Is Crack Cocaine legal in Laos?
- Legal status
- Crack is the freebase (base) form of cocaine and has no separate legal identity in Laos: it is controlled AS cocaine under the Lao Penal Code (Art 146), consolidating the Law on Narcotics, whose scheduling covers cocaine, its salts and preparations and thus reaches the base/freebase form. The capital threshold is measured by weight of cocaine and carries over to crack, so trafficking above 500 g of cocaine is death-eligible whether powder or base.
- Consequences if caught
- Trafficking above 500 g of crack (as cocaine) carries the death penalty; personal use of under 0.2 g is treated as needing treatment, and 0.2-2 g draws 2-10 years plus fine.
- If prescribed or medical
- Cocaine has no recognised therapeutic use in Laos; the crack/freebase base has no medicinal preparation and cannot be prescribed.
- Documentation
- No prescription documentation exists for crack/freebase cocaine.
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Laos’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately — not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →