Algeria's replacement Road Code sets out drug-driving offences

Algeria promulgated a replacement Road Code on 12 May 2026. Published in the Official Gazette five days later, Law 26-09 brings drug-driving offences, learner supervision, professional-driver examinations and licence consequences into a new statutory framework.

The relevant provisions concern narcotics and psychotropic substances generally. They should not be presented as rules written exclusively for cannabis, nor as an amendment legalising its possession or supply.

Drivers and learner supervisors

Article 137 provides one to two years of imprisonment and a fine of DZD100,000–200,000 for a person who drives a vehicle under the influence of narcotics or psychotropic substances. It also covers a person accompanying a learner during driving instruction.

The ordinary offence does not require the driver to have caused a collision. Separate provisions address injuries and deaths; their heavier penalties should not be described as the standard sentence for every drug-driving case.

The article uses a drug-influence standard. A numerical THC concentration was not established in the statutory passages reviewed, so the provision cannot responsibly be converted into a blood-level limit or a waiting period after cannabis consumption.

Tests and refusals

Article 143 applies the relevant intoxication penalties to a driver or learner supervisor who refuses the prescribed breath, medical, clinical or biological examinations.

This makes refusal a separate part of the enforcement framework. It does not mean a refusal produces an actual laboratory finding that cannabis was present. The distinction matters when describing how an offence is established.

Article 105 provides for technical detection equipment, including devices for detecting drug consumption, with the equipment defined through regulation. That statutory provision does not by itself verify which devices operate nationwide or their laboratory confirmation procedures.

Licence and vehicle consequences

Under article 160, the court may order withdrawal or suspension of the driving licence for up to five years in addition to other penalties for the code’s criminal offences. The wording gives the court discretion; it is not an automatic five-year suspension in every case.

Article 173 permits immobilisation of a vehicle when its driver is presumed to be under the influence of narcotics or psychotropic substances. This roadside measure is distinct from a court’s later licence decision.

Professional transport has an additional employment rule. Article 80 requires recruitment analyses demonstrating no drug consumption, followed by periodic and unannounced examinations during work. The covered activities include passenger, school, goods, hazardous-material and taxi transport.

Replacing the earlier law

Article 188 repeals the earlier Law 01-14 while preserving its implementing texts until new regulations are published. Article 187 distinguishes the offences chapter from other chapters whose application may require regulations.

The Algeria profile now cites the 2026 code for drug driving. Older article numbers and sanctions should be checked against the replacement text, while operational testing details remain a separate research gap.^[1]