Zambia countries/zm.yaml
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, in force since 20 May 2021, makes poss … resin. The Cannabis Act, which would license medicinal activity, has not come into force.[@ndps,csa]
Growing a plant that can be used as a drug, without lawful authority, is an offence under … a licence to grow cannabis for medicine or research, but that Act has not come into force.[@ndps,act]
Possession and unauthorised cultivation are criminal offences.[@ndps] No source consulted gives reliable detail on how often courts jail users.[@ndps]
Trading in a drug without lawful authority can bring up to twenty-five years under the Nar … for cultivation or manufacture, without lawful authority, can bring one to fifteen years.[@ndps] The Cannabis Act's distribution licence is not in force.[@act]
ndps, act
Using a drug without lawful authority is an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act: a fine of up to 200,000 penalty units, or up to two years.[@ndps]
There is no public retail. The Cannabis Act's medicinal licences are not in force. Industrial hemp may be grown, processed and sold under a licence.[@hemp]
act, hemp
nonehemp
The Cannabis Act was published on 20 May 2021.[@act] It comes into operation only on a date the Minister appoints, and ZambiaLII records that it has not come into force.[@act] It would let the medicines regulator license cultivation, manufacture, production, storage, distribution, import and export for medicinal, scientific or research purposes.[@act] The Industrial Hemp Act, published the same day, has been in force since 3 January 2025.[@hemp] It licenses growing, processing, distribution, buying, export and research on hemp of not more than 0.3% THC.[@hemp,hemporder]
Industrial hemp is licensed under the Act in force since 3 January 2025. Cannabis and cannabis resin are listed as narcotic drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, in force since 16 January 2026, which licenses manufacture, import, export and dealing in controlled substances. The Cannabis Act's own medicinal-production licences are not in force.
hemp, csa, act
The Cannabis Act's licensing system for medicinal cannabis has not come into force. The Controlled Substances Act, in force since 16 January 2026, licences controlled substances used as medicine and lists cannabis.[@csa] No commenced Cannabis Act programme for patients was read.[@act]
A conviction under the narcotics law is a criminal conviction.[@ndps]
The Industrial Hemp Act has been in force since 3 January 2025.[@hemp] It defines industrial hemp to include viable seed with no more than 0.3% THC, and a person must not grow, process, distribute, buy, export or research it without a licence.[@hemp] Import and export of hemp seed must follow this Act and the seed and plant-pest laws.[@hemp] The Minister may prescribe the varieties that may be grown.[@hemp]
hemp, hemporder
No cannabis clubs are known. Growing a plant for use as a drug, and trading in a drug, are both offences without lawful authority.[@ndps]
There is no legal recreational supply. Possession of cannabis without lawful authority is a crime under the narcotics law.[@ndps] The Cannabis Act's medicinal licences are not in force.[@act]
Road Traffic Act section 157 prohibits driving or attempting to drive on a road when intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs make proper vehicle control impossible.[@road2002] It provides a fine up to 20,000 penalty units, up to five years' imprisonment, or both; penalty units are not a kwacha amount.[@road2002] Section 156 separately covers being in charge while not driving and has different penalties.[@road2002] The Third Schedule requires licence suspension and endorsement for section 157, with cancellation also available; no universal suspension length is specified in that table.[@road2002] The 2022 amendment requires a medical examination or breathalyser test after arrest under either section, with the medical examination conducted by a medical practitioner.[@road2022] This is an impairment rule, not a specified THC concentration limit.[@road2002,road2022]
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 15,606 kg of herbal canna … nd countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across borders.[@unodc_szr]
News Diggers! — DEC nabs 4,700 drug traffickers in 2024 (28 June 2025) Zambia Daily Mail — DEC smashes record (2 January 2026) Cannabiz Africa — Zambia to begin issuing hemp licences this year (3 June 2026) 8 unchanged
ZMW
label Up to 0.5 g solids or 2.5 ml oil/liquid · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 15 years · note Admission-of-guilt fine up to 1,200 penalty units (K480 at K0.40 per unit), label More than 0.5 g solids or 2.5 ml oil/liquid · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 1 year · prison 25 years · note Treated as trafficking under the 1994/1995 regulations; no bail
ZMW
label Unlawful cultivation · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · prison 10 years · fine min 400000 · note Fine of up to 1,000,000 penalty units at K0.40 each, or both
All recreational use is prohibited. Possession of up to 0.5 g of cannabis solids or 2.5 ml of oil is punishable by up to fifteen years, and anything above that is treated as trafficking with one to twenty-five years and no bail.[@ndps] Cultivation carries up to ten years and a fine of up to K400,000, and use up to two years.[@ndps] There is no personal-use exemption or quantity tier below the trafficking line.[@ndps]
ndps
standard
Industrial hemp at or below 0.3% delta-9 THC is licensed under the Industrial Hemp Act, in force since 3 January 2025.[@hemp,hemporder] A licence is required to grow, process, distribute, buy, export or research it, and licences run five years.[@hemp] No issued hemp licences were confirmed by late October 2026; the board and trials were still being launched.[@hemp26]
hemp, hemporder, hemp26
The Drug Enforcement Commission reported 4,728 arrests and 43.2 tonnes of cannabis seized in 2024.[@dec24] In 2025 it reported 4,750 arrests, 13,156.87 kg of loose cannabis, 1,870,937.20 kg of plants and 997.86 kg of seeds, with 911 convictions and 3,789 people still before the courts.[@dec25] The figures cover all drugs and all forms of cannabis; no cannabis-only arrest series is published.[@dec24]
dec24, dec25