Burkina Faso countries/bf.yaml
The 2018 Penal Code sets a separate penalty for small quantities bought or held for personal consumption.[@code18] High-risk plants or substances, including cannabis oil, carry one month to one year and a fine of 250,000–600,000 CFA francs; cannabis derivatives other than oil carry one to six months and the same fine.[@code18] It gives no gram limit. General personal possession of high-risk drugs carries two to five years and a fine of 1–5 million francs.[@code18]
label Small personal quantity, high-risk incl. cannabis oil · term Possession · treatment criminal · prison min 1 month · prison 1 year · fine 600000 · note Fine of 250,000–600,000 CFA francs; no gram limit, label Small personal quantity, cannabis derivatives other than oil · term Possession · treatment criminal · prison min 1 month · prison 6 months · fine 600000 · note Fine of 250,000–600,000 CFA francs; no gram limit, label General personal possession of high-risk drugs · term Possession · treatment criminal · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine 5000000 · note Fine of 1–5 million CFA francs
Small personal cultivation falls under the same shorter penalty tiers as small personal possession in the 2018 code.[@code18] There is no fixed plant limit. Ordinary high-risk cultivation and production carry eleven to twenty-one years and a fine of 5–25 million CFA francs.[@code18] The 1999 drug code already distinguished small personal growing from ordinary production.[@code99]
label Small personal cultivation · term Cultivation · treatment criminal · prison min 1 month · prison 1 year · fine 600000 · note Same shorter tiers as small personal possession; no plant limit, label Ordinary high-risk cultivation and production · term Cultivation · treatment criminal · prison min 11 years · prison 21 years · fine 25000000 · note Fine of 5–25 million CFA francs
Mainline's 2025 country sheet reports severe repression by police and courts and imprisonment of drug users.[@ml] Courts can order treatment in place of or alongside punishment, but the report describes missing protocols, facilities and clear responsibilities that leave this alternative rarely implemented.[@ml,code18]
Giving or offering a high-risk drug directly for another person's consumption carries two to five years and a fine of 500,000–2 million CFA francs in the 2018 code.[@code18] General local trafficking carries eleven to twenty-one years and a fine of 5–25 million francs.[@code18]
label Giving or offering for another person's consumption · term Supply · treatment criminal · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine 2000000 · note Fine of 500,000–2 million CFA francs, label General local trafficking · term Trafficking · treatment criminal · prison min 11 years · prison 21 years · fine 25000000 · note Fine of 5–25 million CFA francs
The 2018 code prohibits using controlled drugs outside a medical prescription.[@code18] Its general offence of personal use of high-risk drugs carries two to five years and a fine of 1–5 million CFA francs.[@code18] The small-quantity rule expressly covers buying, possession and growing; it does not expressly list use itself.[@code18]
Recreational supply is prohibited.[@code99] The 1999 code restricts controlled-drug commerce to authorised purposes and licensed operators; the 2018 code sets criminal penalties for unauthorised production and supply.[@code99,code18]
No licensed production. Unauthorised production carries eleven to twenty-one years and a fine of 5–25 million CFA francs.[@code18]
For specified production, supply and related offences, the 2018 code allows additional penalties such as loss of civic rights, professional bans and restrictions on travel or residence.[@code18] Courts may order treatment in place of or alongside punishment for a dependent person convicted of the offences listed in its treatment rule, including small personal quantities and drug-impaired driving.[@code18] Parliament adopted a further replacement Penal Code on 20 October 2026.[@parliament26]
No cannabis clubs are known. Growing cannabis and supplying it to another person remain prohibited; the small-personal-quantity tier still sets criminal penalties.[@code99,code18]
Visitors have no lawful recreational supply route.[@code18] For specified production and supply offences, the 2018 code allows courts to exclude a convicted foreigner permanently or for ten years or more.[@code18] Its additional-penalty clause covers Articles 381-1–384-5, while small personal quantities have a separate rule in Article 385-2.[@code18]
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 11,734 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 18,985 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]
word Cannabis · lang French · meaning cannabis; the law's word in the 1999 drug code and 2018 Penal Code · sources code99
none
No industrial-hemp exception was verified: the 1999 drug code and the 2018 Penal Code list cannabis among high-risk plants and substances with no low-THC distinction, and no hemp production is documented.[@code99,code18]
code99, code18
In 2020, 420 people were arrested for drugs, 213 of whom were referred to the Public Prosecutor; seizures that year included 13,800 kg of cannabis.[@ml] In 2023 more than 300 tons of drugs were seized and 377 people were arrested for drug-related offences.[@ml]
ml