Paraguay
South America
#48 of 196 worldwide
#8 of 12 in South America
Up to 10 g for personal use is exempt from punishment. Medical cannabis is legal, including permitted home growing for patients.
Score breakdown ▏world average
Select a segment to show or hide the exact rules and sources.
Possession · 25%2/10adds 5.0 of 25 points
Article 30 of the drug law exempts from punishment a person holding a small amount exclusively for personal use, with 10 g of cannabis as the guideline. It is not automatic: a judge, advised by a forensic doctor, decides whether it was personal use, so arrest and prosecution remain possible.
Personal cultivation · 25%1/10adds 2.5 of 25 points
Illegal for personal use, and enforced — in 2024 a woman in her sixties was jailed over two plants. A law allows registered patients to grow for medicinal use, but advocates say it has barely been implemented.
Punishment & enforcement · 20%3/10adds 6.0 of 20 points
The personal-use exemption depends on a judge, and small growers are still imprisoned. Trafficking carries long sentences.
Sharing & gifting · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
Supply is trafficking under the drug law.
Consumption · 10%2/10adds 2.0 of 10 points
Personal use within the exemption is not punished; public use risks arrest.
Legal access · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
No adult-use source, despite Paraguay being South America's largest illicit producer. Registered patients can obtain cannabis-derived medicines on prescription.
More context not part of the score
The state licenses a small number of companies to produce medical cannabis and hemp.
Prescription cannabis-derived medicines, mainly oils.
Law 6007 of 2017 created a national programme: patients must be on a national registry to receive cannabis-derived products. A later law decriminalised home growing for patients, but access remains poor in practice.
No record if the exemption is applied; pre-trial detention is the real risk.
All sources
- International Bar Association — Medical cannabis in Paraguay: regulatory framework
- Ferrere — Bill decriminalising sowing, use and possession of cannabis for medicinal purposes
- La Nación — Cuestionan reclusión de sexagenaria por tener dos plantas de cannabis (2024)
- Última Hora — Ley de uso del cannabis medicinal es letra muerta, denuncian
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