Botswana: rebuild on the 2018 Illicit Traffic Act and 2025 amendment

The act prohibitsprohibited cannabis in general and remainsset the basisdealing and possession penalties of its day. It has since been repealed; the country'scurrent drug law is the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 2018.

Botswana Attorney General's Chambers — Drugs and Related Substances Act (repealed) Botswana — Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 2018 Wikipedia — Cannabis in Botswana

2018-10-18

Possession of 60 g or less remains an offence, but a December 2025 amendment excludes prison and caps the fine at P10,000. Licensed medical, research and industrial cannabis is permitted, though no patient-dispensing route was verified.

Under the amended Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, possession of 60 g or less of cannabisCannabis (dagga, or motokwane) is illegal to possess. Since 22 December 2025, 60 g or less is a low-level offence withcarrying a fine of up to P10,000 or, a 21-day notice and prescribed alternatives;rehabilitation, and the person offender "shall not be imprisoned". A notice requires payment within 21 days[@ita18, with mandatory rehabilitation as prescribed. Aboveamend25,commence25] More than 60 g but belowless than 1 kg, the published law provides carries up to P20,000, three years, or both; abovemore than 1 kg, carries up to P500,000, ten years, or both. The text does not resolve exactly[@amend25] Exactly 1 kg falls between the two tiers because the amendment says "less than" and "more than".[@amend25] Cannabis preparations havecarry a separate provision carrying up tomaximum of P20,000, three years, or both.[@amend25]

drug_amend25ita18, drug_currentamend25, drug_commence25commence25

Unlawful cultivation carries up to P500,000, twenty years, or both, and cannabis found on cultivated land is evidence that the owner or occupier knew of it.[@ita18] Producing or dealing in cannabis can instead be charged under the dealing provision, which carries fifteen to twenty years without the option of a fine ofand up to 500P1,000 pula,000, or under the Cannabis Act's licensing offences, which carry up to twentyP1,000,000 and fifteen years.[@ita18,cannabis25] The overlap leaves prosecutors a wide choice of penalty.[@ita18,cannabis25]

dnita18, lawcannabis25

Older court reporting describes fines with prison in default of payment. The amendment effective 22 December 2025 instead excludes60 g tier removes imprisonment for low-level cannabis possession, including nonpaymentbut prison remains available above it, and provides prescribed alternativescultivation and rehabilitationtrafficking carry long terms. Implementation of those programmes[@amend25,ita18] Small cases reported in 2025–2026 ranged from about 300 g to a 500 kg farm, and post-amendment sentencing practice remain unverifiedthe 2024 seizure total was 1,268 kg of herbal cannabis.[@gantsi26,unodc_szr] No national arrest total for 2024–2026 was published.[@nra26]

dnamend25, drug_amend25ita18, drug_commence25gantsi26, unodc_szr, nra26

Trafficking — sale, supply, transport, import, export and manufacture — carries long prison termsup to P500,000, twenty-five years, or both.[@ita18] Dealing is charged separately, with fifteen to twenty years without the option of a fine and up to P1,000,000, and unlawful supply carries up to P500,000 and twenty years.[@ita18] Giving cannabis to another person is not exempt.[@ita18]

lawita18

Use is an offence under section 4 of the 2018 Act.[@ita18] The penalty provisions are written around possession quantities, so the sanction for use alone is unclear; possession of 60 g or less brings the low-level fine and rehabilitation route.[@amend25] Licensed use is confined to the medical and research framework, not recreation.[@cannabis25]

lawita18, amend25, cannabis25

A narrow prescription route exists under theThe Cannabis Act. Licensed pharmacists 2025 permits licensed medical production, and section 48(3) contemplates a prescription, including for an under-18 patient through a pharmacist or health professionals may provide cannabis medical productsprofessional with parental consent.[@cannabis25] Section 55's list of people authorised to patients holding a valid medicalpossess cannabis prescription within the licensed frameworknames health professionals, veterinary surgeons, nurses and laboratory heads, not patients, and no dispensing route was verified.[@cannabis25] The route is therefore narrow and not yet operational.[@cannabis25]

ca25cannabis25

The Cannabis Act 2025 allowslicenses cultivation, manufacture, transport, import and export under licencefor medicinal, with licensingscientific, research and security requirementsindustrial purposes.[@cannabis25] The 2026 regulations set by the Cannabis Regulationsa 0.7% THC limit for industrial cannabis and provide three-year cultivation and five-year manufacturing licences.[@regs26] The first licence, for medical cannabis and industrial hemp, was announced on 30 March 2026.[@firstlicence26]

wikicannabis25, regs26, firstlicence26

Licensed cannabis medical products supplied on prescription.

ca25

Cannabis is legalLicensed production for medicinal, scientific, researchmedical and industrial purposes within the licensed framework of the Cannabis Act 2025. Recreationalscientific use remains illegal. The act received assent in October 2025; its licensingis permitted, patient-supply and possession provisions section 48(Parts VI–XIII3) took effect on 22 December 2025contemplates prescriptions.[@cannabis25,ca25_commence] The Act does not clearly authorise patients to possess cannabis: section 55 lists health professionals and laboratory heads, not patients.[@cannabis25] No pharmacy or dispensary route was verified.[@cannabis25]

ca25cannabis25, ca25_commence

A conviction is a criminal record. The low-level possession tier instead provides a notice, a fine of up to P10,000 and prescribed rehabilitation, with alternatives to imprisonment if the fine is not paid.[@amend25]

dnamend25

The Cannabis Act 2025 defines cultivation to include "planting, sowing, scattering the seeds" and gives the National Cannabis Control Authority the power to license cultivation and propagation, for medicinal, scientific, research and industrial purposes only.[@cannabis25] Its definition of cannabis covers all parts of the plant, while the item on flowering tops leaves out seeds and leaves not accompanied by the tops.[@cannabis25] Seed and clone trade is therefore lawful only within the licensed framework.[@cannabis25]

ca25cannabis25

No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: unlicensed growing cannabis and supplying itcannabis to another person are both prohibited.[@ita18,cannabis25]

dnita18, lawcannabis25

There is no legal recreational supply. The amended Act treats possession of 60 g or less as a low-level offence with a fine uptier applies to P10anyone in possession,000 or prescribed alternatives, mandatory rehabilitation as prescribed, and no imprisonment. This but it does not authorise purchase, cultivation, sale or importation, and no separatevisitor exemption for visitors was verified.[@amend25,cannabis25]

drug_amend25amend25, drug_currentcannabis25

Figures reported by theThe government to the UN drugs office recordreported 1,268 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 1,325 kg in 2023. The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents[@unodc_szr] A 2025 national risk assessment put marijuana's estimated value at P48.8 million of a P54 million illicit drug market, and countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across bordersbased on proceeds from confiscated drugs rather than annual turnover.[@nra26]

unodc_szr, nra26

Road Traffic Act section 46(2) prohibits driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drugs.[@traffic] Section 46(4) provides P5,000–10,000, two–five years in prison, or both; being in charge without driving is a separate offence.[@traffic] Section 48 permits drug-analysis evidence from specimens taken within three hours and gives refusal evidential consequences.[@traffic] The published section 53 contains overlapping licence provisions: subsection (3) specifies two–five years for section 46(2), while (3A) specifies one–three years for section 46 generally. Their application needs judicial clarification. The February 2026 announcement of a proposed drug-driving ban does not establish that existing section 46 excludes drugs. Noand no numerical THC cutoff or current roadside cannabis-testing practice was verified.[@traffic,driving26]

Botswana — Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 2018 (Act 15 of 2018, Cap. 08:12) HempToday — Botswana government says it will support hemp after issuing strict regulations (27 February 2026) Sunday Standard — Controversy erupts over Botswana's first licensed cannabis producer (30 March 2026) Mmegi — Dagga dominates Botswana's drug trade (17 April 2026) NewZimbabwe — Zimbabwean man arrested in Botswana over large-scale cannabis farm (17 April 2026) Botswana Attorney General's Chambers — Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, as amended in 2025 Botswana Laws — Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Botswana Daily News — court report on dagga possession Wikipedia — Cannabis in Botswana 7 unchanged

BWP

upto 60 g · treatment criminal · term Low-level possession · fine 10000 · note No imprisonment; 21-day notice and prescribed rehabilitation, over 60 g · upto 1 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 3 years · fine 20000, over 1 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 10 years · fine 500000, label Cannabis preparations · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 3 years · fine 20000

BWP

label Unlawful cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison 20 years · fine 500000 · note Cannabis on cultivated land is proof of cultivation with the owner's or occupier's knowledge, label Producing or dealing · treatment criminal · term Dealing · prison min 15 years · prison 20 years · fine 1000000 · note No option of a fine for the prison term, label Unlicensed cultivation under the Cannabis Act · treatment criminal · term Licensing offence · prison 15 years · fine 1000000

BWP

label Trafficking · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison 25 years · fine 500000, label Dealing · treatment criminal · term Dealing · prison min 15 years · prison 20 years · fine 1000000 · note No option of a fine for the prison term, label Unlawful supply or procurement · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison 20 years · fine 500000

limited

A medical prescription route is contemplated, but no dispensing route was verified

Recreational use, purchase and growing remain illegal.[@ita18] Since 22 December 2025, possessing 60 g or less is a low-level offence with a fine of up to P10,000, no imprisonment and prescribed rehabilitation; larger amounts and supply remain serious crimes.[@amend25] There is no legal recreational seller or club.[@ita18] [The 2025 amendment removed prison for 60 g or less.](/history/botswana-low-level-possession-amendment-2025/)

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standard

Industrial cannabis is licensed under the Cannabis Act 2025 for non-drug commercial use.[@cannabis25] The 2026 regulations set a 0.7% THC limit, with three-year cultivation and five-year manufacturing licences.[@regs26] The first medical and industrial licence was announced in March 2026, and government earmarked Dibete Farm for a commercial hemp rollout after trials.[@firstlicence26,regs26]

cannabis25, regs26, firstlicence26

No national arrest total for 2024–2026 was published.[@nra26] Reported cases include a 500 kg farm at Gantsi in April 2026, a 5 kg arrest at a Gabane roadblock in November 2025 and about 300 g in 52 sachets at Metsimotlhabe in December 2025.[@gantsi26] The 2024 seizure total was 1,268 kg of herbal cannabis.[@unodc_szr]

nra26, gantsi26, unodc_szr