Cannabis — Tanzania

Cannabis is illegal in mainland Tanzania, and no quantity makes possession lawful. Section 18(1)(b) of the Drug Control and Enforcement Act punishes possession of a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance other than cocaine, morphine or diacetyl-morphine with a fine of not less than TZS 500,000, imprisonment for three years, or both. Where the quantity is small, the burden of proving it was intended for your own consumption and not for sale or distribution lies on you (s. 18(2)) -- and the Act does not itself fix that threshold: s. 18(3) says "small quantity" means a quantity prescribed by the Minister in regulations, which were not available on an official Tanzanian host for this entry. Using it is a separate offence under s. 19, and so is being found without lawful excuse in a place used for drug use or carrying a pipe or utensil for it. The provision travellers should know: a second or subsequent conviction under this Act carries a fine of TZS 10 million or imprisonment for life. The Act applies to Mainland Tanzania only -- Zanzibar has its own drug legislation.

Possession of cannabis, as a narcotic drug other than cocaine, morphine or diacetyl-morphine: a fine of not less than TZS 500,000, imprisonment for three years, or both (s. 18(1)(b), as amended by Act No. 9 of 2021 s. 20). Smoking, inhaling, sniffing, injecting or otherwise using it, being found without lawful and reasonable excuse in a house, room or place illegally used for that, or being found in possession of a pipe or other utensil for it: a fine of not less than TZS 1 million, imprisonment for three years, or both (s. 19). Cultivating a prohibited plant, possessing or supplying seeds for drug production, or being the owner or occupier who permits land to be used for cultivation: imprisonment for not less than thirty years, with no fine alternative (s. 11(1)). A second and every subsequent conviction under the Act: a fine of TZS 10 million or imprisonment for life (s. 27(1)). Bail must be refused where the charge involves trafficking cannabis, khat or any other prohibited plant weighing twenty kilograms or more (s. 30(1)(b)); for cannabis resin and other manufactured drugs the unbailable threshold is twenty grammes (s. 30(1)(a)). An attempt carries not less than half the maximum imprisonment and half the maximum fine for the completed offence (s. 26).

Verified Oct 9, 2026