Is Cannabinol legal in Malaysia?

Also known as: cbn

Legal status

Cannabinol is not named in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, and it is not one of the cannabinoids that are. Part III names «delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol», «delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol», their 8-beta-hydroxy and 11-hydroxy forms, «11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid», «Parahexyl» and «Tetrahydrocannabinols» under a specific chemical designation. Cannabinol is the fully aromatic oxidation product of THC, and is neither a tetrahydrocannabinol nor an isomer, ester, ether or salt of one. It matters far more where the cannabinol is: in practice it is in cannabis, and «Cannabis» is named in Parts I and II and «Extract or tincture of cannabis» in Part III, so cannabinol inside plant material or an extract is caught by those entries and not by any entry of its own.

Consequences if caught

Section 39B(2) reaches cannabinol through the material it is in, not through an entry of its own. Cannabinol is not named in the First Schedule and it is not a tetrahydrocannabinol, but section 2 defines cannabis as «any part of any plant of the genus Cannabis from which there is found to be present resin irrespective of its quantity», so cannabinol inside plant material or inside an extract is caught by «Cannabis» in Parts I and II and by «Extract or tincture of cannabis» in Part III. The chain is short and it passes through no weight at any point. Section 2 defines a «dangerous drug» as «any drug or substance which is for the time being comprised in the First Schedule», section 39B(1) prohibits trafficking in «a dangerous drug», whether on your own behalf or on behalf of any other person, and section 39B(2) sets the penalty. And the word «trafficking» is itself defined in section 2, far wider than selling: it «includes the doing of any of the following acts, that is to say, manufacturing, importing, exporting, keeping, concealing, buying, selling, giving, receiving, storing, administering, transporting, carrying, sending, delivering, procuring, supplying or distributing any dangerous drug otherwise than under the authority of this Act or the regulations made under the Act». Keeping, carrying and storing are on that list, so nothing commercial has to be shown. The weight that counts is the weight of the material. Section 37(da)(vi) to (viii) set 200 grammes for cannabis, for cannabis resin and for the two combined, and no cannabinol content is assayed against it. Section 37(da) closes with the words «otherwise than in accordance with the authority of this Act or any other written law, shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be trafficking in the said drug», so it is a rebuttable presumption about proof and not a definition of the offence, and the words «until the contrary is proved» are what put the defendant to proof. Section 39B(2) itself turns on quantity at no point. Below trafficking there are two further tiers, and they are a separate list from the presumption weights. Section 39A(1)(f) to (h) applies where the subject matter is 20 grammes or more but less than 50 grammes of the material, and sets «imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years but shall not exceed five years» with «whipping of not less than three strokes but not more than nine strokes». Section 39A(2)(f) to (h) applies where the offence is «not punishable with death» and the subject matter is 50 grammes or more of it, and sets «imprisonment for life or for a term which shall not be less than five years» with «whipping of not less than ten strokes». Death is available and it is no longer mandatory, and the change has a date. Section 39B(2) once read simply «on conviction with death». The Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2017, Act A1558, in force 15 March 2018, opened a narrow gate out of that, a date carried forward from the earlier reading and not re-derived in this pass. The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, Act 846, came into operation on 4 July 2023, and section 54 of it is the whole of what it did to the Dangerous Drugs Act: it substituted «be punished with whipping of not less than twelve strokes» for fifteen strokes in subsection (2), and it deleted subsections (2A) and (2B), which were the mandatory death machinery. Section 39B(2) now reads, in full: «Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall be punished on conviction with death or imprisonment for life and shall, if he is not sentenced to death, be punished with whipping of not less than twelve strokes.» So the court chooses between death and imprisonment for life with no precondition, and at least twelve strokes follow any sentence that is not death. Act 846 is widely described as replacing life with a term of thirty to forty years. It did that in the Penal Code, the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, the Arms Act 1960, the Kidnapping Act 1961, the Strategic Trade Act 2010 and the Criminal Procedure Code. It did not do it here: the words «imprisonment for life» in section 39B(2) are untouched and no definition of that phrase appears anywhere in the Dangerous Drugs Act, so no year figure is stated in this cell. Section 55 of Act 846 applies the amended section to anyone sentenced after it came into operation even where the offence was committed before. Below trafficking the possession offence is not section 12, and that catches people out. Section 11(1) confines Part IV of the Act, where section 12 sits, to «dangerous drugs listed in Parts III, IV and V of the First Schedule», so a Part I or Part II entry is reached by different sections. Section 6 makes keeping or having in possession, custody or control any cannabis, or the seeds of the plant, an offence punishable by «a fine not exceeding twenty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both». Section 9(1)(b) does the same on the same penalty, because section 8 construes every reference to prepared opium in that Part of the Act as including «cannabis, cannabis resin and substances of which such resin forms the base». Consumption is section 10(2), at a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both, and it reaches possessing a pipe or other utensil as well as smoking. Section 15, the self-administration provision, does not apply at all, because it is confined to drugs in Parts III and IV of the Schedule. Three procedural consequences follow automatically. Section 41(1) removes a section 39B charge from the Sessions Court and the Magistrates' Court, so it is tried in the High Court, and section 41A(3) has it tried by a judge sitting alone. Section 41B(1) provides that bail «shall not be granted» where the offence is punishable with death, and also where it is punishable with imprisonment for more than five years. Section 38A, which lets a court deal with a drug dependant under eighteen under the Drug Dependants (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act 1983 rather than punish him, is expressly unavailable for a section 39B offence. Section 39C separately escalates a repeat offender under the consumption and possession provisions to not less than five and not more than seven years with not more than three strokes. Isolated cannabinol, synthesised or fully purified away from plant material, is a different question, and on the text of the Act it is not a dangerous drug: Part III names delta-8 and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, their 8-beta-hydroxy and 11-hydroxy forms, «11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid», «Parahexyl» and «Tetrahydrocannabinols» under a fixed chemical designation, and cannabinol, the fully aromatic oxidation product, is none of them and is not an isomer of any of them. It is not in the Third Schedule to the Poisons Act 1952 either, so the section 30 psychotropic offence does not reach it. Do not read that as permission. The Dangerous Drugs Act carries no analogue clause at all, measured across the whole Act, so a substance is in or out on the naming; but section 45A provides that where the Minister «considers it expedient to add a substance to, or remove a substance from, or vary the First Schedule, he may by order make the requisite modifications», and he has used it twice since the consolidated text, by P.U. (A) 97 gazetted 2 April 2024 and P.U. (A) 416 gazetted 25 November 2025. An order takes effect on gazetting and there is no notice period. Customs may also treat an unlisted substance as a prohibited import under a separate order that was not read for this cell.

If prescribed or medical

The prescription question for cannabinol has no clean answer under either statute. Cannabinol has no entry of its own in either Act and it is not one of the cannabinoids that are named. Part III names «delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol» and «delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol», their hydroxy forms, parahexyl and a tetrahydrocannabinol entry under a specific chemical designation, and cannabinol is the fully aromatic oxidation product of THC, neither a tetrahydrocannabinol nor an isomer, ester, ether or salt of one. Where the cannabinol is decides the answer: in practice it is in cannabis, and cannabis is named in Parts I and II with «Extract or tincture of cannabis» in Part III, so cannabinol inside plant material or an extract is caught by those entries and not by any entry of its own. Isolated cannabinol from a source carrying no cannabis resin is reached by neither Act on the text. What this cell does not state is whether it is a registered product, an unregistered product or a prohibited import under the medicines and customs instruments, because none of those instruments was read for it.

Documentation

No documentation requirement can be stated for cannabinol, because the route through the two statutes is unsettled and the paperwork would depend on which route applies. What decides the paperwork is what the cannabinol is in. Inside plant material or an extract the governing entries are the cannabis ones in Parts I and II and «Extract or tincture of cannabis» in Part III, and the answer is the cannabis answer. Isolated from a source carrying no resin, there is no entry at all. Carry any prescription and the original packaging as a matter of course. Product registration with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and the customs prohibited imports orders are separate regimes and neither was read for this cell. If the Poisons Act route is the right one, the one month personal import allowance in regulation 4(2)(a) of the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989 and the section 30(5) penalty would be the provisions in point. This cell does not assert that they apply. The entry the document has to answer to, in the First Schedule itself, is «Cannabis» at Part I, «Cannabis» at Part II, «Extract or tincture of cannabis» at Part III. If the document does not answer the entry, the charge is not section 12 at all. Section 11(1) confines that section to Parts III, IV and V of the Schedule, so a Part I or Part II entry is charged under section 6 or under section 9(1) read with section 8, each carrying «a fine not exceeding twenty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both».

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Malaysia’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.