Madagascar countries/mg.yaml
Small personal quantities of cannabis preparations other than oil can bring two to six months, a fine, or both; rongony is nonetheless grown on a large scale. Cannabis is in Table I, with no medical, hemp or research route.
Article 141 of Law 97-039 sets two to six months in prison, a fine of FMG 10,000 to 250,000, or both, for a small personal quantitiesquantity of cannabis derivatives other than oil.[@law] Cannabis oil falls under a three-month to one-year range, with the same fine alternative.[@law] The general trafficking provisions can apply to holdings outside thelaw does not define a small -personal-quantity in grams, so the court decides.[@law] Possession outside that rule and allowcan be prosecuted under the general offences, which provide forced labour or, a fine, or both.[@law]
label Small personal quantity, non-oil derivatives · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 2 months · prison 6 months · fine min 2000 · fine 50000 · note Up to 50,000 ariary; the lawLaw states FMG 10,000–250,000 (5 FMG = 1 ariary); prison, fine, or both, label Small personal quantity, cannabis oil · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 3 months · prison 1 year · fine min 2000 · fine 50000 · note Law states FMG 10,000–250,000; prison, fine, or both, label Possession or use outside the small-quantity rule · treatment criminal · term Forced labour · fine min 2000 · fine 200000 · note Articles 9 and 97; forced labour, a fine, or both. The duration of forced labour is set by the Penal Code and was not verified.
Cultivation is prohibitedbanned and landholderslandowners must destroy cannabis cropsplants. The general production offence allows[@law] Producing high-risk drugs carries forced labour, a fine of FMG 50,000 to 5,000,000, or both;, under Article 141 separately covers95; growing a small quantity for personal consumptionuse instead falls under Article 141.[@law] Aggravated cases, including organised gangs, can replace fixed-term forced labour with life forced labour.[@law] Rongony is grown on a large scale in the north and south.[@gitoc]
law, gigitoc
label CultureCultivation or production of high-risk drugs (Article 95) · treatment criminal · term Forced labour · fine min 10000 · fine 1000000 · note Forced labour and/or a fine; the lawLaw states FMG 50,000–5,000,000; smallforced labour, a fine, or both. Duration not verified., label Small personal growing falls under (Article 141) · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 2 months · prison 6 months · fine min 2000 · fine 50000, label Aggravated cultivation or trafficking (Article 108) · treatment criminal · term Life forced labour · note Organised gang, violence, minors, officials, schools or hospitals, death or grave harm
Small-Fines are an alternative, not a floor: forced labour can be replaced by a fine alone, and the maximum personal-quantity offences allow ause fine instead of imprisonmentis 50,000 ariary, so the law on paper is harsher than its practice in small cases. GI-TOC fieldwork describes a[@law] The gendarmerie reports large domestic market and difficulties policingseizures but publishes no national arrest or seizure series.[@lexpress_antsohihy25] Officers describe armed traffickers in remote growing regionsareas and very thin policing.[@gitoc]
law, gilexpress_antsohihy25, gitoc
General trafficking offences allowTrafficking carries forced labour, a fine of FMG 10,000 to 1,000,000, or both, under Article 97; international traffic carries the same with a higher fine range under Article 96.[@law] Offering or giving high-risk drugs directlya drug for another person's consumption has a separatecarries one -to -five-year prison range years and a fine of FMG 10,000 while facilitating use carries five to 1,000,000, or both, under Article 99, doubled in Article 108ten years.[@law] Aggravated cases such as organised gangs or supply to minorscan bring life forced labour.[@law]
label OfferingTrafficking (Article 97) · treatment criminal · term Forced labour · fine min 2000 · fine 200000 · note Forced labour, a fine, or giving drugsboth. Duration not verified., label International traffic (Article 96) · treatment criminal · term Forced labour · fine min 10000 · fine 1000000, label Giving or offering for another person's consumptionuse (Article 99) · treatment criminal · term Giving or offering · prison min 1 year · prison 5 years · fine 200000min 2000 · note Up to 200fine 200000,000 ariary; the law states FMG label Facilitating use (Article 98) · treatment criminal · term Facilitating use · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 2000 · fine 200000,000–1,000,000; doubled in label Aggravated offence (Article 108) · treatment criminal · term Life forced labour · note Life forced labour replaces the fixed term in aggravated cases
Use outside a medical prescription is punished alongside possessionbanned.[@law] There is no separate consumption penalty: a user can be prosecuted under the general drug offences or, if holding a small quantity, under Article 141.[@law] The medical-prescription exception cannot be used for cannabis because Table I lists it as having no medical interest.[@arrete2013]
law, arrete2013
NoneNo legal source. Cannabis and cannabis resin are in Table I, which the 2013 order describes as having no medical interest, and licensing under the 1997 law applies only to Tables II and III.[@law,arrete2013] No patient, pharmacy or research route was found.[@arrete2013]
law, arrete2013
There is no legal recreational market. Rongony is grown on a large scale in the north and south and sold in a large domestic market that is hard to police in remote growing regions.[@gigitoc] Holding a small personal quantity can end in a fine instead of prison, but use and supply remain crimes.[@law] [The 1997 law still governs cannabis.](/history/madagascar-drug-law-1997/)
gigitoc, law
No licensed production. TheCannabis is in Table I, and the 1997 law punishes growing or's licensing regime applies only to Tables II and III; producing a high-risk drugsdrug is punished with forced labour, a fine, or both.[@law,arrete2013]
law, arrete2013
No patient programme is documentedexists. The law bans drug use outside medical prescription, but sets upcannabis is in Table I, expressly listed as having no medical interest, and no route for patients to obtain cannabisit was found.[@law,arrete2013]
law, arrete2013
Cannabis has been grown and used long enough to carry its own Malagasy name, [rongony](/culture/language/rongony/): the 1997 law still repeals the 1960 ordinance on the consumption of *chanvre indien dit rongony*.[@law] It was already prohibited under the Merina kingdom in [1787](/history/madagascar-merina-ban-1787/).[@molet]
No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: growing cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibited.[@law,gitoc]
gilaw, gitoc
Cannabis, called rongony, is grown on a large scale for the home market and for neighbouring islands.[@gitoc] A 2021 study estimated that the commune of Antsahabe alone produces at least 200 tonnes a year, and surveys in mid-2020 found a gram costing about three US cents, the lowest price in the Indian Ocean islands.[@gitoc] A farmer was paid about 20,000 ariary for a kilogram, close to the price of cocoa, while a dealer selling to consumers earned 100,000 to 150,000.[@gitoc] The gendarmerie seized close to 53 tonnes in 2020. Officers describe armed traffickers in the growing areas, and policing is thin: about one gendarme for 4,000 rural residents.[@gitoc]
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. Small personal quantities of non-oil can … ine, or both; cannabis oil has a three-month to one-year range with the same alternatives.[@law]
Madagascar — Arrêté 14571/2013 of 5 July 2013 listing narcotic plants and substances L'Express de Madagascar — Antsohihy: plus d'une tonne de marijuana saisie (11 December 2025) L'Express de Madagascar — Trafic: grossistes et dealers de cannabis arrêtés (6 March 2026) 4 unchanged
word rongony · lang Malagasy · meaning cannabis, the plant and the drug · atlas rongony · sources law
no
No legal source; cannabis is in Table I with no medical or research route
none
No hemp or CBD exemption and no THC threshold. Article 8 bans cultivation of the cannabis plant without distinguishing industrial varieties, and the 2013 order lists the plant and its parts in Table I.[@law,arrete2013] No research or industrial licence was found.[@arrete2013]
law, arrete2013
illegal
banned
illegal
banned
Cannabis seeds and cuttings are part of a Table I plant. Article 9 bans acquiring or possessing Table I plants and substances, and no seed or clone trade is licensed.[@law,arrete2013]
law, arrete2013
unknown
Article 141 requires drivers to submit to drug screening, and refusal is punished on the personal-use scale; penalties double where the offence causes involuntary homicide or injury.[@law] No blood or saliva THC limit and no published order setting the tests was found, and the road code was not verified.[@law]
law
No national arrest or seizure total for 2024–2026 was published.[@lexpress_antsohihy25] Reported cases include 600,000 plants on 10 hectares at Tsaratanàna in 2024 with no arrests, 1,440 kg seized around Antsohihy over six months in 2025 with 10 arrests, and 35 kg with 13 arrests at Ambohimanarina in March 2026.[@lexpress_antsohihy25,lexpress_ambohi26]
lexpress_antsohihy25, lexpress_ambohi26