Côte d'Ivoire countries/ci.yaml
Possession is a crime; a 2022 law reframed drugfor personal use carries one to three months with treatment as a health matterthe default response; supply and lets courts order treatment instead of prisoncultivation carry five to ten years. A licensing regime for medical cannabis does not operate.
Possession is a crime. Under [Law 2022-407 of 13 June 2022](/history/ivory-coast-drug-law-2022/), holding a drug for one's own use carries one to three months in prison and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA francs.[@l407] Prosecutors must order appropriate care before trial, and a court can orderjudges may substitute treatment in place offor the sentenceprison term. The law it replaced[@l407, of 1988, set one to five years. How often the alternative is applied is unclear.issup]
Growing without authorisation carries five to ten years in prison and a fine of 500,000 to 50 million francs under Article 3 of Law 2022-407.[@l407]
The 2022 law softenedcut the approachpenalty for holding drugs for personal use to users on paper; courts still hand down prison sentencesone to three months and made treatment the default response: prosecutors must order care before trial, and judges may substitute treatment for smalla prison term.[@l407,issup] Evading court-scale sellersordered care means serving the prison term.[@issup] On the roads, customs keep intercepting cannabis loads, most recently 74 kg at the Moossou bridge entrance to Abidjan in October 2025.[@koaci25]
koacil407, issup, koaci25
SupplyUnauthorised buying or holding for sale, offering, distribution, brokerage and traffickingdelivery carry five to ten years or more, with finesin prison and a fine of up500,000 to 50 million CFA francs.[@l407] International trafficking carries five to ten years and a fine of 1 to 100 million francs.[@l407] Giving or offering a drug to a person for their own use carries one to three years and a fine of 200,000 to 5 million francs.[@l407]
koacil407
Using is punished through possession: holdingHolding a drug for one's own use carries one to three months in prison and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA francs. The law exempts people[@l407] People taking part in a harm-reduction programme, are exempt on conditions set by decree.[@l407] Driving after using a drug is a separate offence with one to five years.[@l407]
No legal sourceThere is no recreational route: unauthorised holding, use and supply are all offences under the 2022 law.[@l407] Medical or research licences exist only where the law provides authorisation; no operating patient supply was found in the sources reviewed.[@l407]
leafl407
No licensed production exists: unauthorised growing, production and manufacture carry five to ten years, and no licensed cannabis production was found in the sources reviewed.[@l407]
leafl407
No legal products.
leaf
NoThe sources reviewed establish no operating medical cannabis programme.[@l407] The 2022 law punishes unauthorised holding and use without a medical-use exception for cannabis.[@l407]
leafl407
The retained sources do not establish collateral consequences beyondJudges may add loss of civic rights, a travel ban with passport withdrawal for five to ten years, or a weapons ban.[@l407] Completing court-ordered treatment brings an absolute discharge for use offences; evading it means serving the penalties described aboveprison term.[@l407,issup]
l407, issup
Article 3 of Law 2022-407 punishes growing a listed drug without authorisation with five to ten years in prison and a fine of 500,000 to 50 million francs.[@l407] The offence articles do not mention seeds. The text read is a chapter-by-chapter copy on a legal information site.[@l407]
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.[@l407]
l407, koaci
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. Possession is a crime. The law of June 2022 treats[@l407] Holding for personal use ascarries one to three months, a publicfine, or court-health matter and lets courts orderordered treatment instead of prison for users; the 1988 law it replaced set one to five years for personal use.[@l407,issup]
leafl407, issup
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 10,760 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 13,267 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] In October 2025 a customs unit seized 74 kg hidden in a ride-hailing car at the Moossou bridge entrance to Abidjan, detaining the driver and two passengers.[@koaci25]
unodc_szr, koaci25
The African Roots of Marijuana
Koaci — Côte d'Ivoire: les douanes saisissent 74 kg de cannabis sur l'axe Aboisso-Abidjan (15 October 2025)
Koaci — Trafic et consommation de stupéfiants: peines de cinq à dix ans (2021)
Leafwell — Is marijuana legal in Côte d'Ivoire?
3 unchanged
XAF
label Holding a drug for one's own use · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 1 month · prison 3 months · fine min 50000 · fine 500000 · note Or court-ordered treatment instead
XAF
label Growing table 1 and 2 drugs without authorisation · treatment criminal · term Unlicensed cultivation · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 500000 · fine 50000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both
XAF
label Supply and delivery (article 4) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 500000 · fine 50000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both, label Giving or offering for another person's own use (article 7) · treatment criminal · term Supply to a user · prison min 1 year · prison 3 years · fine min 200000 · fine 5000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both
XAF
label Holding a drug for one's own use · treatment criminal · term Drug use · prison min 1 month · prison 3 months · fine min 50000 · fine 500000 · note Or court-ordered treatment instead
Cannabis is prohibited, but the 2022 law treats users as patients first: prosecutors must order care before trial and judges may substitute treatment for prison.[@l407,issup] Holding for personal use still carries one to three months and a fine, and supply five to ten years.[@l407] Enforcement continues on the roads: in October 2025 customs stopped 74 kg hidden in a ride-hailing car at the Moossou bridge entrance to Abidjan, as [that seizure](/history/ivory-coast-customs-seizure-2025/) records.[@koaci25]
l407, issup, koaci25
none
The provisions reviewed set no THC line for hemp and no fibre or food exception.[@l407] Unauthorised growing of listed drugs is punished regardless of claimed use.[@l407]
l407
impairment
Driving under the influence of a drug consumed illicitly carries one to five years in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 2 million francs.[@l407] Courts cancel the licence for six months to five years, definitively on repeat offending; refusing screening is a separate offence, and penalties cumulate with homicide or injury convictions.[@l407] No numerical limit is stated; screening procedures are set by ministerial order.[@l407]
l407
In Côte d'Ivoire cannabis is called diamba, part of a word patch running from Côte d'Ivoire to Senegal whose Central African origin Duvall reconstructs, commonly written with an initial j in French and Portuguese.[@duvall19] European listeners rendered the unfamiliar initial sound many ways — diamba, liamba, riamba — without a change in meaning.[@duvall19] The atlas traces the word in [diamba](/culture/language/diamba/), which also names the Kasai [Bena Riamba](/culture/traditions/bena-riamba/) movement, under a century of bans from the [1916 extension](/history/french-west-africa-poisonous-substances-act-1916-ci/) of French poison law to the 2022 drug law.[@duvall19,l407]
duvall19, l407