Congo separates small personal quantities from wider drug trafficking

The Republic of the Congo’s new drug law, signed on 22 August 2025, set separate penalties for small personal possession, purchase and growing. Cannabis derivatives other than oil carried one to six months, while high-risk drugs including cannabis oil carried two months to one year; a fine alone was possible in either tier.

Parliament wanted a stronger response to trafficking

At the Senate’s April debate, sponsor Yves Fortuné Moundele-Ngollo Ehourossia linked illicit drugs to organised crime, money laundering, corruption and violence. Senators approved the proposal on 7 April.

Congo had joined two UN drug conventions in 2004. The debate returned to the need for domestic controls following those commitments. President Denis Sassou-N’Guesso signed the law in August, and the official journal published it on 25 September.

Small personal quantities could bring a fine alone

The personal-quantity rule covered an amount small enough to be considered intended for the person’s own consumption. It set no numerical limit in grams or plants.

For a high-risk drug, including cannabis oil, the fine was 100,000–500,000 CFA francs. For a cannabis derivative other than oil, it was 50,000–250,000 francs. Courts could impose the prison range, the fine, or both.

A separate clause addressed high-risk drugs held or used for personal consumption, with one to twelve months, a 1–2 million franc fine, or either alone. The small-quantity rule expressly overrode that clause where its conditions were met.

Wider supply had longer prison ranges

General high-risk trafficking carried two to ten years, a 5–20 million franc fine, or both. Giving or offering a drug directly for another person’s consumption carried one to two years, a 500,000–1 million franc fine, or either alone.

Ordinary high-risk cultivation and production carried five to ten years, a 5–20 million franc fine, or both. The law prohibited growing narcotic plants and required landowners and occupiers to destroy plants on their land.

Conviction could also affect residence and release

Courts could order the expulsion of foreigners convicted of listed offences, including small personal quantities. For specified prison sentences of at least a year, the law restricted early release and sentence adjustments before two-thirds of the term had been served.

It also retained a reference to the 2010 child-protection law when addressing supply to minors. Small personal quantities, wider trafficking and offences affecting children consequently had different rules within Congo’s continuing prohibition system.^[1][2]