Sint Maarten
North America
24/100
Not ranked: Country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
would rank #31 among countries
Cannabis possession remains an offence. Prosecutors can dismiss cases in the 0–25 g band after confiscation, subject to exceptions. The ordinance includes medical exemptions, while proposals for a regulated cannabis industry remain under debate.
Country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Sint Maarten, the southern part of the island of Saint Martin, is a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands with its own parliament and laws. Its prosecution service is shared with Curaçao and the Caribbean Netherlands; the French northern half, Saint-Martin, follows French law. See also 🇳🇱 Netherlands.
In short all countries →
- Can I carry it?LimitedNot a crime, but you can be fined
- Can I grow it?NoIt is a crime
- Can I buy it?NoThere is no legal source
- Can I use it in public?NoUse itself is an offence
- What if I'm caught?A fineOr a referral to treatment
A rough guide read from the scores below, not legal advice. The details and the exceptions are in each segment: select an answer to jump to it.
- Cannabis users
- about 2,200
- Share aged 15–64
- about 7.1%
This site's figure: there is no national survey, so the median rate of surveyed countries in North America is applied to people aged 15–64.
Source A median computed on this site from surveyed countries in North America, using UNODC World Drug Report 2026 figures. Population from the World Bank, aged 15–64. The whole dataset →Score breakdown ▏world average
Select a segment to show or hide the exact rules and sources. How the scores are made →
Possession · 25%4/10adds 10.0 of 25 points
Possessing cannabis is prohibited under the Opium Ordinance.[1] The prosecution guideline provides for confiscation and dismissal, potentially conditional, in the 0–25 g band.[2] Exceptions include minors, repeat offending, indications of dealing, another offence and specified settings such as carnival parades, workplaces or government buildings.[2] The next 25–50 g band has a proposed fine of up to NAf 500.[2]
Personal cultivation · 25%1/10adds 2.5 of 25 points
Punishment & enforcement · 20%4/10adds 8.0 of 20 points
The small-quantity policy governs prosecutors’ decisions and sentencing requests.[2] Above the 25–50 g band, its cannabis requests are half those in the cocaine/heroin table.[2] For qualifying resident defendants, prosecutors generally seek a wholly or partly suspended sentence with three years’ probation.[2]
Sharing & gifting · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
Consumption · 10%2/10adds 2.0 of 10 points
Legal access · 10%0/10adds 0.0 of 10 points
The ordinance prohibits recreational growing and unauthorised possession, while providing specified medical exemptions.[1] The government formed a committee to prepare a regulated industry in 2024.[3] In October 2026 the health minister was still seeking regional advice before decisions on reform.[4]
References
- Sint Maarten — Opium Ordinance, official consolidated textArticles 1, 2a, 3a, 4, 6–8 and 11; later consolidation, not original 1960 wording
- Prosecutor-General — Drug prosecution guideline 2018/01pp. 1–2 and 5–6: scope, commencement, personal cannabis bands, exceptions and cultivation
- Sint Maarten — Regulation establishing the National Cannabis Legalization Committee (2024)AB 2024 no. 11, signed 28 February 2024; articles 1–5 and explanatory notes; published 6 March
- St. Martin News Network — Health minister Connor seeks PAHO guidance on cannabis policy, 14 October 2026Council of Ministers press briefing; request for assistance, not an announced reform timetable
More context not part of the score
Growing cannabis is prohibited by the ordinance.[1] The 2024 committee was tasked with preparing conditions for cultivation, processing, testing and distribution within a proposed regulated system.[2]
The ordinance controls cannabis flower, resin and preparations based on resin, and separately regulates cannabis extracts and tinctures.[1] Product testing and rules for cannabis concentrates form part of the 2024 committee’s proposed work.[2]
The ordinance contains an exemption for people who can show that they need the cannabis quantity for their own medical use and obtained it lawfully.[1] Its statutory medical provisions also cover authorised pharmacists and medical practitioners.[1] A broader medical-cannabis framework is among the reform committee’s objectives; health minister Claret Connor sought PAHO assistance for the policy review in October 2026.[2][3]
Cannabis growing remains prohibited, and the small-quantity prosecution policy excludes indications of dealing.[1][4] The 2024 committee was charged with developing future rules for production, distribution and consumption.[2]
The small-quantity prosecution table is expressed in quantities and circumstances, while its suspended-sentence guidance separately distinguishes resident defendants.[4] The ordinance continues to control possession and cross-border movement of cannabis.[1]
The guideline generally reserves requests for a suspended sentence to qualifying resident defendants and specifies three years’ probation.[4] It normally does not seek a probation-service report for non-residents, while allowing the defence to present relevant personal circumstances at the hearing.[4]
Taking cannabis into or out of Sint Maarten 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 Sint Maarten's embassy before travelling.[5]
General guidance that applies to almost every country, not a check of Sint Maarten's customs rules.
References
- Sint Maarten — Opium Ordinance, official consolidated textArticles 1, 2a, 3a, 4, 6–8 and 11; later consolidation, not original 1960 wording
- Sint Maarten — Regulation establishing the National Cannabis Legalization Committee (2024)AB 2024 no. 11, signed 28 February 2024; articles 1–5 and explanatory notes; published 6 March
- St. Martin News Network — Health minister Connor seeks PAHO guidance on cannabis policy, 14 October 2026Council of Ministers press briefing; request for assistance, not an announced reform timetable
- Prosecutor-General — Drug prosecution guideline 2018/01pp. 1–2 and 5–6: scope, commencement, personal cannabis bands, exceptions and cultivation
- International Narcotics Control Board — Travellers carrying medicines containing controlled substances
History 7 of 8 checked against a source
Entries per decade
Entries that moved the score Context only
Debate ✓
Sint Maarten’s health minister seeks regional advice on cannabis reform
Health minister Claret Connor said he had sought help from the Pan American Health Organization to assess cannabis policy and comparable Caribbean experiences. He stressed mental health, treatment capacity and protection of vulnerable residents alongside possible economic benefits. He called for a comprehensive review of advantages and disadvantages before decisions on legislation.
Debate ✓
Sint Maarten’s prime minister warns against rushing cannabis sales
Prime minister Luc Mercelina told parliament that cannabis legislation should follow a settled policy choice and the capacity to supervise it, rather than a deadline within his government’s term. He distinguished legalisation from a commercial market and called for health services, youth safeguards, legal and treaty review, and coordination across the island’s French border. He left options ranging from continued prohibition to medical or broader regulated models open.
Debate ✓
Sint Maarten’s MPs hear a proposal for a regulated cannabis industry
Native Nations SXM presented its proposed cannabis framework to a parliamentary committee, including an independent oversight commission, licensing and product-safety controls. Its promoters argued that regulation would support local economic development and protect health and young people. Parliament later announced a continuation of the meeting after the March hearing was adjourned.
Debate ✓ Article
Sint Maarten forms a committee to prepare cannabis legalisation
Sint Maarten established a committee to prepare cannabis rules for medical, scientific, religious and recreational purposes. Its mandate covered research into the effects of prohibition, conditions for growing and selling cannabis, and changes to possession and use offences. The regulation cited people continuing to be punished for possession and cultivation, alongside the government’s interest in new revenue.
Debate ✓ Article
Sint Maarten seeks studies before deciding how to legalise cannabis
Health minister Omar Ottley invited local and international organisations to propose studies and a route towards a regulated cannabis industry. The government wanted to assess the economic, social and medical effects before deciding how legalisation should work, with proposals due on 5 December. A formal inter-ministerial committee followed in February 2024.
Other law ✓ Article
Sint Maarten tells prosecutors to drop many cannabis cases up to 25 g
Sint Maarten’s prosecutors applied a cannabis policy providing for confiscation and dismissal, potentially conditional, in the 0–25 g band. Exceptions include minors, repeat offending, indications of dealing, other offences and places such as carnival parades, workplaces or government buildings. The next 25–50 g band carries a proposed fine of up to NAf 500, while cultivation cases require an individual sentencing assessment. The guideline replaced the 2015 version.
Other law ✓
Sint Maarten comes under the Netherlands Antilles’ new drug ordinance
The Netherlands Antilles’ new Opium Ordinance took effect on 1 June 1964, covering Sint Maarten as part of the country. It replaced an older ordinance dated 30 July 1929. The later consolidated law contains the cannabis controls under which Sint Maarten’s prosecutors issued their small-quantity policy in 2018.
Ban ≈
Sint Maarten first restricts cannabis
No first law on cannabis is recorded here for Sint Maarten. The Netherlands banned trade in Indian hemp in 1928, and the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Maarten included, had their Opium Ordinance by 1960, so the first restriction is assumed to fall between those years.
10024−76 points
Datasets not part of the score
What other organisations publish about Sint Maarten, and where it stands among the countries each one covers. Every file is published in full on the sources page.
Use
UNODC
Cannabis use
7.1%of adults
LowestHigher than 76% of 196 countriesHighest2,200 people · median of surveyed countries in the region, computed here
Society
OpenAlex · 2025
Research on cannabis
47papers per million people
47 · 201747 · 202123 · 202323 · 202447 · 202520172025 LowestHigher than 99% of 176 countriesHighest2 papers in 2025
World Bank · 2025
Income per person
$48,273per person
50,981 · 200952,141 · 201053,786 · 201153,357 · 201252,801 · 201352,439 · 201451,376 · 201550,818 · 201646,088 · 201742,154 · 201845,997 · 201939,266 · 202040,507 · 202145,516 · 202246,571 · 202347,303 · 202448,273 · 202520092025 LowestHigher than 81% of 187 countriesHighestat purchasing power parity, 2021 dollars · 2025 · $52,141 in 2010
World Bank · 2025
Development indicators
use the internet
100% live in towns · 14.5% aged 65+ · 2025
Context
Our World in Data, World Bank · 2023
Population
42,800people in 2023
LowestHigher than 4% of 196 countriesHighest
All sources 4 cited in this profile
- Sint Maarten — Opium Ordinance, official consolidated textArticles 1, 2a, 3a, 4, 6–8 and 11; later consolidation, not original 1960 wording
- Prosecutor-General — Drug prosecution guideline 2018/01pp. 1–2 and 5–6: scope, commencement, personal cannabis bands, exceptions and cultivation
- Sint Maarten — Regulation establishing the National Cannabis Legalization Committee (2024)AB 2024 no. 11, signed 28 February 2024; articles 1–5 and explanatory notes; published 6 March
- St. Martin News Network — Health minister Connor seeks PAHO guidance on cannabis policy, 14 October 2026Council of Ministers press briefing; request for assistance, not an announced reform timetable
Last updated: · 4 sources · history: 7 of 8 entries checked