Is Tobacco legal in Maldives?
- Legal status
- Tobacco is subject to a generational prohibition in the Maldives: effective 1 November 2025, anyone born on or after 1 January 2007 is permanently barred from buying, using or possessing tobacco in any form. The Ministry of Health's generational tobacco ban applies to residents and foreign visitors alike, making the Maldives the first country worldwide to bring a generational tobacco prohibition into force (the Maldives separately bans e-cigarettes and vapes for all ages).
- Consequences if caught
- The prohibition binds tourists as well as residents — a genuine traveler trap; retailers must verify age and selling to a person within the banned birth cohort carries a fine of MVR 50,000 (about USD 3,200).
- If prescribed or medical
- n/a — tobacco is not a prescription product.
- Documentation
- Age verification required at point of sale; the ban covers all forms of tobacco.
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Maldives’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 →