Cambodia countries/kh.yaml
UnlawfulArticle 40 punishes unlawful possession, concealment or storage of drugs in TablesTable I and II carries a basicdrugs with two -to -five-year prison term, with a possible fine of years and an optional 4–10 million riel fine for any amount.[@law] Cannabis, resinDry cannabis of 8 to under 20 kg brings five to ten years and 10–20 million riel; 20 to under 60 kg brings ten to twenty years and 20–40 million; 60 kg or more brings twenty to thirty years or life and 40–100 million.[@law] Resin and oil are listed in Table Ihave separate bands from 400 g or 200 ml to 1,600 g or 800 ml.[@law] The published English text repeats the 20–60 kg band at the top tier; the 60 kg threshold is the intended reading and should be checked against the Khmer text.[@law]
label Basic unlawful possessionAny amount · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine min 4000000 · fine 10000000, label Dry cannabis 8 kg to under 20 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 10000000 · fine 20000000, label Dry cannabis 20 kg to under 60 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · fine min 20000000 · fine 40000000, label Dry cannabis 60 kg or more · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 20 years · prison 30 years · fine min 40000000 · fine 100000000 · note TwoTwenty to fivethirty years and 4or life; English text repeats the 20–60 kg band, label Resin 400 g to under 800 g, or oil 200 ml to under 400 ml · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 5 years · prison 10 million rielyears · fine min 10000000 · fine 20000000, label Resin 800 g to under 1,600 g, or oil 400 ml to under 800 ml · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · fine min 20000000 · fine 40000000, label Resin 1,600 g or more, or oil 800 ml or more · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 20 years · prison 30 years · fine min 40000000 · fine 100000000 · note Twenty to thirty years or life
label Unlawful cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 6 months · prison 2 years · fine min 1000000 · fine 4000000, label Growing for distribution, manufacture or trade · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine min 4000000 · fine 10000000
Unlawful possession has a basic two-to-five-year prison penalty;, and article 28 requires the drug law’s principal penalties and bars substituting alternative penalties under the Criminal Code.[@law] In 2025 police recorded 10,743 drug cases and 27,884 suspects, up from 10,630 and 27,071 in 2024; dried cannabis seizures rose from 142 kg to 525 kg while total drug seizures fell from 14.9 to 5.9 tonnes.[@akp26] In January–July 2026 they recorded 16,498 suspects and 105 kg of dried cannabis.[@cambodianess26] Amnesty International reports extensive prosecutiondocuments mass arrests and detention for low-level drug offences during the campaign begun in 2017.[@ai2023] The published arrest and detention figures cover all drugs generally and do not establish a cannabis-only sentencing rate.[@ai2023, akp26]
law, ai2023, akp26, cambodianess26
The drug lawArticle 40 treats transfer from one person to another as transport of drugs, alongside selling, buying for resale, exchanging and othertrading as trafficking activity; selling any amount carries two to five years and 4–10 million riel, with the same weight bands as possession.[@law] The basic unlawful keeping, transport and trafficking offenceArranging another person's consumption carries two to five years in prisonand 4–10 million, with higher penalties for specified circumstancesaggravated bands up to twenty to thirty years or life; facilitating consumption, such as providing a venue, carries one to five years and quantities2–10 million.[@law] Transfer between people is treated as transport.[@law]
The drug law provides criminal penalties for unlawfulArticle 45 criminalises consumption only after the person has already accepted compulsory treatment: one to six months and lets prosecutors advise medically assessed dependent users100,000–1,000,000 riel, or six to enter treatment before prosecutiontwelve months and 100,000–2,000,000 riel for recidivism.[@law] It also retains discretion for limited quantities consumed asFirst-time use is not clearly criminal; article 105 lets prosecutors divert a medically certified dependent user to treatment, and limited non-addictive ancestral practiceuse is discretionary.[@law] Compulsory treatment has separate statutory conditions.[@law]
No legal source. 'Happy pizza' restaurants and street sellers operate openly in some cities, tolerated rather than licensed.[@cann] The 2012 law has no patient or consumer cannabis route.[@law]
cann, law
medicalnone
Cultivation, manufacture and supply require permission or licensing; permitted purposes areThe 2012 law allows permissions for research, clinical, scientific or industrial purposes, but no cannabis production permission or operational scheme exists.[@law] The Ministry of Health oversees lawful activity involving drugs in Tables I–IIIIn October 2026 Hun Manet rejected foreign proposals to grow cannabis for medical export and ruled out amending the law.[@lawkhmertimes26]
law, khmertimes26
No medical cannabis programme and no legal products; the licensing system permits clinical and research activity but no patient supply route was verifiedexists.[@lc,cann,law] In October 2026 the prime minister rejected medical-export cultivation and any law change.[@khmertimes26]
lc, cann, law, khmertimes26
A report by the Anti-Drug DepartmentPolice counted 1427,977 people arrested for884 drug offences of all kinds between Januarysuspects in 2025, up from 27,071 in 2024, and 16,498 in January–July 20252026, 2.710% more than a year earlier; 537889 of the 2026 suspects were foreigners. Seizures included 505 kg of dried cannabis and 12[@akp26,212 freshcambodianess26] Dried cannabis plantsseizures rose from 142 kg in 2024 to 525 kg in 2025, out of 1then 105 kg in January–July 2026.91 tonnes of[@akp26,cambodianess26] The figures cover all drugs; no cannabis-only arrest count is published.[@akp26]
lpj25akp26, cambodianess26
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office recordUNODC records 142 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 45.2 kg in 2023.[@unodc_szr] The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents,Anti-Drug Department reported 525 kg in 2025 and countries count seizures differently105 kg in January–July 2026, sowhile plants destroyed fell from 17,785 in 2024 to 12,212 in 2025.[@akp26] A January–June 2026 report gave only 12.7 kg of dried cannabis, conflicting with the 105 kg figure for January–July; the two may count different categories.[@cambodianess26] The figures are not directly comparable across borders.[@unodc_szr,akp26]
unodc_szr, akp26, cambodianess26
Law on Drug Control, 2 January 2012 — English translation
Khmer Times — PM says no to cannabis cultivation in Cambodia (8 October 2026)
Cambodianess (Xinhua) — Cambodia reports jump in drug arrests, seizures in first 7 months of 2026 (2 August 2026)
Cambodia — Law on Road Traffic 2015 (English translation, PDF)
Law on Drug Control, 2 January 2012 — English translation
8 unchanged
KHR
KHR
label Sale or trafficking, any amount · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine min 4000000 · fine 10000000, label Dry cannabis 8 kg to under 20 kg · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 10000000 · fine 20000000, label Dry cannabis 20 kg to under 60 kg · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · fine min 20000000 · fine 40000000, label Dry cannabis 60 kg or more · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 20 years · prison 30 years · fine min 40000000 · fine 100000000 · note Twenty to thirty years or life, label Arranging another person's consumption · treatment criminal · term Arranging use · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine min 4000000 · fine 10000000, label Facilitating consumption or providing a venue · treatment criminal · term Facilitation · prison min 1 year · prison 5 years · fine min 2000000 · fine 10000000
KHR
label Consumption after compulsory treatment · treatment criminal · term Consumption · prison min 1 month · prison 6 months · fine min 100000 · fine 1000000, label Recidivism · treatment criminal · term Consumption · prison min 6 months · prison 12 months · fine min 100000 · fine 2000000
word ganja · lang Khmer · meaning cannabis · sources cann
none
No legal hemp category or THC threshold. Cannabis is in Table I with no medical use; article 14's industrial licensing is theoretical and no hemp scheme or licence exists.[@law] The prime minister rejected cannabis cultivation in October 2026.[@khmertimes26]
law, khmertimes26
impairment
Article 63 punishes driving a road, water or air vehicle under the influence of drugs with one month to one year and an optional 100,000–2,000,000 riel fine; injury disabling the victim for eight days or more brings one to two years and 2–4 million riel, and permanent disability or death two to five years and 4–10 million.[@law] The 2015 Road Traffic Law adds six licence points for drug driving and punishes refusal to stop for a test with six days to one month and 100,000–800,000 riel.[@road2015] There is no THC blood limit; the offence is impairment-based.[@law]
law, road2015
Cannabis is called [ganja](/culture/language/ganja/) in Khmer usage, and the country has a [landrace](/culture/language/landrace/) heritage; the leaf was a household seasoning and medicine, still visible in [South-East Asian cooking](/culture/traditions/south-east-asian-cooking/).[@cann,law] 'Happy pizza' and open market sales persist in tourist areas, but the 2012 law and the 2017 campaign made open use risky.[@cann,ai2020]
cann, law, ai2020