Bolivia countries/bo.yaml
The drug law sends dependent and occasional users found with a minimal immediate personal-use quantity to compulsory treatment until considered rehabilitated.[@l1008] Two medical experts assess an amount equivalent to 48 hours of consumption.[@reg22099] Above that amount, possession falls under trafficking, carrying ten to twenty-five years in prison plus a fine.[@l1008] The rules give no fixed cannabis gram allowance.[@l1008] [Possession drew compulsory treatment from 1988.](/history/bolivia-law-1008-1988/) [The 48-hour rule was defined in 1988.](/history/bolivia-personal-use-assessment-1988/) [A ladder for narcotics dates to 1962.](/history/bolivia-narcotics-act-1962/)
Unlawfully sowing, planting, harvesting, growing or collecting controlled plants or their parts carries one to two years in prison, rising to two to four for repeat offending.[@l1008] The anti-narcotics police reported about 139 tonnes of marijuana seized in plantations or ready for sale in the first seven months of 2024.[@lt24] [Possession drew compulsory treatment from 1988.](/history/bolivia-law-1008-1988/) [139 tonnes were seized in early 2024.](/history/bolivia-marijuana-seizures-2024/)
Possession above the individually assessed personal-use amount is presumed to be trafficking.[@l1008] Two medical experts determine that amount, leaving the distinction between personal possession and trafficking dependent on their assessment.[@reg22099] [The 48-hour rule was defined in 1988.](/history/bolivia-personal-use-assessment-1988/)
Unlawfully supplying controlled substances to another person carries eight to twelve years in prison plus a fine, regardless of quantity.[@l1008] The separate trafficking offence carries ten to twenty-five years plus a fine and has a broad definition covering acts including delivery, supply and donation.[@l1008] [Possession drew compulsory treatment from 1988.](/history/bolivia-law-1008-1988/)
Consumption of listed controlled substances is prohibited.[@l1008] Dependent and occasional users found with a minimal quantity for immediate personal use are subject to compulsory admission to a public or private drug-treatment institution until considered rehabilitated.[@l1008] [A penalty ladder dates to 1962.](/history/bolivia-narcotics-act-1962/) [Possession drew compulsory treatment from 1988.](/history/bolivia-law-1008-1988/)
Recreational supply remains prohibited under the controlled-substances law.[@l1008] The 2026 bill proposing registered medical patients and licensed pharmacy supply remains listed as pending.[@medicalbill,pendingbill] [A medical-access bill is pending in 2026.](/history/bolivia-medical-access-bill-2026/)
The 2017 law requires registration and prior health-ministry permission for production of medicinal controlled substances.[@law913] Unauthorised cannabis growing remains punishable under the 1988 law.[@l1008] The pending 2026 medical bill proposes specific grower and manufacturer licences.[@medicalbill] [Drug controls were rewritten in 2017.](/history/bolivia-ley-913-2017/) [A medical-access bill is pending in 2026.](/history/bolivia-medical-access-bill-2026/)
Cannabis and cannabis resin are listed controlled substances. The 2017 law regulates authorised manufacture and prescription supply of medicines containing controlled substances. In 2021 the ombudsman reported a compassionate cannabis-import approval exclusively for one child under medical supervision.
law913, compassionate
The ombudsman reported an individual compassionate cannabis-import approval in November 2021 after helping a family clarify medicines-agency requirements.[@compassionate] The 2017 law requires health-ministry permissions for medicinal controlled substances and provides limited scientific and medical research authorisations.[@law913] A 2026 bill would create a patient register and prescribed cannabis supply through authorised pharmacies; parliament still listed it as pending in October.[@medicalbill,pendingbill] [One child got a compassionate import in 2021.](/history/bolivia-child-compassionate-import-2021/) [A medical-access bill is pending in 2026.](/history/bolivia-medical-access-bill-2026/)
A person classified as holding cannabis for immediate personal use faces compulsory treatment until considered rehabilitated.[@l1008] Possession above the medically assessed quantity falls under a trafficking offence carrying ten to twenty-five years in prison plus a fine.[@l1008,reg22099] [The 48-hour rule was defined in 1988.](/history/bolivia-personal-use-assessment-1988/)
The 1988 law prohibits production or keeping of controlled plants and their seeds.[@l1008] Unlawful sowing, planting, harvesting, growing or collecting controlled plants or their parts carries one to two years in prison, rising to two to four for repeat offending.[@l1008] The 2017 law separately requires prior authorisation for production of medicinal controlled substances.[@law913] [Possession drew compulsory treatment from 1988.](/history/bolivia-law-1008-1988/) [Drug controls were rewritten in 2017.](/history/bolivia-ley-913-2017/)
Recreational collective growing and supply remain subject to the offences against unlawful cultivation and supply.[@l1008] The 2026 medical bill proposes licensed production and pharmacy dispensing.[@medicalbill] [A medical-access bill is pending in 2026.](/history/bolivia-medical-access-bill-2026/)
Recreational supply is prohibited.[@l1008] The personal-possession rule sends users with the medically assessed immediate-use quantity to compulsory treatment and treats amounts above it as trafficking.[@l1008,reg22099] The law also subjects foreigners without permanent residence to residence legislation and an additional fine in personal-use cases.[@l1008] [The 48-hour rule was defined in 1988.](/history/bolivia-personal-use-assessment-1988/)
Traffic Code article 97 prohibits driving under the effects of drugs or other intoxicants, as well as when physical or mental health prevents normal and safe driving.[@trafficcode] The licensing authority's published code confirms this drug-influence rule; it does not set a numerical THC concentration.[@trafficcode] The police-hosted code and regulations distinguish drug-caused intoxication from alcohol provisions and include licence consequences in the older first-degree offence schedule.[@trafficregulations] That publication also contains later public-transport rules, but the sources read do not verify its historical monetary amounts and alcohol-specific sanctions have not been verified as a current cannabis-driving tariff.[@trafficcode,trafficregulations] Exact fines, current suspension periods and toxicological testing procedures therefore remain unresolved here. No, and no waiting time after cannabis use or general medical exception is inferred from those source gaps.[@trafficcode,trafficregulations]
Marijuana is seized in far larger volumes than cocaine. The government reported in Decembe … November 2020, and that 13,359 people had been arrested for drug trafficking in that time.[@eju24] [1,269 tonnes were seized in four years.](/history/bolivia-marijuana-seizures-2024/)
The anti-narcotics police force FELCN reported 1,877 people arrested in 5,670 operations b … marijuana, counted both in plantations and ready for sale, and about 30 tonnes of cocaine.[@lt24] Over the 1,500 days from November 2020 to December 2024 the government counted 13,359 people arrested for drug trafficking and 1,269 tonnes of marijuana seized.[@eju24] The arrests are not split by drug.[@eju24] [1,269 tonnes were seized in four years.](/history/bolivia-marijuana-seizures-2024/)
United Nations — Laws and regulations communicated on narcotic drugs: Bolivia, E/NL.1951/7 10 unchanged
label Minimal immediate personal-use quantity · treatment tolerated · term Assessed personal possession · note 48 hours of consumption assessed by two medical experts; compulsory treatment until rehabilitated, label Possession above the personal-use amount · treatment criminal · prison 25 years · prison min 10 years · term Trafficking · note Presumed trafficking; fine also applies
label Unlawful sowing, planting, harvesting or growing · treatment criminal · prison 2 years · prison min 1 year · term Unlawful cultivation · note Controlled plants or their parts; two to four years for repeat offending
Fully illegal with no decriminalisation. Users with the medically assessed immediate-use quantity face compulsory treatment rather than prison, but anything above it is presumed trafficking at ten to twenty-five years.[@l1008,reg22099] A 2026 medical bill would create patient supply, but recreational sale has no bill behind it.[@medicalbill,pendingbill] [Possession drew compulsory treatment from 1988.](/history/bolivia-law-1008-1988/) [A medical-access bill is pending in 2026.](/history/bolivia-medical-access-bill-2026/)
l1008, reg22099, medicalbill, pendingbill
none
No hemp exception operates: cannabis and resin are listed controlled substances with no low-THC carve-out in the sources read, and unauthorised growing is punishable under the 1988 law.[@l1008] The 1939 narcotics decree put alkaloids and narcotic drugs under health-ministry control without mentioning cannabis.[@un1939] [Health control of narcotics dates to 1939.](/history/bolivia-narcotics-decree-1939/) [Cannabis was first restricted around 1925.](/history/bo-first-restriction-estimate/)
l1008, un1939