Eswatini countries/sz.yaml
Illegal, though '"Swazi Gold'" is a major smallholder cash crop. A 1922 Act and the 1929 Pharmacy Act both apply; the Pharmacy Act allows up to fifteen years for possession. Bills to license medical and hemp production have been debated for years but not enacted.
Possession of cannabis (insangu, or dagga) is an offence under the colonial-era Opium and Habit-Forming Drugs Act of 1922, punishable by a fine orof up to E2,000 or five years in prison, or both. Small amounts usually end in[@ohda] The Pharmacy Act 1929 also lists cannabis as a finepoison: unlawful possession carries E15,000 or fifteen years on a first conviction, and E20,000 or twenty years subsequently.[@pharmacy] Modern possession and transport cases are often charged under the Pharmacy Act, so the lower 1922 maximum is not a reliable ceiling.[@pharmacy]
lawohda, pharmacy
Cultivation without authorisation is illegalan offence under the 1922 Act, yet 'Swazi Gold' is a major cash cropwith up to E2,000 or five years.[@ohda] The Act allows ministerial licences only for smallholders inreasonable medical, surgical, dental or veterinary demand.[@ohda] A "manufacture" charge under the northern hillsPharmacy Act could reach E15, and Eswatini is among000 or fifteen years, though the world's largest illicit producers per headreported large cultivation cases have been sentenced under the 1922 Act. Police periodically burn fields.[@pharmacy]
htohda, pharmacy
Fines are common for small amounts, with prison possible; enforcement falls mainly on rural growers and couriers.[@phiri] Police destroyed fields and seized hundreds of kilograms in Operation Thunder in 2025, and the Eswatini Cannabis Association accused the government of spraying fields with herbicides without assessment.[@spraying25] No cannabis-only arrest series is published.[@unodc_crimes]
lawphiri, spraying25, unodc_crimes
Dealing carriesSale, supply and giving are offences under the 1922 Act, with up to E2,000 or five years.[@ohda] The Pharmacy Act sets a higher sale penalty: E10,000 or ten years on a first conviction, and E15,000 or fifteen years subsequently.[@pharmacy] There is no statutory quantity threshold in either Act.[@ohda,pharmacy]
lawohda, pharmacy
Use is an offence under section 7 of the same1922 Act, with up to E2,000 or five years.[@ohda] The Pharmacy Act has no separate consumption offence; possession is the usual charge.[@pharmacy]
lawohda, pharmacy
No legal source for adult use, and no patient access programme. A medical and industrial cannabis bill has been before Parliament in various forms since 2020 but has not been enacted.[@ht,bill26]
lawht, bill26
nonemedical
None yet. A government bill to license cannabisThe only commercial route reported is a disputed licence for medical and research purposes hasindustrial cannabis said to have been before parliamentgranted to US-based Profile Solutions/StemPro in various forms since 20202019; small farmers fearVOA described it would handin 2024 as the tradeonly authorised grower.[@voa24] No patient-access scheme or domestic medical supply followed, and the government denied knowledge of the deal in 2020.[@voa24] A bill to large investorsreplace both drug Acts with medical and industrial cannabis legislation was still pending in 2026.[@bill26]
htvoa24, bill26
Reliable national information about legally available cannabis products was not established by the retained sources.
No medical programme; the and no patient access. The pending bill would create oneallow medical and industrial cannabis only, not adult use, and would repeal both the 1922 and 1929 Acts.[@bill26] No registered cannabis medicine or domestic pharmacy route was found.[@pharmacy]
htbill26, pharmacy
A conviction is a criminal record. The 1922 Act allows a court to suspend a driver's licence for up to five years where a vehicle was used to convey drugs.[@ohda] The Pharmacy Act provides for forfeiture of the drug and any vehicle or receptacle used.[@pharmacy]
lawohda, pharmacy
The Opium and Habit-forming Drugs Act 1922 Act defines cannabis, dagga, intsangu or Indian hemp as "the whole or any portion of the plant" and all its extracts and preparations, under whatever name.[@ohda] Seed and cuttings are portions of the plant, and the Act has no exception for them.[@ohda]
No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: growing cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibited.[@ohda]
htohda
Cannabis is an export crop for smallholders. Farmers in, especially "Swazi Gold" from the northern Hhohho region grow the variety known as Swazi Gold and sell ithills, sold at a premium to dealers and buyers in neighbouring South Africa.[@sem23] UNODC records 24,708 kg of cannabis herb and resin seized in 2024, against 13,170 kg in 2023; the figure may include plants destroyed in a country of about 1the field.[@unodc_szr] Police reported 2 million people with 24% unemployment, the trade has given many households a meaningful income550 people in formal contact for decades. A bill to replace the colonial-eraall drug law and license cannabis for medical and research use is opposed by growers and activistsor possession in 2024, who fear it will hand the trade to companies and undermine theirsnot cannabis alone.[@unodc_crimes]
sem23, unodc_szr, unodc_crimes
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says punishments for possessing or smuggling narcotic drugs can be severeThe 1922 Act and that drug offences can leadthe Pharmacy Act apply to prisonvisitors as to residents, with possession exposed to up to fifteen years under the Pharmacy Act.[@ohda,pharmacy]
fcdoohda, pharmacy
Road Traffic Act section 91(1) prohibits driving on a public road, or occupying the driver's seat, while under the influence of a drug having a narcotic effect. The published 2007 text also covers occupying a motor vehicle’s driver’s seat whether its engine is running or not. That drug-influence limb is distinct from the Act’s alcohol concentration offences.[@traffic2007] Section 122(2) in this edition listssets a maximum E5,000 fine, or four years’ imprisonment, or both for the section 91(1) offence, but later amendments and the current tariff were not certified. Current licence-disqualification rules, cannabis sampling and confirmation procedures, refusal sanctions and any[@traffic2007] There is no numeric THC cutoff remain follow-upslimit or confirmed cannabis testing protocol.[@traffic2007]
Eswatini — Pharmacy Act 38 of 1929, 1998 consolidation
Eswatini — Road Traffic Act 6 of 2007
Eswatini High Court — King v Phiri [1986] SZHC 13 (19 November 1986)
VOA — Eswatini moves to revise century-old colonial law to legalize medical cannabis (18 March 2024)
Cannabiz Africa — No place for Swazi Gold or general adult use in Eswatini's new framework (10 August 2026)
Eswatini Daily News — Cannabis association calls on government to halt dagga-field spraying (1 October 2025)
UNODC Data Portal — Drug seizures, reported seizures in kilogram equivalents
UNODC World Drug Report 2026 — drug-related crimes annex
EswatiniLII — Road Traffic Act 6 of 2007, published edition
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Eswatini, safety and security
Opium and Habit-forming Drugs Act, 1922 (EswatiniLII)
3 unchanged
word insangu · lang siSwati · meaning cannabis · sources ohda
SZL
label Possession under the 1922 Act · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 5 years · fine 2000, label Possession under the Pharmacy Act, first offence · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 15 years · fine 15000, label Possession under the Pharmacy Act, subsequent offence · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 20 years · fine 20000
SZL
label Cultivation under the 1922 Act · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison 5 years · fine 2000, label Manufacture under the Pharmacy Act, first offence · treatment criminal · term Manufacture · prison 15 years · fine 15000
SZL
label Sale or supply under the 1922 Act · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison 5 years · fine 2000, label Sale under the Pharmacy Act, first offence · treatment criminal · term Sale · prison 10 years · fine 10000, label Sale under the Pharmacy Act, subsequent offence · treatment criminal · term Sale · prison 15 years · fine 15000
SZL
label Use · treatment criminal · term Use · prison 5 years · fine 2000
All recreational use is prohibited. The 1922 Act covers possession, cultivation, sale and use with up to E2,000 or five years, while the Pharmacy Act allows up to E15,000 or fifteen years for possession and E10,000 or ten years for a first sale.[@ohda,pharmacy] There are no statutory quantity thresholds; sentencing bands come from the 1986 Phiri judgment.[@phiri]
ohda, pharmacy, phiri
none
No low-THC or industrial-hemp exemption. "Cannabis", "dagga" and "Indian hemp" cover the whole plant and all extracts, and the Pharmacy Act lists cannabis as a poison.[@ohda,pharmacy] Ministry of Agriculture hemp trials were research-only; commercial cultivation awaited the bill.[@bill26]
ohda, pharmacy, bill26
Cannabis is known as insangu or dagga in siSwati, and smoking traditions include the [earth pipe](/culture/traditions/the-earth-pipe/) and the [spit-bubble game](/culture/traditions/the-spit-bubble-game/).[@ohda] "Swazi Gold" from the northern hills is the country's best-known variety, grown by smallholders for decades.[@sem23] Prohibition and eradication have pushed the trade underground.[@spraying25]
ohda, sem23, spraying25
UNODC records 2,550 people in formal contact with the police for drug use or possession in 2024; the figure covers all drugs and is not a cannabis arrest count.[@unodc_crimes] Reported cannabis cases include 8.4 kg sentenced to 24 months in March 2024, a 15-year transport sentence in April 2024, 2,169 kg seized at Nyonyane in September 2025 and 445.6 kg recovered in October 2026.[@unodc_crimes,spraying25] No annual cannabis arrest series is published.[@unodc_crimes]
unodc_crimes, spraying25