Cannabis Freedom Index
← All countriesCompare with other countries
🇷🇼

Rwanda

Africa

Severe prohibition

#183 of 196 worldwide
#54 of 54 in Africa

Recreational: IllegalMedical: Limited

Since 2021 licensed producers can grow medical cannabis for export. Domestic use is heavily penalised.

Score breakdown ▏world average

Select a segment to show or hide the exact rules and sources.

Possession · 25%0/10
adds 0.0 of 25 points

Recreational possession and use are crimes. News reports on the 2021 medical order cite prison terms of several years and fines of 500,000 to 5 million Rwandan francs for anyone found illegally using marijuana.

Personal cultivation · 25%0/10
adds 0.0 of 25 points

Unlicensed cultivation is a serious crime.

Punishment & enforcement · 20%1/10
adds 2.0 of 20 points

Strictly enforced, with prison for users.

Sharing & gifting · 10%0/10
adds 0.0 of 10 points

Trafficking carries very long sentences, up to life.

Consumption · 10%0/10
adds 0.0 of 10 points

Consumption for recreational purposes remains illegal and is punished.

Legal access · 10%0/10
adds 0.0 of 10 points

None for the public.

More context not part of the score

Commercial production

A ministerial order of June 2021 allows investors to cultivate, process, import and export cannabis for medical or research purposes, under tight security requirements. It is an export strategy rather than a domestic market.

Products

Licensed products are for export.

Medical use

Medical and research use is permitted in principle under the 2021 order; no real patient programme exists.

Other consequences

A conviction is a criminal record; users may also be sent to rehabilitation centres.

All sources

  1. The East African — Rwanda legalises medical use of cannabis
  2. Nation — Rwanda legalises medical, research use of marijuana

Last updated: