Djibouti countries/dj.yaml
Article 356 of the 1995 Penal Code sets ten years and a 500 million franc fine for illicit possession, acquisition, transport or supply.[@cp] The code defines no personal-use quantity.[@cp] Articles 70–73 let courts impose just one listed penalty and reduce prison terms or fines, so the listed term and fine are not invariably imposed together.[@cp]
Article 355 sets twenty years and a 500 million franc fine for illicit production, manufacture, import or export.[@cp] It does not separately define a personal-growing tier.[@cp] The general sentencing rules in Articles 70–73 allow one listed penalty alone and reductions in sentence.[@cp]
In August 2026, the Einguella gendarmerie reported seizing 88 cannabis packages weighing 12 kg at a Balbala storage site.[@rtd2026] Several suspects were held in police custody pending presentation to justice authorities.[@rtd2026] This report does not establish the usual outcome of personal-use cases.
Giving or offering narcotics directly for another person’s consumption carries five years … , rising to ten years where minors, education centres or government premises are involved.[@cp] General supply under Article 356 carries ten years.[@cp] Articles 70–73 allow courts to select one penalty alone and reduce sentences.[@cp]
Article 359 sets one year and a 200,000 franc fine for illicit use.[@cp] The general sentencing rules allow a court to impose a fine alone or a shorter prison term.[@cp] The maximum written in the offence is not a mandatory one-year sentence.
The Penal Code criminalises illicit acquisition, possession, offering and supply.[@cp] Free-zone rules also expressly exclude cannabis, hashish and cannabis resin from the goods admitted to those commercial zones.[@freezone]
No licensed cannabis production exists: illicit production carries twenty years and a 500 million franc fine under Article 355, and no licensing route was established in the reviewed law.[@cp]
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Reliable national information about legally available cannabis products was not established by the retained sources.
NoThe reviewed Penal Code sets no medical cannabis programme: use outside the law is an offence under Article 359, and no patient supply route was established.[@cp]
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For drug offences, courts can impose professional restrictions, suspend or cancel a driving licence and confiscate property.[@cp] Article 366 permits permanent exclusion, or exclusion for up to ten years, of foreigners convicted under Articles 355–357; the clause does not list the separate simple-use offence in Article 359.[@cp]
The Penal Code criminalises illicit production, possession and supply and provides no recreational cannabis-club exception.[@cp]
Illicit possession and supply remain offences for visitors.[@cp] Foreigners convicted of production, import, general possession or supply, or drug-money laundering under Articles 355–357 can also be excluded permanently or for up to ten years.[@cp] The foreigner-exclusion clause does not list simple use or direct supply to a consumer.[@cp]
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 110 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 120 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]
Wikipedia — Cannabis in Djibouti
4 unchanged
DJF
label Illicit possession, acquisition, transport or supply (Article 356) · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 10 years · fine 500000000 · note Courts may impose one penalty alone and reduce terms under Articles 70–73
DJF
label Illicit production, manufacture, import or export (Article 355) · treatment criminal · term Unlicensed cultivation · prison 20 years · fine 500000000 · note No personal-growing tier; reductions possible under Articles 70–73
DJF
label Giving or offering for another person's consumption (Article 358) · treatment criminal · term Supply to a user · prison 5 years · fine 5000000 · note Ten years where minors, education centres or government premises involved
DJF
label Illicit use (Article 359) · treatment criminal · term Drug use · prison 1 year · fine 200000 · note Fine alone or a shorter term possible; maximum is not mandatory
Cannabis is prohibited across the board: illicit acquisition, possession, offering and supply are criminal offences, with possession alone running to ten years and a 500 million franc fine before sentencing discretion.[@cp] In August 2026 the Einguella gendarmerie seized 12 kg of cannabis at a Balbala storage site, with suspects held pending presentation to justice authorities.[@rtd2026]
cp, rtd2026
none
No industrial-hemp exception was verified: the Penal Code covers cannabis with no low-THC distinction, and no hemp production is documented.[@cp] No lawful cannabis products were identified in the retained sources.
cp