2025) 11 unchanged