FAQ
Is it legal? What are the penalties? Why was it banned, and is legalization actually coming? Clear, sourced answers to the most searched questions. This is cultural history, not legal advice.
No. Cannabis is illegal in Nepal. The Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 2033 (1976) prohibits the cultivation, production, sale, possession, transport, and consumption of cannabis in all its forms. There is no licensed retail market and no legal route to obtain the plant for non-medical use. The only tolerated exception is the religious use of charas and bhang by sadhus during the Maha Shivaratri festival at Pashupatinath.
No. Nepali narcotics law does not distinguish cannabidiol (CBD) from THC by content the way some jurisdictions do. Cannabis is regulated as a single class of drug, so CBD products derived from cannabis fall under the same 1976 prohibition regardless of their intoxicating effect. The industrial-hemp pilots now being discussed are framed around fibre and grain, not CBD extraction.
No, not legally. Tourists are subject to the same drug laws as Nepali citizens, with no exemption. Although cannabis is widely available in areas like Thamel and on some trekking routes, purchasing and consuming it remains a criminal offence. Enforcement is real: tourists can be and are arrested and prosecuted for cannabis-related offences.
Penalties under the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act scale with the offence and quantity. Consumption can carry up to one month's imprisonment and/or a fine of up to 2,000 Nepali rupees (around USD 20). Possession of small quantities (up to about 25 g) is treated similarly; larger quantities, sale, trafficking, and cultivation carry progressively harsher imprisonment terms and heavier fines, and trafficking can lead to confiscation of property.
Possession of a small amount is punishable by up to a month in prison or a fine, not a certainty of jail. In practice, first-time minor offences are often settled with a fine and a warning. But the offence is criminal, a second offence escalates, and at the border or in quantity the penalties become severe. The risk is real, especially for foreigners, who also face deportation after any sentence.
Cannabis is sacred in the Shaivite tradition. Lord Shiva, whom Pashupatinath is dedicated to, is associated with the plant, and ascetics (sadhus) use charas and bhang as part of their devotional practice. On Maha Shivaratri the state tolerates this ritual use within the temple grounds: the police do not enter the inner ghats. It is the single annual, public exception to prohibition. Note that selling cannabis to devotees has been separately restricted.
They are three forms of the same plant, each tied to a different use. Bhang is the cool milk drink made from ground leaves and stems, consumed during festivals. Ganja is the dried female flower, smoked in chillums or rolled with tobacco. Charas is the resin hand-rubbed from the living plant and pressed into balls, and is the form historically known abroad as Nepalese hashish or temple balls. See our glossary for the full set of terms.
Cannabis was banned under international and U.S. pressure during the 1970s war on drugs. Nepal was a party to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and heavily dependent on foreign aid. In July 1973 the government revoked all licenses to cultivate, buy, and sell cannabis, closing the legal hashish shops on Kathmandu's Freak Street. In September 1976 parliament passed the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, which criminalised the trade outright.
Yes. Until July 1973 cannabis was legal, licensed, and taxed. Licensed vendors sold cannabis products openly in towns, the government collected revenue from the trade, and hill farmers cultivated it alongside mustard and millet. During the 1960s and early 70s, Kathmandu's Freak Street (Jhochhen Tole) held dozens of licensed hashish and ganja shops serving the overland hippie trail.
Temple balls were the highest grade of hand-pressed Nepalese charas: dark, soft, sticky resin hand-rubbed from living plants and shaped into ovals. They were graded by freshness and scent (the top grade was called Royal), sold by the tola (about 11.5 g), and became famous among Western travellers on the hippie trail. The name and the product were Nepali; the trade was legal until 1973.
Nepal is legalizing cannabis in stages, province by province, while the federal ban from 1976 still stands. In May 2024, Finance Minister Barsaman Pun announced in the 2024/25 budget that legal arrangements would be made for commercial cultivation and consumption for medicinal use, the first federal commitment to reform since the ban. Then, on 9 July 2026, the Gandaki Provincial Assembly unanimously passed the Bill to Regulate and Manage Cannabis Cultivation for Medical and Industrial Purposes, 2026, making Gandaki the first Nepali province to legalize cannabis cultivation (for medicinal and industrial use, with a 0.3% THC ceiling). A second province is following the same path. At the federal level, draft legislation including the Cannabis (Regulation and Control) Act, 2025 has been discussed but not yet enacted, so the 1976 federal prohibition remains in force.
Proponents argue cannabis could be a major cash crop for Nepal's poorest hill regions. Karnali's mid-hills are among the best hemp-growing land in the world, the crop grows well at altitude with minimal inputs, and there is strong domestic and export demand for fibre, grain, oil, and medicinal products. The Asian Development Bank has projected meaningful provincial GDP uplift if pilots scale, and advocates argue a regulated industry could earn significant export revenue for rural economies.
Read the full history in the eight-chapter essay, or browse the glossary and timeline.