The story
Laos’s replacement Penal Code took effect on 1 November 2018.[1] For people possessing cannabis for consumption, it set a five-gram dividing line: below that amount, the code directed treatment; five to ten grams of dried cannabis carried six months to two years in prison and a fine of five to twenty million kip.[2]
Treatment was already part of the drug law
The earlier 2013 penalty amendment had directed people addicted to smoking marijuana to treatment. It also prescribed long prison sentences for cannabis trading and added separate weight bands for THC and hashish.[3]
The replacement code gathered these subjects into different articles. Cannabis trading had its own section, while consumption and possession for consumption were addressed together. Another section dealt with addiction recurring after treatment. For users, the quantity held and their treatment history both mattered.[2]
Under five grams led to treatment
The code described people consuming or possessing under five grams of marijuana for consumption as victims who should be treated or sent for treatment. Its next cannabis band expressly covered five to ten grams of dried marijuana held for consumption, with both imprisonment and a fine.[2]
The trading rules used different quantities. Less than five kilograms of dried cannabis for trade carried six months to three years in prison; five to ten kilograms carried three to seven years. Regular or organised trading, or quantities above ten kilograms, carried five to ten years.[2]
THC, hashish and THC derivatives retained their separate scale, reaching life imprisonment above 500 grams. The code also imposed one to three years for trading, distributing, transporting, possessing, importing, exporting or transiting more than ten grams of marijuana seeds.[2]
Repeated treatment could lead to prison
A person becoming addicted again after a first certified treatment faced public criticism and a fine. Renewed addiction after a second certified treatment carried three months to one year in prison; after a third, one to three years. Written certification by the treatment centre was part of these rules.[2]
Treatment remained a substantial part of the government’s drug response. In November 2024, Public Security Minister Vilay Lakhamphong reported 5,132 people supported through drug-treatment and rehabilitation centres, with 2,513 having completed treatment and returned home. Those totals covered drug users together.[4]
Hemp businesses later received a licensed route
The hemp decision issued in December 2022 opened cultivation, processing and trade to approved businesses. They required registered seed varieties and qualified technical staff, creating a controlled route for low-THC products.[5]
The Laos profile explains that licensed route alongside the Penal Code’s treatment rules, personal-possession penalties and separate trading offences.[2][5]
Listed for context. No score change is recorded for Laos here.
References
- WIPO Lex — Lao Penal Code, entry into force 1 November 2018Dates: entry into force; catalogue title differs from the attached code’s identifierarchived
- Laos — Penal Code adopted 17 May 2017, government-hosted English translationArticles 318, 320–321, pp. 92–95; article 425, p. 127archived
- Laos — Law 22/NA of 11 December 2012 and promulgation decree of 17 January 2013Article 2, marijuana and THC/hashish paragraphs; articles 4–5; presidential decree 028/POarchived
- Lao News Agency — Nationwide efforts resolve over 3,300 drug cases in 11 months, 21 November 2024Minister Vilay Lakhamphong’s report to the National Assembly on 20 November 2024archived
- JETRO — Laos permits medical and commercial hemp activities, 9 February 2023Opening paragraph: 26 January commencement; registered seeds and business licencesarchived
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read.