Is Cannabis / THC legal in Timor-Leste?

Also known as: weed, marijuana

Legal status

Named. Tabela I-C of Anexo II to Lei n.º 2/2017, de 25 de Janeiro, lists four cannabis entries: item 1, "Cannabis - folhas e sumidades floridas ou frutificadas da planta Cannabis sativa L. da qual não se tenha extraído a resina, qualquer que seja a designação que se lhe dê" (Cannabis, the flowering or fruiting tops and leaves of the Cannabis sativa L. plant from which the resin has not been extracted, whatever name is given to it); item 2, "Cannabis, resina de - resina separada, em bruto ou purificada, obtida a partir da planta Cannabis" (Cannabis resin, resin separated, crude or purified, obtained from the Cannabis plant); item 3, "Cannabis, óleo de - óleo separado, em bruto ou purificado, obtido a partir da planta Cannabis" (Cannabis oil, oil separated, crude or purified, obtained from the Cannabis plant); and item 4, "Cannabis - sementes não destinadas a sementeira da planta Cannabis sativa L." (Cannabis seeds not intended for sowing, of the Cannabis sativa L. plant). A closing clause subjects the salts of these to the same table, where such salts can exist. Article 2(d) defines "droga" as the plants, substances or preparations covered by tables I to IV, and article 3(1) subjects table I to IV substances to the law's regime.

Consequences if caught

Table I-C sits within the "tabelas I a III" grouping article 7(1) addresses, so cultivating, producing, manufacturing, extracting, preparing, offering, selling, distributing, buying, transporting, importing, exporting or possessing cannabis plant material, resin, oil or non-sowing seeds without authorisation is punished with imprisonment of 5 to 15 years. An authorised person acting against that authorisation is punished with 6 to 16 years under article 7(2). Article 9 aggravates both limits of article 7 by two thirds where a listed factor applies (distribution to a large number of people, supply to a minor, use of a weapon, acting within a criminal organisation, among others), computing on the base band to 8 years 4 months to 25 years. Annex I prices three cannabis forms as daily reference quantities for the article 11 reduced-gravity threshold: leaf and flowering tops at 1g, resin at 0.5g, and oil at 0.25g, the last two calibrated by Annex I's own notes 3-(3) and 3-(4) to resin and 3-(5) to oil at an assumed 20 percent Delta-9-THC concentration. Where the quantity held does not exceed 5 times these figures and illicitude is considerably diminished, article 11(1)(a) reduces the band to 1 to 5 years. Personal cultivation, production or possession for exclusively personal use falls under article 26(1): up to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of up to 120 days, rising under article 26(2) to up to 2 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 240 days where the quantity held exceeds 5 times the relevant Annex I figure.

If prescribed or medical

Article 6(1) subjects table I to IV substances, cannabis among them, to licensing, conditions and authorisations issued by the Ministério da Saúde, on terms to be defined in a separate instrument ("diploma próprio"). That instrument has not been located this session, so no medical prescription or supply route for cannabis under Lei n.º 2/2017 is stated here. Decreto-Lei n.º 2/2025 governs pharmacy and medicines-equipment licensing generally and does not itself create a prescribing route for table I to IV substances.

Documentation

Lei n.º 2/2017's own enacted preamble, read in full, states that before this law, the operative drug-trafficking regime in Timor-Leste was "a Lei n.º 5/1997 da República da Indonésia, que se mantém em vigor" (Indonesia's Law 5/1997, carried over under article 165 of the Constitution), and that the Penal Code's own third amendment, "a alteração ao Código Penal operada pela Lei n.º 5/2013, de 14 de agosto, não se traduziu na criminalização do tráfico ilícito e o consumo de estupefacientes e substâncias psicotrópicas" (the Penal Code amendment made by Law 5/2013 of 14 August did not result in criminalising illicit trafficking or the consumption of narcotic and psychotropic substances). The preamble states that, as a result, an adequate domestic regime for drug trafficking and consumption remained to be approved by legislative act, which Lei n.º 2/2017 then supplied. Decreto-Lei n.º 19/2009 (the Penal Code) and its 2013 amendment carry no drug-trafficking chapter on this reading, and Lei n.º 2/2017 is Timor-Leste's first and controlling domestic instrument for cannabis trafficking and consumption offences.

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