Guatemala countries/gt.yaml
Acquiring or possessing drugs for personal consumption carries four months to two years in prison and a Q200–Q10,000 fine under article 39 of the 1992 drug law.[@law] Personal use requires a reasonable quantity for immediate consumption and circumstances supporting that purpose.[@law] The law gives no fixed cannabis gram allowance.[@law] [The 1992 law set the personal-possession terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/) [The 1973 code punished possession with three to five years.](/history/guatemala-penal-code-1973/)
Unauthorised sowing, growing or harvesting of drug-producing seeds, plants, flowers or plant parts carries five to twenty years in prison and a Q10,000–Q100,000 fine under article 36 of the 1992 drug law.[@law] In October 2026 the Interior Ministry reported destroying 34,563 cannabis plants during weekend operations in Totonicapán and Petén.[@eradication2026] [The 1992 law set the cultivation terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/) [34,563 plants were destroyed in 2026.](/history/guatemala-cannabis-eradication-report-2026/) [Growing Indian hemp was punished from 1932.](/history/guatemala-decree-1331-1932/)
Police continue to eradicate cannabis crops: the Interior Ministry reported destroying 19,420 plants near Momostenango and 15,143 in Ixmucané, Las Cruces, after weekend operations in October 2026.[@eradication2026] Prosecutors supported the work.[@eradication2026] Personal possession also remains a criminal offence under the drug law.[@law] [34,563 plants were destroyed in 2026.](/history/guatemala-cannabis-eradication-report-2026/) [14 million plants were seized in 2011.](/history/guatemala-cannabis-plants-seized-2011/)
The trafficking offence includes unauthorised distribution, supply and transfer on any basis, as well as selling, storing and transporting controlled drugs or drug-producing seeds and plants.[@law] It carries twelve to twenty years in prison and a Q50,000–Q1,000,000 fine under article 38 of the 1992 drug law.[@law] [The 1992 law set the trafficking terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/)
The law criminalises acquiring or possessing drugs for personal consumption, with four months to two years in prison plus a fine.[@law] It describes personal use through a reasonable amount for immediate consumption and the other circumstances of the case.[@law] [The 1992 law set the personal-possession terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/)
Recreational cannabis supply falls within the drug-law offences against unauthorised distribution and sale.[@law] A 2016 bill proposing licensed adult supply received an adverse committee opinion, followed by opposition to a medical cannabis bill in 2017.[@rejection2016,rejection2017] [Lawmakers proposed adult supply in 2016.](/history/guatemala-adult-cannabis-bill-2016/) [The medical bill failed in 2017.](/history/guatemala-medical-bill-rejected-2017/) [The president called for decriminalisation in 2012.](/history/guatemala-decriminalisation-call-2012/)
medicalnone
Unauthorised cultivation carries five to twenty years in prison plus a fine; unauthorised drug manufacture or extraction carries eight to twenty years plus a fine.[@law] The law separately allows strictly necessary quantities for authorised medical treatment, scientific research, analysis and medicine manufacture, but no licensed cannabis production exists: the bills that would have created it failed in 2016 and 2017.[@rejection2016,rejection2017] [The 1992 law set the production terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/) [Lawmakers proposed adult supply in 2016.](/history/guatemala-adult-cannabis-bill-2016/)
law, rejection2016, rejection2017
The drug law covers substances and the seeds, flowers, plants or plant parts from which drugs can be extracted. It provides for authorised medical and scientific handling and requires prescriptions for sales to private customers under its lawful-use rule.
law
The general drug law permits strictly necessary quantities for medical treatment, scientific research, analysis and medicine manufacture by legally authorised people, with prescriptions required for lawful sales to private customers.[@law] A separate cannabis bill for medicinal, therapeutic and scientific production and supply received an adverse opinion from Congress’s Health Committee in 2017.[@rejection2017] There is no operating medical cannabis route.[@rejection2017] [The medical bill failed in 2017.](/history/guatemala-medical-bill-rejected-2017/)
Personal-possession convictions carry a prison sentence and a fine under the drug law.[@law] The distinction from trafficking depends on a reasonable quantity for immediate consumption and the circumstances; trafficking carries twelve to twenty years in prison plus a fine.[@law] [The 1992 law set the personal-possession terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/)
The drug law includes drug-producing seeds, flowers, plants and plant parts in its definition.[@law] Unauthorised sowing, growing or harvesting carries five to twenty years in prison plus a fine;[@law] unauthorised acquisition, transfer, storage, transport or supply of drug-producing seeds and plants falls within a trafficking offence carrying twelve to twenty years plus a fine.[@law] [The 1992 law set the cultivation terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/) [Growing Indian hemp was punished from 1932.](/history/guatemala-decree-1331-1932/)
Recreational collective growing and supply fall within the offences against unauthorised cultivation and distribution.[@law] The 2016 proposal for five home plants and licensed commercial supply[@adultbill2016] received an adverse committee opinion.[@rejection2016] [Lawmakers proposed adult supply in 2016.](/history/guatemala-adult-cannabis-bill-2016/) [The committee opposed regulation in 2016.](/history/guatemala-regulation-rejected-2016/)
Recreational supply remains prohibited.[@law] Acquiring or possessing cannabis for personal consumption carries four months to two years in prison plus a Q200–Q10,000 fine; the law gives no fixed cannabis gram allowance.[@law] [The 1992 law set the personal-possession terms.](/history/guatemala-ley-contra-la-narcoactividad-1992/)
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 1,097 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 756 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] [14 million plants were seized in 2011.](/history/guatemala-cannabis-plants-seized-2011/)
Transnational Institute — Reforma de la ley de drogas en Guatemala, guía básica (30 July 2015) Marihuana: The First Twelve Thousand Years Guatemala Dirección General de la Policía Nacional — Memoria de los trabajos realizados (1935) 7 unchanged
GTQ
label Acquiring or possessing for personal consumption · treatment criminal · prison 2 years · prison min 4 months · fine 10000 · fine min 200 · term Possession for personal consumption · note Reasonable amount for immediate use plus supporting circumstances; no fixed gram allowance
GTQ
label Unauthorised sowing, growing or harvesting · treatment criminal · prison 20 years · prison min 5 years · fine 100000 · fine min 10000 · term Unlawful cultivation · note Seeds, flowers, plants or parts from which dependence-producing drugs can be obtained
Fully illegal with no decriminalisation. A 2016 bill would have let adults use cannabis privately and grow up to five plants at home, with licensed commercial supply and a 10% sales tax for hospitals and police education — a congressional committee opposed it that year.[@adultbill2016,rejection2016] President Pérez Molina had called for decriminalisation in 2012 and set up a drug-policy reform commission in 2014, but no law followed.[@tni] [The president called for decriminalisation in 2012.](/history/guatemala-decriminalisation-call-2012/) [Lawmakers proposed adult supply in 2016.](/history/guatemala-adult-cannabis-bill-2016/) [The committee opposed regulation in 2016.](/history/guatemala-regulation-rejected-2016/) [A reform commission opened in 2014.](/history/guatemala-drug-policy-commission-2014/)
adultbill2016, rejection2016, tni
none
No hemp exception exists. Colonial hemp failed early — introduced around 1793, serious large-scale efforts produced almost nothing.[@abel] A 1932 decree expressly punished growing Indian hemp and marihuana, and the modern drug law keeps all cannabis sowing under its cultivation offence.[@memoir,law] [Hemp was tried in 1793.](/history/guatemala-hemp-introduction-1793/) [Growing Indian hemp was punished from 1932.](/history/guatemala-decree-1331-1932/)
abel, memoir, law
Cannabis has been tried and punished in Guatemala for over two centuries. Hemp was introduced around 1793 with almost no harvest, and by 1932 growing Indian hemp and marihuana was a named offence.[@abel,memoir] In 2012 a former general turned president, Otto Pérez Molina, broke the regional taboo by calling for decriminalisation, arguing the market-control policies had failed and trafficking violence was the region's great problem.[@tni] Congress never followed, and the reform commission he inaugurated in 2014 left no law behind.[@tni] [Hemp was tried in 1793.](/history/guatemala-hemp-introduction-1793/) [Growing Indian hemp was punished from 1932.](/history/guatemala-decree-1331-1932/) [The president called for decriminalisation in 2012.](/history/guatemala-decriminalisation-call-2012/) [A reform commission opened in 2014.](/history/guatemala-drug-policy-commission-2014/)
abel, memoir, tni