Abkhazia: complete profile sections, penalty tables and 14 history entries

Abkhazia’s highest drug-supply and import penalty tiers took effect on 1 March 2020, allow … without mitigating circumstances, a limit reinforced by the Supreme Court in 2025.[@1,3] The death penalty has not been carried out since 1993, and the 12 January 2007 law bars executions in peacetime; the few known death sentences were commuted to life.[@4]

Kavkazsky Uzel — Abkhazia’s death-penalty moratorium (2007) 3 unchanged

1934-10-27

The Soviet Union prohibited growingUSSR Central Executive Committee and Council of People’s Commissars banned the sowing of Indian hemp and the opium poppy without permission, required republican criminal codes to add penalties and confiscation, and took effect in 1935. Abkhazia was then an autonomous republic inside Soviet Georgia.[@1]

USSR — decree on the prohibition of opium-poppy and Indian-hemp sowing, 27 October 1934 Wikipedia — Cannabis in Russia

Abkhazia’s rewritten cultivation offence prescribed six to eight years in prison and a fin … r court guidance also treated setting up special growing conditions as cultivation.[@1,2] At the time, the 2007 rules treated 15 plants as the large-crop threshold; the five-plant line came in 2013.[@3]

Abkhazia — 2007 and 2013 drug quantity thresholds 2 unchanged

The drug-possession offence introduced by Abkhazia’s August 2012 amendment prescribed one … rmed that the ordinary offence applied regardless of quantity below the larger tiers.[@2] The 2007 quantity rules still applied at first: 3 g was large and 100 g especially large; the 4 g and 50 g lines came in July 2013.[@3]

Abkhazia — 2007 and 2013 drug quantity thresholds 2 unchanged

The cabinet announcedset a ten-plant threshold for the large-scalesize cultivation offence, expressly including plants of the Cannabis genus, in an amendment to the 2013 quantity rules.[@1] The decision was to taketook effect upon official publicationon 1 September 2026; five plants had been the threshold before.[@1] Ordinary unauthorised cultivation remained a separate offence carrying six to eight years in prison, while the large-scalesize tier carried ten to twelve years.[@2]

Cannabis use brings three days’ administrative arrest; possession and growing carry prison terms. The most serioushighest supply cases can bringtiers allow life or death on paper, but the death penalty has been under a moratorium since 1993 and was barred in peacetime by the 2007 law; no cannabis execution or cannabis-specific death sentence was found.

Ordinary possession without intent to supply carries one to three years in prison. Large quantities carry[@code] From more than 4 g to 50 g is “large” and carries three to five years andplus a fine50, and 000–100,000 rouble fine; more than 50 g is “especially large quantities” and carries five to seven years andplus a 100,000–150,000 rouble fine.[@code,thresholds2013] Exemption requires voluntary surrender and active assistance against drug offences.[@code] The Supreme Court confirms that the ordinary offence applies regardless of quantity below those higher tiers.[@court]

code, thresholds2013, court

Sowing or growing prohibited drug plants, expressly including cannabis, carries six to eight years in prison and a fine of 100,000–150,000 rublesroubles. Group[@code] From 1 September 2026, organised-groupten or large-scalemore plants, or growing by a group or organised group, carries ten to twelve years; the previous large-scale threshold was five plants.[@codeplants] An August 2026 cabinet announcementdecision set ten Cannabis plants as the largeten-scale threshold, with commencement tied to official publicationplant line.[@plants]

Personal possession carries one to three years and ordinary cannabis cultivation six to ei … istrative arrest and ten days for repetition within a year.[@admin] Life or death remains available in the highest supply/import tiers without mitigating circumstances;, but the Supreme Court bars those penalties when mitigation existsdeath penalty has been under a moratorium since 1993 and is barred in peacetime by the 2007 law.[@code,court,moratorium]

code, admin, court, moratorium

The ordinary drug-supply offence carries five to eight years in prison and a 150,000–200,000 rouble fine, with higher tiers for aggravated cases.[@code] The Supreme Court defines supply to i … ays ordinary supply liability applies regardless of amount below the larger tiers.[@court]

The highest supply/import tiers allow life or death where mitigating circumstances are absent; the Supreme Court expressly bars those penalties where mitigation exists.[@code,court] The code excludes womenAbkhazia has not executed anyone since 1993, people who offended under eighteen and men aged sixty-five by sentencing from the 12 January 2007 law bars executions in peacetime while leaving death penalty, and allows presidential commutation ofsentences in the code; the few known death sentences were commuted to life.[@codemoratorium] No cannabis-specific death or life sentence was found.

code, court, moratorium

Unlawful cannabis cultivation carries six to eight years in the ordinary tier.[@code] The Supreme Court includes creating special conditions for sowing and growingstate may grow controlled plants only within quotas, improving cultivation methods and breeding higher-yield varieties within cultivationresearch institutions may use controlled drugs for study; no commercial cannabis production exists.[@courtlaw2001]

code, courtlaw2001

Cannabis and hashish are expressly named in the administrative use offence.[@admin] Passing controlled drugs to another person, including as a gift, falls under the criminal supply rules.[@court]

admin, court

TheNo medical cannabis/ programme. Cannabis and hashish are in Schedule I, whose circulation is banned; the narcotics law allows medical use offence applies to use only of less restricted schedules, so a doctor cannot prescribe cannabis.[@law2001,schedule2011] The “without a doctor’s order. It also exempts” wording in the use offence is not a person who voluntarily seeks medical help for illegal drug use from administrative liability under that articleroute.[@admin]

law2001, schedule2011, admin

Cannabis cultivationNo cannabis clubs are known. Cultivation and running premises for drug consumption are criminal offences.[@code] The, and the Supreme Court treats gifts and other unpaid transfers as supply, leaving no lawful recreational growing-and-sharing club route.[@code,court]

Cannabis use without a doctor’s order carriesThere is no legal supply for anyone. A visitor faces the same three days’-day arrest, with ten for repetition within a yearcannabis use and the same possession and supply penalties.[@admin,code] Possession without supply intentA October 2026 proposal for an “undesirable foreign citizen” status and unauthorised drug import have separate prison offences; giving drugs away is included in supplyentry ban was not law.[@code,courtmigration26]

admin, code, courtmigration26

Abkhazia — Law on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (2001) Abkhazia — 2011 list of controlled substances Abkhazia — 2013 drug quantity thresholds Kavkazsky Uzel — Abkhazia’s death-penalty moratorium (2007) Sputnik Abkhazia — 29 cannabis growers convicted in 2024–2025 (30 April 2026) Sputnik Abkhazia — 15 cannabis plants found near Elyr (20 July 2025) Sputnik Abkhazia — 82 g marijuana seized in Ochamchira (24 October 2026) Sputnik Abkhazia — proposal for “undesirable foreign citizen” status (26 October 2026) Abkhazia — Cabinet resolution on drug enforcement (2 April 1999) 4 unchanged

RUB

label Up to 4 g · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 1 year · prison 3 years, label Over 4 g to 50 g · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 3 years · prison 5 years · fine min 50000 · fine 100000, label Over 50 g · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison min 5 years · prison 7 years · fine min 100000 · fine 150000

RUB

label 1–9 plants · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 6 years · prison 8 years · fine min 100000 · fine 150000, label 10 or more plants · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 10 years · prison 12 years, label Group or organised group · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison min 10 years · prison 12 years

RUB

label Ordinary supply · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 5 years · prison 8 years · fine min 150000 · fine 200000, label Group, large amount or adult to minor · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 8 years · prison 12 years · fine min 300000 · fine 600000, label Organised group, especially large or child under 14 · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 15 years · death true · life possible · fine min 600000 · fine 1200000 · note Death is not carried out under the moratorium

Cannabis is illegal for every purpose. Possession without intent to supply carries one to three years, and the highest supply tiers allow life or death on paper.[@code] Cannabis and hashish use without a doctor’s order is an administrative offence carrying three days’ arrest, or ten for repetition within a year.[@admin] Gifts and other unpaid transfers count as supply.[@court]

code, admin, court

none

No hemp or CBD exception operates. Cannabis is in Schedule I, whose circulation is banned, and the law permits cultivation of controlled plants only through state enterprises within quotas.[@law2001,schedule2011] The administrative code fines illegal sowing of listed drug-hemp varieties, which implies non-drug hemp is not a criminal offence, but no THC limit, hemp licensing scheme or CBD market was found.[@admin]

law2001, schedule2011, admin

grey

unclear

illegal

banned

The Supreme Court treats acquiring seeds and germinating them outside soil, or in too little soil for the plant to mature, as preparation for cultivation; sowing is criminal before the plants sprout.[@court] A cutting is a plant and falls under the cultivation offence.[@code] No separate seed-sale rule was found.[@court]

court, code

zero

The Administrative Code makes it an offence to drive with narcotic or psychotropic substances in the body, with no THC threshold.[@admin] The penalty is 500 minimum wage units (30,000 roubles) and six months’ licence loss; a repeat brings 15 days’ arrest and a one-year loss, and refusing a test brings 15 days and six months.[@admin] Alcohol has a separate blood and breath limit; the 2026 proposal for mobile testing was not in force.[@admin]

admin

No national price or seizure series is published. A 1999 cabinet review described organised marijuana cultivation in Gudauta for export and the Psou crossing as the main route.[@enforcement1999] Prosecutors reported 598 cannabis roots seized in 2024–2025, mostly South Krasnodar, and several small outdoor plots in 2025–2026.[@prosecutor26,ochamchira25,seizure26]

enforcement1999, prosecutor26, ochamchira25, seizure26

Abkhazia publishes prosecution and court figures, not arrest counts. The prosecutor general’s office reported 33 cultivation cases and 29 convictions in 2024–2025: 12 real prison terms, nine suspended, four compulsory treatment and 2.45 million roubles in fines.[@prosecutor26] A 1999 cabinet review recorded more than 500 drug users, only 188 registered as chronic addicts.[@enforcement1999]

prosecutor26, enforcement1999