Bangladesh countries/bd.yaml
The Narcotics Control Act 2018 classes raw cannabis (ganja) as a Class B narcotic and hashish as Class A.[@palo18] As reported when parliament passed it, for herbal cannabis (ganja or bhang) the act sets s … o seven years for 5 to 15 kg and seven to ten years above 15 kg, with a fine in each case.[@palo18] Hashish, as a Class A drug, falls under heavier tiers, which for that class can reach life imprisonment or death above set quantities.[@netra] An earlier version of this profile said death was possible for more than two kilograms of cannabis; no source read supports that for herbal cannabis.[@palo18]
label Herbal cannabis up to 5 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 6 months · prison 5 years · note Six months to five years plus a fineFine also imposed, label Herbal cannabis 5 to 15 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 5 years · prison 7 years · note Plus a fine, label Herbal cannabis above 15 kg · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 7 years · prison 10 years · note Plus a fine, label Hashish, resin or THC up to 10 g · treatment criminal · term Class A possession · prison min 1 year · prison 5 years · note Class A drug; hashish asfine also imposed, label Hashish, resin or THC over 10 g up to 50 g · treatment criminal · term Class A reaches heavier tierspossession · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years, label Hashish, resin or THC over 50 g · treatment criminal · term Class A possession · death true · note Death or life imprisonment plus a fine
Growing cannabis is a crime under the Narcotics Control Act 2018: one to five years in prison for up to 50 plants, five to seven years for up to 500, and seven to ten years above that.[@nca18] Bangladesh had a legal, state-licensed ganja trade until 1989.[@wiki]
label Up to 50 plants · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 1 year · prison 5 years, label Up to 500 plants · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 5 years · prison 7 years, label Above 500 plants · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 7 years · prison 10 years
Heavily and visibly policed.[@netra] A 2018 anti-drug drive was accompanied by hundreds of alleged extrajudicial killings.[@netra] On 16 August 2026 the narcotics department filed its first case under section 36A, over THC and CBD products it said had been sold on Daraz.[@ds36a]
netra, dt, ds36a
The quantity offences for herbal cannabis are the prison terms in the possession section.[@palo18] Section 36A, inserted by the amendment dated 16 July 2026, is a separate offence: using a … tocurrency to buy, sell, supply, offer, advertise, broker or communicate about a narcotic.[@nca36a] Recovery of the drug is not required.[@nca36a] The sentence is any term of imprisonment or death, and a fine of up to 2 million taka.[@nca36a] An international or organised case under the next subsection is any term of imprisonment, a fine of up to 5 million taka, or both, and that subsection does not itself state the death penalty.[@nca36a]
nca36a, dt, netrapalo18
label Hashish, resin or THC supply up to 10 g · treatment criminal · term Class A supply · prison min 1 year · prison 5 years, label Hashish, resin or THC supply over 10 g up to 50 g · treatment criminal · term Class A supply · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years, label Hashish, resin or THC supply over 50 g · treatment criminal · term Class A supply · death true · note Death or life imprisonment plus a fine, label Digital buying or selling, Section 36A · treatment criminal · term Digital dealing · death true · fine 2000000 · note Any term of imprisonment or death, plus up to 2 million taka; recovery not required
Consumption carries three months to two years; the law does not say what quantity establishes the charge.[@netra]
label Consumption · treatment criminal · term Consumption · prison min 3 months · prison 2 years
None: the Narcotics Control Act 2018 makes growing cannabis a crime whatever the number of plants.[@nca18] A legal, state-licensed ganja trade existed until 1989.[@wiki]
nca18, wiki
The 2018 act provides for death or life imprisonment for the largest quantities of Class A drugs: 25 g or more of heroin or cocaine, and 200 g or more of yaba when produced or transported.[@palo18] Herbal cannabis is Class B and its top tier is seven to ten years.[@palo18] Hashish is classed with the Class A drugs in the sources previously read, so a death sentence for a cannabis product is possible in law, but no quantity for it was found. The First Schedule was not re-read for this update.[@palo18] Separately, section 36A of the amendment dated 16 July 2026 punishes specified digital buying, selling, supply and advertising of a narcotic with any term of imprisonment or death, and a fine of up to 2 million taka.[@nca36a] It states no cannabis quantity and no class limit. It, and is not the penalty for ordinary possession.[@nca36a]
palo18, netra, nca36a
No lawful cannabis production. A legal, state-licensedrun ganja trade existed until 1989.[@wikinca18]
wikinca18
No medical cannabis programme was found. Cannabis is not on the list of approved medicines, and the 2018 Act controls the plant and its preparations.[@nca18,netra] Medical status stays none.[@nca18]
wikinca18, netra
A conviction is a criminal record. The 2018 anti-drug drive was accompanied by hundreds of alleged extrajudicial killings, and the narcotics department says cases stay pending for years.[@netra] The sources read did not establish a separate rehabilitation or treatment pathway for cannabis users.[@nca18]
netra, nca18
The Narcotics Control Act 2018 defines cultivation as sowing seed, planting or raising seedlings, or grafting any plant that can be a source of a drug, and section 9 bans it along with sale and possession.[@nca18] Its penalty schedule names germinable opium poppy seed but, for cannabis, only the plant and drugs made from its branches, leaves and flowers.[@nca18]
No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: growing cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibited, and the law provides for the death penalty for the most serious drug offences.[@nca18]
nca18, wiki, dt, netra
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone.[@nca18] Under the Narcotics Control Act 2018 for herbal cannabis (ganja or bhang) the act sets six … kg and seven to ten years above 15 kg; consuming a drug carries three months to two years.[@palo18] Using a website, app or digital payment to buy or sell a narcotic is a separate offence that can be punished with any term of imprisonment or death.[@nca36a]
palo18, nca18, nca36a
Bangladesh's narcotics department says the country does not produce drugs but lies on a trafficking route, and that cannabis is smuggled in mostly from India, across the western and northern borders.[@ds26] A July 2026 report counted at least 105 border points in 18 districts used for narcotics of all kinds.[@ds26] Authorities seized 96,358 kg of cannabis in 2025, down from 114,345 kg in 2024.[@ds26] The department also reports shortages of staff, equipment and vehicles, and drug cases that stay pending for years.[@ds26]
Road Transport Act section 49(1), first part (a), prohibits a driver from driving after drinking alcohol or consuming intoxicants.[@traffic2018] This is a consumption-based rule; the provisionsection 49(1) does not establish a numerical THC allowance or a laboratory detectable-THC standard.[@traffic2018] Section 92(1) provides up to three months' imprisonment, up to Tk10,000, or both, plus deduction of one driver point for violating that first part. The separate Tk25,000 ceiling in section 89 concerns vehicle/environmental requirements and is not the intoxication penalty.[@traffic2018] Section 12 gives the licensing authority powers to suspend, withdraw or cancel licences on specified grounds, including habitual drunkenness and contravening the law or licence conditions; no.[@traffic2018] No fixed cannabis-specific ban duration or medical-use exception was established in the provisions reviewed.[@traffic2018]
none
No industrial-hemp, low-THC or CBD exception was found. The Narcotics Control Act 2018 controls the cannabis plant and the drugs made from its branches, leaves and flowers, and section 36A covers digital sale of THC and CBD products.[@nca18,nca36a] No hemp licensing scheme was found.[@nca18]
nca18, nca36a
Bangladesh's cannabis culture is bound up with [ganja](/culture/language/ganja/), the herbal preparation, and with the spring [Bijoya](/culture/traditions/bhang-at-bijoya/) festival, where bhang is traditionally consumed.[@wiki,netra] A state-run ganja trade existed until 1989, and the plant remains part of rural and festival life despite prohibition.[@wiki,netra]
wiki, netra
A Daily Star headline reported 3,152 people held in anti-narcotics drives in 2025, but a divisional report also claimed more than 3,100 arrests in Rangpur alone, so the national scope is uncertain.[@ds26] The narcotics department reports 96,358 kg of cannabis seized in 2025, down from 114,345 kg in 2024, and a 2018 anti-drug drive was accompanied by hundreds of alleged extrajudicial killings.[@ds26,netra] The sources read do not separate cannabis arrests from other drugs.
ds26, netra