Is Cannabis / THC legal in North Korea?

Also known as: weed, marijuana

Legal status

Cannabis is a controlled drug under the DPRK Criminal Code (2013 revision and later amendments), no legal recreational or medical regime, and serious drug offences are treated as grave crimes; the specific article is left to confirmation against the current Criminal Code; the maximum penalty is imprisonment or corrective labour.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: not established for this substance. North Korea retains the death penalty for drug offences, under the DPRK Criminal Code, 2013 revision and later amendments, for the gravest drug production and trafficking offences, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.

If prescribed or medical

Not a prescribed traveller medicine in this form.

Documentation

In North Korea, drugs fall under the Criminal Code of the DPRK (2013 revision and later amendments). lower-level offences carry imprisonment or corrective labour. independent verification is constrained by extreme state opacity, and the specific Criminal Code article is left to confirmation against the current statute. A primary statute portal for DPRK law was not located; this cell is sourced via the Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor (loc.gov) and the UNODC legal database, with Harm Reduction International as a corroborating record. Cannabis is a controlled drug under the same Criminal Code, with no legal recreational or medical regime. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

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