New Caledonia
11/100
Not ranked: Sui generis French collectivity
would rank #78 among countries
Cannabis, locally called paka, is illegal and grown illicitly, and even CBD is still listed as a narcotic, unlike in mainland France. In June 2026 the Congress adopted a 2026–2030 plan to build a hemp sector of at most 0.3% THC, which still needs a law to define hemp.
Sui generis French collectivity. New Caledonia is a French collectivity with its own Congress and wide powers; narcotics are scheduled under the former French public health code as applied in New Caledonia, which keeps CBD on the narcotics list, unlike mainland France. See also 🇫🇷 France.
In short all countries →
- Can I carry it?NoIt is a crime
- Can I grow it?NoIt is a crime
- Can I buy it?NoThere is no legal source
- Can I use it in public?NoNot in public, and even at home the law does not protect it
- What if I'm caught?Fine or prisonUsually a fine; prison is possible
A rough guide read from the scores and the rules below, not legal advice. The details and the exceptions are in each segment: select an answer to jump to it.
Cannabis in New Caledonia not part of the score · all 3 datasets ↓
Who uses it
Perhaps 1 in 9
people aged 15–64 (assumed) in New Caledonia used cannabis in the past year.
- Past year
- 11.5%
- Oceania median
- 11.5%
This site’s estimate: there is no national survey.
Source Past-year cannabis use among people aged 15–64 (assumed). This site's figure: there is no national survey, so the median rate of surveyed countries in Oceania is applied to people aged 15–64.Survey ages and years vary, and some surveys include children. Rates are not age-standardised; do not compare countries directly.
A median computed on this site from surveyed countries in Oceania, using UNODC World Drug Report 2026 figures. The whole dataset →
What they call it
- paka[1]New Caledonian Frenchcannabis, the local slang name
Score breakdown 11/100 · how the scores are made
Trafficking cases go before the courts with prison terms: in October 2026 a woman who smuggled cannabis into the Camp-Est prison, with 536 g found at two addresses, received a firm sentence bringing her total to two years.[1]
Supplying cannabis is prosecuted as trafficking; the Camp-Est case concerned about seven months of dealing of cannabis from Houaïlou.[1]
There is no lawful use; cannabis is the territory's main drug problem, and Kanak customary chiefs have opposed it.[2]
Context not part of the score · every country, by topic →
There is no medical cannabis route; CBD remains a narcotic, and the January 2024 motions to delist it were proposals.[3]
CBD is classed as a narcotic like THC and is banned, unlike in mainland France; the 2026 hemp plan proposes defining hemp as Cannabis sativa L. with at most 0.3% THC on dry matter.[3][5]
Paka is grown illicitly; the cannabis in the 2026 Camp-Est case came from Houaïlou on the east coast.[2][1] The Congress adopted on 5 June 2026 a 2026–2030 strategic plan to build a non-narcotic hemp sector, with a legal definition of hemp at 0.3% THC or less still to be adopted.[5]
There is no legal supply for anyone; even CBD products are banned.[3]
Trafficking leads to prison terms, including immediate committal after a summary trial, as in the 2026 Camp-Est case.[1]
Taking cannabis into or out of New Caledonia is a separate offence from possessing it, normally charged as smuggling or trafficking, with far heavier penalties. That holds almost everywhere, including between two places where cannabis is legal.
A prescription or medical card from another country is generally not recognised. Travellers who need a cannabis-based medicine should ask New Caledonia's embassy before travelling.[6]
General guidance that applies to almost every country, not a check of New Caledonia's customs rules.
Datasets not part of the score
What other organisations publish about New Caledonia, and where it stands among the countries each one covers. Each dataset has a page of its own, with a world map and every country's figure.
Use
UNODC
Cannabis use
11.5%of people aged 15–64 (assumed)
computed here: the median of surveyed countries in the region, or the figure of the country a territory is part of
Source Survey ages and years vary, and some surveys include children. Rates are not age-standardised; do not compare countries directly.
Society
Our World in Data, World Bank · 2019
Population
271,407people in 2019
Higher than 10% of 196 countriesLowestHighestCEPII
Former colonial rulers
Once ruled by France
Sources hover a number in the text to see its source
- Cited
- 6
- Websites
- 4
- Last reviewed
Most cited
- juridoc.gouv.nc2
- lnc.nc2
- en.wikipedia.org1
- incb.org1
All 6 sources
- Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes — Deux ans de prison ferme pour une femme qui faisait passer du cannabis au Camp-Est (6 October 2026)
- Wikipedia — Cannabis in New Caledonia
- Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes — CBD motions before the Congress (17 January 2024)CBD "demeure interdit" and is classed on the narcotics list "au même titre que le THC"; three motions to delist CBD, allow certified oils and study a hemp sector.
- Haut-commissariat de la République en Nouvelle-Calédonie — arrêté HC/DRD/23/MO/26 du 30 avril 2026Plants and substances classed as narcotics or psychotropics under the former public health code applicable in New Caledonia.
- Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie — Délibération n° 562 du 5 juin 2026 relative au plan stratégique de structuration de la filière chanvrePlan 2026–2030; action 3, define hemp legally at ≤0.3% THC and list authorised varieties; objective to develop CBD and CBG for medical use.
- International Narcotics Control Board — Travellers carrying medicines containing controlled substances