Regions continent
South America
12 countries in South America. The average score is 22.1 of 100, 8.8 above the world average; Uruguay is the freest and Suriname the harshest.
- average score · world 13.3
- 22.1
- countries
- 12
- people
- 438 million
- legal for adults · 4 with a medical route
- 1
South America on the map
Each country coloured by its score: red means prison risk, green means free. Select a country for its profile.
First country to legalise (2013). Registered residents choose between growing six plants, joining a club, or buying up to 40 g a month in pharmacies at state-set prices.
The 'personal dose' of 20 g and up to 20 plants are protected by constitutional case law. A licensed medical industry exists; adult-use market bills have repeatedly fallen short.
The Supreme Court's Arriola ruling (2009) protects private personal use. The REPROCANN registry lets patients grow their own or use a designated grower.
Private personal use is not punishable and courts accept personal cultivation as a defence. Public use is a minor offence. A 2026 law could let trafficking penalties reach small amounts once its list of substances is written.
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.
Ordinary immediate personal possession is exempt up to 8 g of marijuana or 2 g of derivatives. Registered medical patients and qualifying caregivers have a separate treatment-needs exemption. Medical cannabis and licensed patient-association cultivation are legal.
The constitution treats use as a health issue, though the possession threshold table was repealed in 2023. Medical cannabis and hemp are legal.
Up to 10 g exclusively for personal use may be exempt from punishment, subject to judicial assessment. A December 2025 medical THC/CBD pilot regulates specialist prescriptions and authorised dispensing; patient home growing remains prohibited.
Since 2022 possession of up to 30 g no longer carries prison, but counselling or community service. Section 6 provides death if unlawfully supplied narcotics cause the death of someone under eighteen.
Personal-use cases are dealt with through court-ordered rehabilitation. Separate criminal possession can bring one to two years even within the twenty-gram cannabis band. Growing no more than ten plants carries six to ten years in prison.
Recreational cannabis remains prohibited. A medically assessed personal-use quantity leads to compulsory treatment; possession above it falls under trafficking, with ten to twenty-five years in prison plus a fine. An individual compassionate medical import was reported in 2021, and a wider medical-access bill is pending in 2026.
Up to thirteen years for possession, with no Dutch-style tolerance. The 2023 industrial-hemp law provides licences for certified crops with no more than 1% THC.
How the 12 countries divide
For adults
- Legal 1Uruguay
- Decriminalized 7Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador…
- Illegal 3Venezuela, Bolivia, Suriname
- Death penalty 1Guyana
For patients
- Legal 4Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina, Peru
- Limited 4Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay
- None verified 4Guyana, Venezuela, Bolivia, Suriname
South America over time
The average score and the share of countries, or of people, in each band, rebuilt from the recorded history.
Cannabis freedom in South America over time
South America average score
22.1Restrictive−77.9 since 186022.1Restrictive+4.8 since 201123.5Restrictive−76.5 since 186023.5Restrictive+6.7 since 2011
Countries under prohibition or worse
Countries under prohibition or worse
People under prohibition or worse
People under prohibition or worse
25%3 of 12+25 points since 186025%3 of 12−17 points since 201110%of South America's people+10 points since 186010%of South America's people−50 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#2 | UruguayLegal with limits | 52 | Legal | Legal | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| 2#7 | ColombiaTolerant | 39 | Decriminalized | Legal | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 3#21 | ArgentinaTolerant | 26 | Decriminalized | Legal | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 4#23 | ChileTolerant | 26 | Decriminalized | Limited | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 5#32 | BrazilRestrictive | 23 | Decriminalized | Limited | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 6#36 | PeruRestrictive | 21 | Decriminalized | Legal | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 7#46 | EcuadorRestrictive | 18 | Decriminalized | Limited | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 8#48 | ParaguayRestrictive | 18 | Decriminalized | Limited | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 9#50 | GuyanaRestrictive | 17 | Death penalty | None verified | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 10#107 | VenezuelaProhibition | 10 | Illegal | None verified | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11#110 | BoliviaProhibition | 9 | Illegal | None verified | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12#136 | SurinameProhibition | 9 | Illegal | None verified | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The second number under the rank is the country's place worldwide, of 196.
Latest in South America
The newest entries in the history. All history →
- October 2026
- 4 August 2026
- 20 July 2026
- 30 June 2026
- 23 May 2026
- 12 May 2026
- April 2026
- 13 April 2026
- 7 April 2026
- 7 April 2026
- 19 December 2025
- 27 October 2025