Is Cannabis / THC legal in Solomon Islands?

Also known as: weed, marijuana

Legal status

Controlled. Cannabis is controlled by the text of Part I of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98), reprint as in force at 1 October 2009, with no proclamation needed. Section 2 defines 'Indian hemp' as 'either of the plants Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica or any portion thereof'. Section 4(1) states: 'The provisions of this Part of this Act shall apply to raw opium, coca leaf and Indian hemp and resins obtained from Indian hemp and preparations of which such resins form the base.' So the plant and any part of it, cannabis resin, and preparations based on resin are each within Part I, and they are addressed apart here. Separately, section 13(1)(b) applies Part III to 'any extract or tincture of Indian hemp'. Seeds are covered by section 5, which prohibits import or export of 'any seed of Indian hemp'. Schedule B Part I of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act lists 'Cannabis (the dried flowering or fruiting tops of Cannabis sativa Linn.), the resin of cannabis; extracts of cannabis, tinctures of cannabis; cannabin tannate' as a poison, a sale restriction separate from drug control. No exemption for low THC hemp, CBD products or medical or recreational use was found in the instruments read. A reported Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2025 was not read.

Consequences if caught

Cultivation: section 7 states 'No person shall cultivate in Solomon Islands the opium poppy or Indian hemp or coca leaf plant', and section 8(a) makes every person 'growing opium poppy, Indian hemp or coca leaf whether for private use or otherwise' guilty of an offence against the Act. Personal possession, possession for supply, sale and giving: section 8(b) makes guilty of an offence every person 'found in possession of or selling, or who shall have given or sold, to any person any substance to which this Part of this Act applies'. It draws no line between personal possession and possession for supply, sets no quantity threshold, and covers giving as well as selling; no separate trafficking offence is stated. Import and export: section 4(2) states 'No person shall import or export any of the substances to which this Part of this Act applies', section 5 prohibits seeds, and section 6 provides for seizure and forfeiture; section 3 limits entry and exit to an approved port. Manufacture: no separate offence is stated for Part I, and extracts and tinctures fall also under Part III, where manufacture is for rules under section 15(1)(a) that were not located, so that part is not verified. Use or consumption: no separate offence of use is stated for Indian hemp; possession is the exposure. Powers: under section 9(2) a police officer may without warrant apprehend and detain any person carrying or conveying Indian hemp, and section 10 allows seizure and destruction of plants on a plantation. Penalty: Part I states no penalty, so section 39(2), as amended by Act No. 14 of 2009, applies to each offence, namely on conviction by the court sitting with assessors a fine of 100,000 penalty units or imprisonment for ten years or both, and on summary conviction a fine of 5,000 penalty units or imprisonment for six months or both, with forfeiture of all articles in respect of which the offence was committed. Fine and imprisonment may be cumulative ('or to both'). Section 39(4) gives attempting, soliciting and inciting the same punishment. The Act's drug provisions state no death penalty. The Act does not state the value of a penalty unit and none is converted here.

If prescribed or medical

Part I states no medical or prescription route for Indian hemp, its resin or preparations based on resin. For an extract or tincture of Indian hemp, which section 13(1)(b) places in Part III, section 20 states possession in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner as a matter the accused may prove, and section 15(1)(c) lets rules regulate prescriptions and dispensing; rules under section 15 other than the 2025 methylamphetamine rules were not located, so the detailed prescription rules are not verified. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105, reprint as in force 5 February 2024) also speaks to prescriptions for these drugs in its own text. Section 36(4) reads 'A prescription which does not comply with the provisions of this section shall not be accepted by any pharmacist as authority for the sale or supply of any medicine or drug'. Section 37(2) reads that every prescription 'containing any of the drugs to which any Act as to the sale of dangerous drugs, for the time being in force, relates, shall be retained in the custody of the pharmacist dispensing the same for a period of two years and filed in the pharmacy'. Section 38(c) provides that a pharmacist shall not 'permit any person, other than a registered pharmacist, to dispense or compound any prescription or supply any medicine or drugs containing any of the dangerous drugs to which subsection (2) of section 37 relates'. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act lists cannabis tops, resin, extracts and tinctures in Schedule B Part I, so retail sale is limited to authorised sellers under section 56 of that Act, and section 57 exempts a medicine supplied by a qualified medical practitioner or dispensed by a registered pharmacist. The Poisons Rules in the 1996 Revised Edition also print 'Cannabis, the resins of cannabis, extracts of cannabis, tinctures of cannabis, cannabin tannate' in the First Schedule (printed page 3014), and rule 9(d) (printed page 3004) provides that the provisions of the Rules that apply solely to First Schedule substances do not apply to 'corn paints in which the only poison is a poison included in the Poisons List under the heading of "Cannabis"'. The current force of those Rules is not established: the copy read is the 1996 Revised Edition (margin notes to LN 63 of 1988), the 2024 reprint of the Act keeps the rule making power in section 61 but does not print the Rules, and nothing read states that the Rules were amended or revoked. No cannabis medicine programme is stated in the instruments read.

Documentation

Import and export of Indian hemp, its resin, preparations based on resin and its seed are prohibited by sections 4(2) and 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, and Part I states no authorisation route, so carrying cannabis in any form into or out of Solomon Islands is within the prohibition as read. Seizure and forfeiture follow under section 6. For an extract or tincture, Part III applies and import is only in accordance with sections 22 to 30, which require an import authorisation in Form C from the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Medical Services (sections 26 and 28). The sections read state no exemption for a traveller's personal supply.

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