Tonga countries/to.yaml
Cannabis is a Class B drug under the Illicit Drugs Control Act 2003,(/history/tonga-illicit-drugs-control-act-2003/) moved from Class A in 2012.[@idca,amend2012](/history/tonga-cannabis-reclassified-class-b-2012/) Tonga first banned Indian hemp in 1930.[@drugs1930](/history/tonga-drugs-poisons-act-1930/) Possession of less than 28 g carries a maximum of a T$5,000 fine or one year in prison, or … nabis by weight, not by plant count, and there is no mandatory minimum for Class B.[@idca]
idca, amend2012, drugs1930
A conviction is a criminal record, which matters for seasonal-work visas abroad.[@abc26] N … nces in 2026, and the prison population rose from about 250 to 300 in three years.[@abc26](/history/tonga-prison-drug-convictions-2026/)
Cannabis is locally cultivated in bush allotments and outer islands, including Vava'u, 'Eua, Matahau and Fua'amotu, and sold in small dealer packs.[@unodc25] Police seized 3,894 plants at Matahau and Fou'i in 2017(/history/tonga-matahau-cannabis-plantation-2017/) and 2,665 plants at Mataika in Vava'u in 2018.(/history/tonga-vavau-cannabis-bust-2018/) UNODC records 250 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2023 and 316 g in January–June 2024; the … s use different periods and categories and are not directly comparable.[@unodc25,police24]