Is Marijuana Legal in Indonesia? Penalties and Traveler Rules

No, marijuana is not legal in Indonesia. Cannabis in every form — flower, edibles, oils, hashish, THC vape cartridges, and CBD products — is classified as a Group I narcotic under Law Number 35 of 2009, the most restricted category in Indonesian drug law. There is no medical exception, no prescription defense, and no leniency for foreigners. Simple possession carries a minimum of four years in prison, and large-scale trafficking can bring the death penalty.¹

How Indonesian Law Treats Cannabis

Indonesia’s narcotics law sorts controlled substances into three groups by perceived danger. Marijuana sits in Group I alongside heroin. The law’s appendix explicitly covers “all plants of the genus cannabis and all parts of plants including seeds, fruit, hay, processed cannabis plants or parts of plants including cannabis resin and hashish.”² That language reaches every cannabis-derived product.

Group I narcotics may be used only for scientific research. The law does not permit therapeutic use. A medical marijuana card, a doctor’s prescription from your home country, or a legitimate therapeutic purpose provides no defense in Indonesia.

Penalties for Possessing Marijuana

The law treats cannabis plant material and processed cannabis products slightly differently, but both carry heavy prison time at every level.

Plant-Form Marijuana

Article 111 covers possessing, storing, or growing marijuana in plant form. The sentence is 4 to 12 years in prison, with fines of 800 million to 8 billion Indonesian Rupiah (roughly $48,000 to $480,000).² The four-year minimum applies to any amount.

If the quantity exceeds 1 kilogram or more than 5 plants, the sentence climbs to life imprisonment, or 5 to 20 years, and the maximum fine increases by one-third.²

Processed Cannabis (Hashish, Resin, Oils, Edibles)

Article 112 governs non-plant cannabis products. The base penalty matches Article 111 at 4 to 12 years, but the threshold for the enhanced sentence is far lower. More than 5 grams of a processed product opens the door to life imprisonment or 5 to 20 years.² A single vape cartridge or a small jar of hash can cross that line.

Trafficking, Distribution, and the Death Penalty

Indonesia reserves its harshest penalties for the production and movement of marijuana. Two articles do most of the work.

Article 113 covers producing, importing, exporting, and distributing Group I narcotics. The base sentence is 5 to 15 years with fines of 1 billion to 10 billion Rupiah. When quantities exceed 1 kilogram of plant material, 5 plants, or 5 grams of processed product, the available sentence becomes death, life imprisonment, or 5 to 20 years, with the maximum fine raised by one-third.²

Article 114 targets buyers, sellers, and intermediaries. The base penalty is life imprisonment or 5 to 20 years, plus fines of 1 billion to 10 billion Rupiah. Above the same quantity thresholds, the death penalty is on the table and the minimum prison term rises to 6 years.² Someone who helps move marijuana from one person to another faces penalties on par with the supplier.

These are not theoretical sentences. Roughly 530 people currently sit on Indonesia’s death row, most for drug offenses, and 96 of them are foreign nationals.¹ Executions have been paused since July 2016, when one Indonesian citizen and three foreigners were executed by firing squad.³ Officials have periodically threatened to resume them.

Is There a Lesser Charge for Personal Use?

Article 127 creates a separate track for people caught using marijuana for personal consumption. The maximum sentence is 4 years, with no mandatory minimum.² On paper, that is lighter than the possession charges above. In practice, prosecutors routinely charge under Articles 111 or 112 instead, where the four-year floor applies.

The law also allows judges to send users to rehabilitation rather than prison. Articles 54 and 103 direct courts to consider medical and social rehabilitation, and a 2010 Supreme Court circular pushed judges to use it when the quantity matched one day’s personal use and a medical assessment confirmed addiction. The rehabilitation program involves at least a three-month inpatient stay with detoxification, counseling, and post-release supervision. Whether a defendant is routed to rehabilitation or to prison depends on quantity, the circumstances of arrest, and access to legal counsel. For foreign visitors arrested with marijuana, the realistic expectation is prosecution under Article 111 or 112, not Article 127.

Medical Marijuana and CBD

Indonesia does not recognize medical cannabis in any form. CBD oil, THC oil, cannabis edibles, tinctures, and vape cartridges all fall under the Group I classification and carry the same penalties as recreational marijuana. A foreign prescription or medical card has no legal effect.

The Constitutional Court has twice been asked to carve out a medical exception. In Case 13/PUU-XXII/2024, the Court rejected a petition filed by the parents of a child with cerebral palsy who sought access to medical cannabis. The Court held that Group I narcotics may only be used for scientific research, not therapy, citing the absence of comprehensive Indonesian scientific studies on medical cannabis. The Court urged the government to conduct such studies so the question could be “resolved and answered rationally and scientifically.”⁴ Until that research is completed and the legislature responds, medical cannabis remains fully prohibited.

CBD products deserve particular attention. Indonesian law does not distinguish CBD from THC, and there is no practical way to prove at a customs checkpoint that a cannabis-derived product contains only CBD. Leave these products at home.

What Foreign Visitors Need to Know

Foreigners are prosecuted under the same narcotics law as Indonesian citizens. There is no deportation-in-lieu-of-prosecution policy and no diplomatic workaround. Foreign nationals arrested on drug charges go through the Indonesian criminal justice system, and 96 of the roughly 530 people on death row are foreigners, most convicted of drug crimes.¹

Bali draws the most enforcement attention. Police patrol nightlife areas and beaches, and sting operations targeting tourists happen. Airlines flying into Indonesia announce over the PA that drug trafficking carries the death penalty. If you are caught with marijuana in any amount, in any form, anywhere in Indonesia, you face a minimum of four years in prison regardless of your nationality or where cannabis is legal back home.

1
AP News. Indonesia Arrests Foreign Nationals in Bali on Drugs Charges
2
Directorate General of Human Rights, Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 35 of 2009 Regarding Narcotics
3
JURIST. Indonesia Repatriates Drug Trafficking Convicts to the Netherlands
4
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia. Petition on Medical Cannabis in Narcotics Law Rejected