Regions a group of countries
BRICS
The ten members of BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, joined by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates in 2024 and Indonesia in 2025. The average score is 12.4 of 100, about the world average; South Africa is the freest and Indonesia the harshest.
- average score · world 13.3
- 12.4
- countries
- 10
- people
- 3.94 billion
- legal for adults · 0 with a medical route
- 1
BRICS on the map
Each country coloured by its score: red means prison risk, green means free. Select a country for its profile.
A 2018 Constitutional Court ruling protects adult possession, use and cultivation in private, and the 2024 Cannabis for Private Purposes Act writes that into law. The Act is not yet in force: draft regulations published in February 2026 propose caps of 750 g and five plants. Buying and selling remain illegal.
In 2024 the Supreme Court decriminalised possession of up to 40 g or six female plants, now an administrative matter. Medical products are sold in pharmacies; policing remains uneven.
The NDPS Act bans flower and resin. Leaf-only bhang falls outside its cannabis definition, but state law differs: some states license shops, while Maharashtra restricts unauthorised possession and use. Some states license hemp and medical cultivation.
The administrative tier is product-specific: up to 6 g of marijuana plant material, 2 g of hashish or 0.4 g of cannabis oil. Above the relevant threshold, criminal penalties apply. Drug propaganda is also penalised.
Use brings administrative detention and possible compulsory rehabilitation; trafficking can carry the death penalty. China is nonetheless a leading industrial hemp producer.
Possession for personal use can bring up to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of up to 50,000 Birr. Supply with the intent to traffic starts at five years.
Possession is punished with fines and lashes, and trafficking more than 5 kg of cannabis can carry death; 795 people were executed for drug offences in 2025. A 2017 amendment narrowed the capital threshold but did not stop the rise. Since October 2026 industrial hemp may be grown under permit, while medical cannabis still has no patient route.
Hashish and bango are widely used, but the law is harsh: prison for possession, and large-scale trafficking can carry the death penalty.
First-offence penalties were softened in 2022, but personal use remains one of the world's strictest regimes, with trace amounts enough and mandatory deportation for foreigners from 1 January 2026. A separate 2026 law allows licensed industrial hemp and authorised hemp-derived medical products.
Class I narcotic. Since 2 January 2026, possessing plant material is up to twelve years and possessing dried cannabis over 5 g can bring life or twenty years. Aggravated sale or production can still be death. Medical use is prohibited.
How the 10 countries divide
For adults
- Legal 1South Africa
- Decriminalized 1Brazil
- Illegal 2Russia, Ethiopia
- Death penalty 6India, China, Iran, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia
For patients
- Limited 4South Africa, Brazil, India, United Arab Emirates
- None verified 6Russia, China, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Indonesia
BRICS over time
The average score and the share of countries, or of people, in each band, rebuilt from the recorded history.
Cannabis freedom in BRICS over time
BRICS average score
12.4Prohibition−81.5 since 186012.4Prohibition+4.9 since 201111.2Prohibition−68.6 since 186011.2Prohibition+1.1 since 2011
Countries under prohibition or worse
Countries under prohibition or worse
People under prohibition or worse
People under prohibition or worse
80%8 of 10+80 points since 186080%8 of 10−20 points since 201193%of BRICS's people+93 points since 186093%of BRICS's people−7 points since 2011
Every country, ranked
The index score from 0 to 100 and its six parts from 0 to 10.
| # | Country | Score | Adults | Patients | Possession | cultivation | enforcement | Sharing | Consumption | Legal access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1#3 | South AfricaLegal with limits | 49 | Legal | Limited | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 2#32 | BrazilRestrictive | 23 | Decriminalized | Limited | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 3#70 | IndiaProhibition | 13 | Death penalty | Limited | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4#101 | RussiaProhibition | 11 | Illegal | None verified | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5#108 | ChinaProhibition | 10 | Death penalty | None verified | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6#119 | EthiopiaProhibition | 9 | Illegal | None verified | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7#148 | IranProhibition | 6 | Death penalty | None verified | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8#163 | EgyptSevere prohibition | 3 | Death penalty | None verified | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9#184 | United Arab EmiratesSevere prohibition | 2 | Death penalty | Limited | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10#191 | IndonesiaSevere prohibition | 0 | Death penalty | None verified | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The second number under the rank is the country's place worldwide, of 196.
Latest in BRICS
The newest entries in the history. All history →
- 27 October 2026
- 13 October 2026
- 9 October 2026
- 25 September 2026
- 24 September 2026
- 21 September 2026
- 9 September 2026
- 4 August 2026
- 23 July 2026
- 2 July 2026
- 30 June 2026
- 30 June 2026