Vietnam's 2015 Penal Code takes effect after a delay

The code adopted on 27 November 2015 finally began on 1 January 2018, after the National Assembly postponed its original 1 July 2016 start. Its drug chapter set the offences still used: growing 500 to under 3,000 cannabis plants carried six to thirty-six months and 3,000 or more carried three to seven years; possession started at one year for 1 g of resin or 1 kg of plant parts; sale started at two years. It removed the death penalty for possession and appropriation but kept it for production, transport and sale; the 2025 amendment later raised the base minimums and the sale death threshold.^[1][2]