Cannabis in Bhutan
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Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) grows wild across much of Bhutan, mostly on streamsides and waste ground between about 300 and 3,000 m.[1] William Griffith, who crossed the country with a British mission in 1837–38, noted hemp near villages but saw too little of it to suppose that it was used.[2]
In 2005 Bhutan acceded to the 1961 and 1971 UN drug conventions and passed a drug-control Act. The present statute is the Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act of 2015, amended in 2018. It treats cannabis as a narcotic with no medicinal value, grades cultivation, possession and trafficking by weight or plant number, and sets a narrow exception for fibre and animal feed.[3] A drug-control official suggested in 2017 that cannabis may be the most commonly abused drug in the country; in 2025 the police called it one of the most abused substances. Police and local administrations run campaigns to uproot wild plants near towns and schools.
Botany and collections

The Flora of Bhutan of Alexander Grierson and David Long treats a single species, Cannabis sativa, for the family Cannabaceae. It describes an erect herb of 1–1.5 m and records it from the Chukka and Gaylegphug districts in the south, the Thimphu, Tongsa and Tashigang districts in the centre and the Upper Mo Chu district (Gasa) in the north, on "streamsides and waste ground" at 300–3,000 m.[1] The entry gives the name Phagpa Nam in Shachop, which the flora defines as the dialect of eastern Bhutan, together with the Nepali name bhang and the English name hemp.[1] The flora says the plant is "used as a source of fibre and oil and also of an intoxicating resin" and distinguishes two subspecies: subsp. sativa, yielding fibre and oil, "the common plant in Sikkim and Bhutan", and subsp. indica, a smaller, much-branched plant yielding more resin, which it says occurs in Tashigang district at the Gamri Chu.[1]
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh holds eleven Bhutan sheets of the species.[4] Roland Edgar Cooper, collecting in 1914 for A. K. Bulley, supplied five of them.[5][6] Four carry a remark on stature: "Herb 1'-6'-10'" on sandy flats at about 8,000 ft (Cooper 3143 (1914)), "4' growing in swamp" (Cooper 1104 (1914)), "varying 3'-10' in moist shady places" (Cooper 1174 (1914)) and "Dwarf var." on sand by a stream at 7,000 ft (Cooper 1486 (1914)).[7][8][9][10] Cooper 1486 is determined to species: Cannabis sativa L.[10] The other six are Ludlow 19635 (1949), from Tsalimape at 7,000 ft ("Up to 5ft", among Artemisia on open banks)[11]; Kanai 5203 (1967), from Trongsa District; three sheets collected by Grierson and Long in 1979 in Trashigang District, Grierson 2029a (1979), Grierson 2029b (1979) and Grierson 2089 (1979), the last a "Low much branched herb up to 1 m" on a stony river bank at the Gamri Chu[12]; and Grierson 4168 (1982), a "Small herb 55 cm" collected on 31 March 1982 at Tintibi Bridge on the Mangde Chu.[13] Each label describes one plant or stand at one date. Stature in the genus is discussed in Dwarf and semidwarf Cannabis.
Leaf samples from 36 plants were collected between 11 July and 23 August 2018 in districts including Gasa, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang, Dagana, Paro, Chukha, Samtse and Haa, with vouchers recorded under the herbarium code THIM. The samples are registered in the NCBI BioSample database with Wageningen University as the submitting centre, were made public on 7 June 2025 and are all recorded as female.[14] THIM is the code of the Bhutan National Herbarium at the National Biodiversity Centre in Thimphu.[15]
Early travellers and colonial sources
William Griffith crossed Bhutan with the 1837–38 mission led by Captain R. B. Pemberton. At Sasee, a ruined village, he noted that the little cultivation consisted of barley, buckwheat and hemp; Pemberton put the place at 4,325 ft.[2][16] Summarising the journey, he wrote that "a few straggling plants of hemp" were to be met with near most villages at rather low elevations, but that he never saw enough "to warrant me in supposing that any use was made of it".[2] His plant journals, published in 1847, list Cannabis at Sassee, among rice fields at Ghoomkurrah and in cultivated places near Oongar.[17]
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1893–94 gathered evidence on cannabis in British India. Its report says the hemp plant "is cultivated in the Bhutan Hills, and cannot but run wild there".[18] Witnesses in Bengal and Assam disagreed about the traffic into the plains. H. Luttman-Johnson, the Commissioner of Dacca, said that he knew it grew wild in the Naga Hills and Bhutan because it was smuggled down.[19] J. J. S. Driberg, the Commissioner of Excise in Assam, reported "many instances of ganja being brought down from both Thibet and Bhatan"; J. D. Anderson, a deputy commissioner, said ganja was smuggled into the plains by hill people from the Khasi, Naga and North Cachar Hills and from the Bhutan Hills.[20][21] A witness named McCabe said that a minor Raja of Bhutan had told him the plant grew freely in the lower ranges of his hills, and that he had caught three "Bhutias" carrying the dried plant openly and offering it for sale.[22] G. Gordon, the Deputy Commissioner of Goalpara, said he had never heard of hemp being imported from Bhutan and had no reason to suppose that it was.[23]
Law
Before 2005
A 2005 UNODC regional profile of Bhutan said that cannabis plants grow wild, that there were no reports of cultivation of opium, cannabis or coca and that there was "some residual traditional use of wild cannabis in pig feed and making hemp fibre products".[24] Its list of the laws in force that bore on drug control comprised the Civil and Criminal Procedure Code of 2000, the Sales Tax, Customs and Excise Act of 2000, the Medicines Act of 2003 and the Penal Code of 2004.[24]
The Penal Code of 2004 covered offences involving controlled substances in sections 496 to 501. It made illegal cultivation, production or manufacture of controlled substances, and their illegal transaction, felonies of the fourth degree, and graded possession as a petty misdemeanour or, where the court found intent to sell, a misdemeanour.[25] In that text a fourth-degree felony carries three to under five years' imprisonment and a misdemeanour one to under three years.[25]
The 2005 Act
On 20 June 2005 the National Assembly approved accession to the 1961 and 1971 UN conventions and directed the health and education ministers to draft new drug-control legislation.[24] Bhutan acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended on 24 August 2005 and to the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances on 18 August 2005. It had acceded to the 1988 Convention on 27 August 1990.[26][27][28]
The resulting Act was passed by the National Assembly at its 84th session in 2005.[29] It defined cannabis in the words of the 1961 Convention, as the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, excluding seeds and leaves not accompanied by the tops, and defined the cannabis plant as any plant of the genus.[29] Section 98 made cultivation and domestication of cannabis an offence and prohibited harvesting or collection "except for production of fibre and animal feed". Section 99 required the owner, operator or occupier of land to destroy cannabis plants found growing there. Schedule I listed cannabis among plants and substances having no medical use, which could be held only under an authorisation for medical and scientific research or teaching. The Act set no penalty for cannabis itself and referred offences it did not cover to the Penal Code.[29] In 2014 the National Assembly passed the Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Bill 2014 and resolved to remove the section requiring landowners to destroy cannabis plants. The Bhutanese reported that the plants were abundant in the wild on private and government land.[30]
The 2015 Act and its 2018 amendment
The 2015 Act was enacted on 11 May 2015 and came into force on 20 July 2015, repealing the 2005 Act and sections 496 to 501 of the Penal Code.[3] It drops the 2005 Act's duty on landowners to destroy cannabis plants.[29][3] It keeps the Schedule I heading "Narcotic Drugs with no medicinal value", with cannabis as item 9, and fixes the thresholds in Schedule VII at 50 g of cannabis, 7 g of hashish, 3 ml of hashish oil and five plants.[3] Offences are graded against those figures:
- Cultivation or domestication is a misdemeanour below five plants, a fourth-degree felony from five plants up to under ten, and a third-degree felony from ten plants.
- Harvest is a misdemeanour at or below the weight in Schedule VII, a fourth-degree felony above it up to twice that weight, and a third-degree felony above twice that weight.
- Possession of up to the Schedule VII weight is a misdemeanour.
- Illicit trafficking, which covers importing, exporting, storing, selling, purchasing, transporting, distributing or supplying more than the Schedule VII weight, is a fourth-degree felony up to twice that weight and a third-degree felony above it.[3]
Section 130 permits "a person or an entity" to be allowed to produce or extract fibres or animal feed for licit purposes "as prescribed under rules and regulations".[3] The Bhutan Food and Drug Authority has published a regulation of 2024 and draft rules and regulations of 2026 under the Act.[31][32] A person who tests positive for a Schedule I or II substance without possessing it commits the separate offence of substance abuse under section 152.[3]
The Bhutanese reported in December 2017 that the house had passed amendments to the 2015 Act.[33] The amending Act of 2018 redefined cannabis as "the cannabis plant including the flowering or fruiting tops, the seeds and/or leaves", added possession to the acts that make up trafficking in section 133, and inserted section 141A.[34] Under section 141A a person in possession of cannabis up to twice the Schedule VII weight can be charged with substance abuse under section 152 instead of illicit trafficking, if a list of conditions is met.[34] The Schedule VII figures are unchanged in the 2018 text.[34]
Enforcement and eradication
Uprooting campaigns
Police and local administrations remove wild plants in organised drives. On World No Tobacco Day at the end of May 2019, the administration of Wangdue Phodrang dzongkhag (district) uprooted "about 93 acres" of marijuana plants. It was the first such drive in the district with funding from the Bhutan Narcotics Control Agency. More than 1,000 people took part, and an official said similar drives would be held every year.[35] From May 2019 nearly 1,000 Scouts cleared marijuana plants from their schools and by July had surrendered about 50 kg of plants to the government.[36] In July 2020 police in Bumthang started a three-day uprooting campaign with more than 800 participants across Bumthang town and Chhoekhor Gewog, after arrests in Thangbi village.[37]
In 2025 the Royal Bhutan Police began a nationwide uprooting programme across all 20 dzongkhags. It targets plants close to towns, schools, roadsides and homes, where young people can easily reach them. Thimphu completed its round on 9 May 2025, and uprooted plants were buried under soil.[38]
Arrests and seizures
Police figures reported in the Bhutanese press give the following cannabis totals:
- Seizures of cannabis leaves were 6.07 kg in 2022, 14.97 kg in 2023 and 13.15 kg in 2024; hashish seizures were 1.91 kg in 2023 and 1.26 kg in 2024. Police seized 337 cannabis plants in 2024 and none in 2023.[39][40]
- Cannabis abuse accounted for 225 police cases in 2024 and 197 in 2023, with 58 recorded by May 2025.[38]
- In the first half of 2026 cannabis trafficking cases rose from three to 13 and possession cases from three to 10, and cannabis seizures rose from 2,371.82 g in the first half of 2025 to 47,427.89 g. The Royal Bhutan Police said the rise reflected stronger enforcement measures.[41]
- Police seized 1,355 kg of marijuana between 2014 and 2017.[42]
In 2015 Thimphu police arrested a man in possession of hashish weighing 68.75 g, and the report quoted section 133 of the 2015 Act.[43] In 2016 a man was arrested at the Phuentsholing gate with 17 g of marijuana, which he told police he had bought in Manglabari for Nu 100.[44] In February 2026 the Narcotic Drugs and Other Vices Division arrested three people over more than 28 kg of cannabis in two parcels, one of 12.91 kg in bean cans collected at the Bhutan Post Office and one of 15.6 kg that had been collected from Paro.[45]
Movement into India
The Diplomat reported in 2025 that the only item illicitly exported from Bhutan was cannabis grown in the forests of the southern districts, and that Samdrup Jongkhar on the border was the most important route into India.[46] BBS reported in 2023 that marijuana is abundant in Lauri and Serthig gewogs (sub-districts) of Samdrup Jongkhar, where, according to people there, selling it across the border once brought villagers a significant income.[47]
Use and consumption
The 2005 UNODC profile reported "some residual traditional use" of wild cannabis for pig feed and hemp fibre.[24] The flora of 1983 names fibre, oil and an intoxicating resin among the plant's uses.[1]
The National Drug Use Survey, carried out by the Bhutan Narcotics Control Agency with funding from the Global Fund and technical support from UNODC in October–December 2016, found that one in five of the 9,368 students surveyed had used cannabis, that 2 per cent were dependent on it and that the average age of first use was 16. An agency official suggested cannabis "may be the most commonly abused drug because it grows plenty in the country".[48] The Royal Bhutan Police likewise described cannabis in 2025 as one of the most abused substances in Bhutan, largely because it is easy to obtain.[38]
Debate on reform
In June 2021 BBS reported the Foreign Minister saying that the government was exploring ways to legalise marijuana for medicinal use and needed international experts for the research.[49] In September 2023 leaders of Samdrup Jongkhar dzongkhag decided to write to the National Assembly asking it to amend the law to legalise the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes.[47] At a conference on Gross National Happiness and law in November 2024 some participants suggested decriminalisation while others had reservations.[50] A 2025 paper by Jay Wexler and Sonam Tshering considers cannabis policy in Bhutan through a Gross National Happiness lens.[51]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Grierson, A. J. C.; Long, D. G. (1983). Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. part 1, Cannabaceae, Cannabis sativa, p. 134 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Griffith, William (1839). "Journal of the Mission which visited Bootan, in 1837-38". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 8. pp. 213, 280 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act of Bhutan 2015" (PDF). Bhutan Food and Drug Authority. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence search: Cannabis, Bhutan, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "The Roland Edgar Cooper (1890–1962) Collection" (PDF). RBGE Library and Archives. GB 235 REC. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00150674: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00150673: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00150670: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00150671: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Herbarium specimen E00150672: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00150669: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00150668: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ "Herbarium specimen E00137591: Cannabis". RBGE Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
- ↑ "BioSample records BTN003–BTN095: Cannabis sativa leaf samples, Bhutan". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Bhutan National Herbarium (THIM)". Index Herbariorum. New York Botanical Garden. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Political Missions to Bootan. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Office. 1865. p. 65 (Pemberton's report) – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Griffith, William (1847). McClelland, John (ed.). Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bootan, Affghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries. Calcutta: Bishop's College Press. pp. 214, 231, 255 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. III, "The existence, prevalence, and character of the spontaneous growth", paras. 38–39, p. 22 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Evidence of Mr. H. Luttman-Johnson, Commissioner of Dacca". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. IV: Evidence of Witnesses from Bengal and Assam. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. Bengal witness no. 6, p. 16 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Evidence of Mr. J. J. S. Driberg, Commissioner of Excise and Inspector General of Police and Jails". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. IV: Evidence of Witnesses from Bengal and Assam. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. Assam witness no. 2, p. 532 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Evidence of Mr. J. D. Anderson, Deputy Commissioner; Officiating Commissioner of Excise". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. IV: Evidence of Witnesses from Bengal and Assam. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. Assam witness no. 4, p. 535 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Evidence of Mr. McCabe". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. IV: Evidence of Witnesses from Bengal and Assam. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. Assam witness no. 5, p. 538 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Evidence of Mr. G. Gordon, Deputy Commissioner, Goalpara". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. IV: Evidence of Witnesses from Bengal and Assam. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. Assam witness no. 10, p. 543 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 UNODC Regional Office for South Asia (September 2005). Bhutan (PDF) (Report). South Asia Regional Profile, chapter 21. New Delhi: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. section 3(a), p. 22.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Penal Code of Bhutan, 2004". WIPO Lex. World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961: status". United Nations Treaty Collection. United Nations. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "Convention on Psychotropic Substances". United Nations Treaty Collection. Chapter VI, 16. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances: status". United Nations Treaty Collection. United Nations. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 "Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act 2005" (PDF). Parliament of Bhutan. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Zangpo, Thukten (25 October 2014). "NC to discuss five bills in upcoming session". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Regulation 2024" (PDF). Bhutan Food and Drug Authority. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Rules and Regulation 2026" (PDF). Bhutan Food and Drug Authority. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Narcotics (Amendment) Bill passed with more clarity". The Bhutanese. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 "Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse (Amendment) Act of Bhutan 2018" (PDF). Bhutan Food and Drug Authority. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Ninety Three acres of marijuana plants uprooted in Wangdue". BBS. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Scouts launch campaign against marijuana". World Organization of the Scout Movement. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Seven arrested in Bumthang for marijuana harvesting and possession of hashish". BBS. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Dema, Tshering (24 May 2025). "RBP initiates nationwide cannabis uprooting campaign to curb substance use". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Dema, Tshering (15 March 2025). "RBP is seeing new cases of hard drugs smuggling". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Dema, Tshering (13 January 2024). "3,669 arrested in 2023 for drugs up from 1,577 in 2022". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Dema, Tshering (25 July 2026). "Drug-related offences drop in first 6 months of 2026". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Pem, Damchoe (20 January 2018). "383,756 SP capsules, 22,737 N10 tablets, 1,355 kg marijuana seized from 2014-17". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Pem, Damchoe (12 December 2015). "Man arrested for illicit trafficking of cannabis". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Pem, Damchoe (21 May 2016). "Police arrests man for possession of cannabis at Phuentsholing gate". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Dema, Tshering (28 February 2026). "RBP arrests three, seizes over 28 kg cannabis". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Bhutan is Becoming Entangled in South Asia's Narcotics Grid". The Diplomat. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Wangchuk, Kinley (19 September 2023). "Samdrup Jongkhar local leaders call for marijuana legalisation for medicinal purposes". BBS. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Pem, Damchoe (1 July 2017). "Survey shows one in five students used cannabis". The Bhutanese. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Government exploring ways to legalise marijuana for medicinal use". BBS. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ "Can Bhutan legalise cannabis? Experts debate health benefits and economic potential". BBS. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
- ↑ Wexler, Jay D.; Tshering, Sonam (February 2025). "THC Meets GNH: Considering Cannabis Policy in Bhutan through a Gross National Happiness Lens". Faculty Scholarship 4173. Boston University School of Law. Retrieved 7 October 2026.