Togo countries/tg.yaml
The [2015 criminal code](/history/togo-personal-use-penalties-2015/) sets one to three years in prison and a fine of 500,000–3 million CFA francs, or either penalty alone, for a small amount held, bought or grown for personal consumption.[@code15] It gives no numerical quantity in that clause.[@code15] Judges can waive qualifying sentences and replace punishment with treatment for a person with drug dependence.[@code15]
The 1998 drug law bans cannabis cultivation nationwide and requires landholders to destroy plants growing on their land.[@l98008] The 2015 code expressly includes small amounts grown for personal consumption in its one-to-three-year or fine-only rule.[@code15] General high-risk drug cultivation carries twenty to thirty years and a fine of 50 million–100 million CFA francs, or either penalty alone.[@code15]
The code permits a fine alone for small personal-use amounts and treatment instead of the penalty for a person with drug dependence.[@code15] Authorities also report large cannabis seizures: a September 2020 bus operation recovered 1,541.60 kg and led to three arrests, as [that interception](/history/togo-cannabis-bus-seizure-2020/) records; more than 5,291 kg seized in 2024 was destroyed in January 2026, as [that destruction](/history/togo-drug-seizures-2025/) records.[@atop20,rt26a]
Giving or offering a high-risk drug for another person’'s own consumption carries five to ten years and a fine of 500,000–25 million CFA francs, or either penalty alone.[@code15] General high-risk drug supply carries twenty to thirty years and a fine of 50 million–100 million francs, or either penalty alone.[@code15] Aggravated offences can have their maximum doubled, capped at fifty years.[@code15]
code15, atop20
The 2015 code prohibits using controlled substances outside a medical prescription and requires their seizure and judicial confiscation even when the person is not prosecuted.[@code15] Small amounts for personal consumption fall under its separate one-to-three-year, fine, or combined penalty.[@code15]
Adult-use cannabis supply is prohibited.[@code15] The code punishes giving or offering high-risk drugs for personal consumption as well as sale and other forms of supply.[@code15]
code15, atop20
CannabisNo licensed production exists: the 1998 law bans cannabis cultivation is prohibited nationwide; and obliges landholders mustto destroy plants growing on their land, and no licensed cannabis production was found in the sources reviewed.[@l98008]
Controlled medicines are subject to health-ministry licensing under the 1998 law, while the 2015 code prohibitsThe sources reviewed establish no operating medical cannabis programme: use outside a medical prescription. Cannabis cultivation remains expressly banned by is prohibited, and the drug lawCode's licences cover scheduled medical activities without a cannabis patient supply.[@code15]
l98008, code15
Courts must confiscate substances and plants involved in small personal-use offences, together with equipment used for the offence, and may order their destruction.[@code15] Treatment ordered in place of punishment can itself lead to one to five years, a fine, or both if the person evades it.[@code15]
The cultivation ban and penalties for supplying another person also restrict collective growing and sharing through a club.[@l98008,code15]
Visitors face the same cannabis cultivation, possession and supply offences.[@l98008,code15] For the production and trafficking offences listed in the code, courts may also exclude a foreign national from Togo permanently or for five to ten years.[@code15]
Cannabis is the main drug the authorities seize. Of 5,729 kg of drugs seized across Togo i … more than 5,291 kg was cannabis, beside 51.77 kg of cocaine and 8.5 kg of methamphetamine.[@rt26a] The authorities put seizures in 2025 at more than 50 tonnes, mainly cannabis, as [that report](/history/togo-drug-seizures-report-2026/) records, describing Togo as a transit platform on the Abidjan–Lagos corridor with local consumption on the side.[@rt26b]
Preparations containing controlled substances follow the same controls as those substances. A mixture containing substances under different controls follows the strictest applicable rules.
l98008
XAF
label Small amount for personal use (article 267) · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 1 year · prison 3 years · fine min 500000 · fine 3000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both. Waiver and treatment possible
XAF
label Small amount grown for personal use (article 267) · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 1 year · prison 3 years · fine min 500000 · fine 3000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both. Waiver and treatment possible, label General high-risk cultivation (article 253) · treatment criminal · term Unlicensed cultivation · prison min 20 years · prison 30 years · fine min 50000000 · fine 100000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both. Aggravation can double the maximum
XAF
label Giving or offering for another person's own use (article 256) · treatment criminal · term Supply to a user · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 500000 · fine 25000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both, label General high-risk supply (articles 253–254) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 20 years · prison 30 years · fine min 50000000 · fine 100000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both. Aggravation can double the maximum
XAF
label Small amount for personal use (article 267) · treatment criminal · term Drug use · prison min 1 year · prison 3 years · fine min 500000 · fine 3000000 · note Prison or a fine, or both. Waiver and treatment possible
Cannabis is prohibited, but small personal-use amounts fall under a lighter one-to-three-year tier with waiver and treatment options, while supply and cultivation draw decades in prison.[@code15] Use persists regardless: a September 2020 bus interception found 1,541.60 kg hidden with second-hand clothes on a Ghanaian bus bound for Benin, and 2025 seizures topped 50 tonnes, mainly cannabis, as those [operations](/history/togo-cannabis-bus-seizure-2020/) and [reports](/history/togo-drug-seizures-report-2026/) record.[@atop20,rt26b]
code15, atop20, rt26b
none
The provisions reviewed set no THC line for hemp and no fibre or food exception; unauthorised growing, production and manufacture of listed drugs are punished regardless of claimed use.[@code15,l98008]
code15, l98008
grey
unclear
illegal
banned
The 1998 drug law bans cannabis cultivation nationwide and requires landholders to destroy plants growing on their land; the offence articles do not mention seeds.[@l98008] The 2015 code expressly includes small amounts grown for personal consumption in its lighter tier.[@code15]
l98008, code15
In September 2020 three suspected traffickers of Beninese, Ghanaian and Togolese nationality were presented to the press with 1,541.60 kg of cannabis found on a Ghanaian bus bound for Benin.[@atop20]
atop20
impairment
Driving under the influence of a high-risk drug used illicitly carries one to three years in prison and a fine of 1 to 3 million francs; refusing screening carries the same.[@code15] Penalties cumulate with homicide or injury convictions, and no numerical limit is stated.[@code15]
code15