Pakistan: 0.3% hemp, 2024 seizures and prison figures, history corrections

2022-09-06

The federal governmentcabinet approved the first licence for industrial and medical hemp, issued to the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The decision allowed growing hemp for industrial use and allowed cannabis extracts for industrial and medical purposes.

Arab News — Federal cabinet approves first licence for industrial, medical use of hemp (1 September 2020) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Pakistan

A survey counts 6.4four million cannabis users in Pakistan

A reportThe 2013 UNODC national survey estimated that 6.7 million past-year users of any controlled substance, of whom about 4 million people in Pakistan use(3.6%) used cannabis. An official account ofCannabis was the 1980s had described its use as long established, rising among middle-class youthmost commonly used drug in the late 1960s and falling out of fashion in that class in the 1980ssurvey.

UNODC — Drug use in Pakistan 2013 (national survey) Wikipedia — Cannabis in Pakistan

strictstandard

Industrial hemp is a licensed category with a THC ceiling of 0.3%. The regulator issues A-1 cultivation licences in three size classes, from up to 50 acres to more than 250 acres, with police clearance, tax registration and site-security conditions.[@ccra_scopeccra_policy] No published THC ceiling was found in the sources readThe 2026 licensing rules add application and issuance fees, so the licence conditions are the relevant limita five-year term and THC testing.[@ccra_scopeccra_rules] Recreational use remains illegal.[@ccra_policy]

ccra_scopeccra_policy, ccra_rules

The whole market is illegal, and hashish (charas) is the drug the Anti-Narcotics Force seizesauthorities seize most. In the twelve months to mid-2023 the force2024 Pakistan reported 157seizing 167.54 tonnes of drugs seized nationwide, of which 61.8 tonnes were hashish, ahead of 43.2 tonnes of opiumcannabis resin and 9.39 tonnes of heroin; 1herbal cannabis,652 people were arrested a sharp rise from 102.4 tonnes of resin in 1,678 cases2023.[@dt23unodc] Eight operations at seaThe 2025 INCSR recorded 138.63 tonnes of hashish in 2023the twelve months to June 2024, run with foreign agencies, took another 13alongside 11.31 tonnes of charasheroin and 16.8 tonnes of opium, which points to a large export trade as well as a domestic oneand estimated that cannabis had become the most popular drug.[@dt23incsr] No price or purity data were found.

dt23unodc, incsr

InThe 2025 INCSR recorded about 93,440 drug-related arrests in the twelve months to midJune 2024, predominantly low-2023level dealers, and 8 million people who had used drugs in 2024.[@incsr] The number of people imprisoned under the Anti-Narcotics Force reported 1narcotics act rose from 19,652 arrests636 in 12023 to 23,678 cases367 in 2024 and 157.5 tonnes of drugs seized25, including 61168 in June 2026, when they made up 22.8 tonnes31% of hashishPakistan's prison population.[@dt23jpp] No official arrest or prosecutionThe figures for 2024–2026 were found in the sources readcover all drugs and give no cannabis breakdown.

dt23incsr, jpp

Pakistan — National Cannabis Control and Regulatory Policy, 2025 (approved 20 January 2026) Pakistan — Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority (Licensing) Rules, 2026 UNODC Data Portal — Drug seizures, reported seizures in kilogram equivalents (World Drug Report 2026 data) US Department of State — 2025 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Volume 1 Justice Project Pakistan — Women, Poverty and the Failure of the CNSA (August 2026) 9 unchanged