Algeria: 2004/2023/2025 penalties, tables and eight history entries

The amendment restored death sentences for specified aggravated supply offences, includingproduction and import where the offence causes death or is likely to cause serious harm to public health, involves a transnational organised crime and usegroup, harms national security, is incited by a foreign state or threatened use ofuses a firearm; it also allows death for recruiting a minor in or near a school.[@1] It also required the maximum legal penalty when examinations established that an offender was unde … ile judge, could be directed to treatment without prosecution based on those results.[@1] No execution had been carried out since 1993 when the law passed.

Personal cannabis growinguse or possession carries two months to fivetwo years in prison and a fine; personal growing two to five years. UseSupply and personal possession can bring prisonproduction carry ten years to life, a fine or either aloneand the 2025 law allows death for aggravated supply, with treatment routesnever for qualifying userssimple use. Specified aggravated drug offences can carry death sentences.

Illicit use, buying or possession for personal consumption carries two months to two years in prison and a DZD20,000–50,000 fine, or either penalty alone, with no quantity threshold.[@law23] Holding beyond personal use is charged under the supply offence, which carries ten to twenty years.[@law23] Qualifying users who undergo detoxification or medical supervision can avoid prosecution under the treatment provisions.[@law23]

Growing cannabis for personal consumption carries two to five years in prison and a DZD200,000–500,000 fine, an exception added in 2023.[@law23] The general offence of knowingly growing cannabis unlawfullyAny other unlawful cultivation carries life imprisonment; the personal-use penalty where it was done knowingly.[@law23] The distinction is the purpose of the crop, not a separate exception added in 2023plant count.[@law23, l0418]

law23, l0418

The law provides treatment-linked non-prosecution and permitslets courts to withhold the ordinary use penalty when the treatment conditions are met.[@law23] Refusing the prescribed biological or medical examinations is itself punishable.[@law25] Since 20252026, thedecrees implement drug tests for public-sector recruits and for pupils, with treatment referrals for pupils who test positive.[@decrees2026] The maximum legal penalty must be imposed when the prescribed examinations establish that an offender was under drug influence during the offence.[@law25]

law23, law25, decrees2026

Giving or offering drugs to another person for their personal consumption is an offence carryingcarries two to ten years in prisonand a DZD100,000–500,000 fine, with higher penaltiesthe maximum doubled for minors or in specified casesschools and health establishments.[@l0418law23] WiderPromoting drugs carries five to ten years; production, sale, transport and supply offencesbrokerage carry ten to twenty years, twenty to thirty years for specified professionalofficials or official offendershealth professionals, and life when committed byfor an organised criminal groupgang.[@law23] Import and export carry life, and aggravated supply, production or import can bring death under Article 21 bis 2.[@law25]

l0418, law23, law25

Illicit use is a crime carrying two months to two years in prison and a DZD20,000–50,000 fine, or either penalty alone.[@law23] Treatment or medical supervision can lead to non-prosecution under the law’'s conditions.[@law23]

Recreational supply is prohibited.[@l0418] Medical and scientific controlled-drug work with controlled drugs requires health-ministry authorisation, with an application and supervision procedure set out in under the 2007 regulationsdecree, but no registered cannabis medicine, prescription route or patient programme was found.[@care07] Patients therefore have no legal way to obtain cannabis.[@care07]

The 2025 law permitsLaw 25-03 allows death sentences for specified aggravated supply offences, includingproduction or import where the offence causes death or is likely to cause serious harm to public health, involves a transnational organised crime and usegroup, harms national security, is incited by a foreign state or threatened use ofuses a firearm.[@law25] It also provides capital punishmentArticle 16 bis 2 allows death for specified recruitment offencesrecruiting a minor in or near educational establishmentsa school, and for repetition of anArticle 27 allows it on a repeat offence that already carryingcarries life imprisonment, which on the text could include repeat cultivation.[@law25] These provisions apply to listed drug offencesSimple use, personal possession, personal growing and include serious cannabis casesa small first gift cannot bring death.[@law25] No execution has been carried out since 1993; the first death sentences under the new law, in October 2026, concerned cocaine, pregabalin and synthetic drugs, not cannabis.[@amnesty26,lematin26]

law25, amnesty26, lematin26

Controlled-drug production, handling, import, export and cannabis cultivation require auth … product, quantity and use; permits are subject to checks, stock records and secure storage requirements.[@care07] No commercial or recreational production is licensed.[@care07]

Reliable national information about legally available cannabis products was not established by the retained sources.

No patient programme. The statutory medical and scientific exception is implemented through health-ministry authorisation for production, import, export and research, not for prescribing to patients.[@l0418,care07] The 2007 procedure requires details of the proposed work, a criminal-record extract and an official inquiry into the applicant; import and export permits last three months per operationNo registered cannabis medicine or prescription route was found.[@care07]

The 2025 amendmentlaw allows removal of acquired Algerian nationality for crimes under the drug law, following the nationality code’'s procedures.[@law25] Foreigners convicted of drug-law offences can face exclusion from Algeria;, with permanent exclusion is mandatory for the crimes specified by the lawcrimes.[@law25] The law also requires negative drug-screening results in recruitment files for the listed public and private-sector bodies, with implementing details set by regulation where needed.[@law25]

openunclear

Law 04-18 defines cannabis as the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, "excluding the seeds and the leaves that are not accompanied by the tops", so seed on its own is not a controlled drug.[@l0418] The cannabis plant is defined as any plant of the genus, and growing it is one ofcontrolled.[@l0418] No lawful seed market was found, and police still seize seed; the acts the law controlstrade status is therefore unclear.[@schedule2024]

l0418, schedule2024

The law criminalises growing and supplying cannabis, including giving or offering it to another person for personal consumption.[@l0418,law23] It provides no authorised recreational club supply route.[@l0418]

Visitors have no authorised recreational supply.[@l0418] Personal use, buying or possession can bring two months to two years in prison, a DZD20,000–50,000 fine, or either alone.[@law23] Drug-law convictions can also bring exclusion from Algeria, with permanent exclusion required for the specified crimes.[@law25]

Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office recordAlgeria is mainly a transit and consumption market for Moroccan resin. UNODC records 37,781 kg of resin and 6.2 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 44,536 kg of resin and 25.9 kg of herb in 2023, and.[@unodc_szr] The ONLCDT reported 37,781 kg.239 tonnes of cannabis resin seizedand 71,546 cannabis cases across all services in 20242025.[@observalgerie26] Domestic cultivation is small: 6, against 44,536 kg746 plants were eradicated in 2023. The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents, and countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across bordersagainst 605 in 2024.[@unodc_szr]

unodc_szr, observalgerie26

The national police directorate (DGSN) reported handling at least 175,920 drug cases in 2025, in whichand 192,252 people were implicated in 2025; the figures are DGSN-only and not a national total. Its seizures that year included just over 7 tonnes[@radioalg26] The ONLCDT counted 143,968 drug cases across all services, of which 71,546 concerned cannabis, more than 665 kg of cocainea lower and over 20 million psychotropic pillsdifferently scoped total. The figures are those of the national police and are not split by drug[@observalgerie26] Neither series is cannabis-only for arrests.[@radioalg26]

radioalg26, observalgerie26

Road Code 26-09, promulgated on 12 May 2026 and published on 17 May, replaces Law 01-14. Article 137 provides one– to two years in prison and DZD100,000–200,000 for driving, or accompanying a learner, under the influence of narcotics or psychotropic substances.[@road_code26] Article 143 applies the relevant intoxicationsame penalties to refusal of the prescribed breath, medical, clinical or biological examinations. Under article, and Article 160 aallows the court may additionallyto withdraw or suspend the licence for up to five years; this is discretionary, not an automatic five-year ban. Suspected drug influence also permits vehicle immobilisation under article 173. Article 80 separately requires professional transport recruits to provide medical analyses showing no drug consumption, with periodic and unannounced examinations during employment.[@road_code26] No numericalnumeric THC cutoff or full operational testing regulations wereregulation was verified. Article 188 retains earlier implementing texts until replacement regulations; older offence numbers and penalties should not be substituted for the new code.[@road_code26]

Algeria — Order of 14 February 2024 updating the national narcotics schedule, Official Gazette 37 of 5 June 2024 Algeria — Decrees 26-76 and 26-77 of 14 January 2026, Official Gazette 8 of 27 January 2026 ObservAlgérie — Algérie: bilan spectaculaire de la lutte contre le trafic de drogue (27 June 2026) APS — Army eliminates drug trafficker and seizes 1,660 kg of cannabis resin (4 October 2026) Ministry of National Defence — Drug enforcement results, 14–20 October 2026 Amnesty International — Algeria: threats to resume executions after 30 years (15 September 2026) Le Matin d'Algérie — Trafic de drogue: neuf condamnations à mort (October 2026) TSA — Algérie: l'exécution de la peine de mort officiellement en vigueur (13 October 2026) 7 unchanged

DZD

label Use, buying or possession for personal consumption · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison min 2 months · prison 2 years · fine min 20000 · fine 50000 · note No quantity threshold; prison, fine, or either alone, label Holding beyond personal use · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · fine min 5000000 · fine 50000000 · note Article 17; twenty to thirty years for officials or health professionals, life for an organised gang

DZD

label Cultivation for personal consumption · treatment criminal · term Personal growing · prison min 2 years · prison 5 years · fine min 200000 · fine 500000, label Other unlawful cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · note Life imprisonment where the cultivation was knowing

DZD

label Giving or offering for personal consumption · treatment criminal · term Supply · prison min 2 years · prison 10 years · fine min 100000 · fine 500000 · note Maximum doubled for minors, schools, health or social establishments, label Promotion · treatment criminal · term Promotion · prison min 5 years · prison 10 years · fine min 500000 · fine 1000000 · note Ten to twenty years where a minor or vulnerable person is used, or in listed places, label Production, sale, transport or brokerage · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 10 years · prison 20 years · fine min 5000000 · fine 50000000 · note Twenty to thirty years for public agents or health professionals; life for an organised gang, label Import or export · treatment criminal · term Import or export · note Life imprisonment, label Aggravated supply, production or import · treatment criminal · term Aggravated offence · death true · note Article 21 bis 2

no

No legal source; only authorised medical and scientific handling

There is no legal recreational market. Personal use or possession carries two months to two years and a DZD20,000–50,000 fine, with no quantity threshold, while holding beyond personal use is treated as supply.[@law23] The death penalty applies only to aggravated supply, production or import, not to simple use or personal growing.[@law25] The last execution was in 1993, though courts began imposing death sentences again in October 2026.[@amnesty26,lematin26] [The 2004 law remains the base.](/history/algeria-law-04-18-2004/)

law23, law25, amnesty26, lematin26

none

No hemp or CBD regime and no THC threshold. The law defines the cannabis plant as any plant of the genus, and the 2024 national schedule keeps cannabis, resin and its extracts and tinctures in Table I.[@l0418,schedule2024] No industrial-hemp or CBD exemption was found.[@schedule2024]

l0418, schedule2024