No, weed is not legal in Tanzania. Cannabis is classified as a narcotic drug under the Drug Control and Enforcement Act of 2015, grouped with substances like cocaine and heroin, and the penalties are among the harshest anywhere in the world. There are no exceptions for medical use, recreational use, CBD, or industrial hemp, and foreign visitors are treated exactly the same as Tanzanian citizens.1TanzLII. Drug Control and Enforcement Act
Penalties for Cannabis Offenses
The sentences below are mandatory minimums, not maximums. Tanzanian judges cannot go below them, and the law makes no provision for suspended sentences, probation, or community service in drug cases.
Using Cannabis
Simply using cannabis, in any quantity, carries a prison sentence of at least 5 years and up to 10 years.2Drug Control and Enforcement Authority. Drug Control and Enforcement Act of 2015
Possession
Possession of a quantity classified as “small” carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years. For larger quantities, the minimum rises to 20 years and can reach life imprisonment.2Drug Control and Enforcement Authority. Drug Control and Enforcement Act of 2015 Possessing equipment intended for manufacturing drugs brings life imprisonment plus a fine of at least 200 million Tanzanian Shillings, roughly $80,000.1TanzLII. Drug Control and Enforcement Act
Cultivation
Growing cannabis in any quantity carries a minimum prison sentence of 30 years. The same penalty reaches landowners or occupiers who allow their property to be used for cultivation, and anyone who possesses or supplies cannabis seeds for drug production.1TanzLII. Drug Control and Enforcement Act Tanzanian courts have handed down the full 30-year sentence, including to elderly defendants.
Trafficking
Trafficking cannabis in amounts above 50 kilograms carries mandatory life imprisonment. For 50 kilograms or below, the sentence is 30 years. The Act defines trafficking broadly to include selling, supplying, storing, transporting, carrying, delivering, organizing, or financing.1TanzLII. Drug Control and Enforcement Act
No Medical, CBD, or Hemp Exceptions
Tanzania has no medical cannabis program. The law makes no distinction between someone using cannabis for a medical condition and someone using it recreationally.
CBD products are effectively illegal as well. The Act defines “cannabis” as any part of the cannabis plant other than the seeds, mature stalk, and fiber, with no carve-out for low-THC extracts or hemp-derived cannabinoids. If it comes from the cannabis plant, it falls under the prohibition.1TanzLII. Drug Control and Enforcement Act
Industrial hemp is treated the same way. Cannabis sits on the list of “prohibited plants” with coca, khat, and opium poppy, and cultivating any prohibited plant triggers the 30-year penalty regardless of intended use. The Act does let the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority permit cultivation by regulation, but no such regulations have been issued, and the cultivation ban is absolute in practice.1TanzLII. Drug Control and Enforcement Act
What Travelers Need to Know
Foreign nationals get no special treatment. There is no reduced sentencing for first-time foreign offenders and no expedited deportation in place of imprisonment. A convicted visitor serves the full sentence in a Tanzanian prison before any deportation proceedings begin.
Travelers coming from countries where cannabis is legal need to be particularly careful. Residual cannabis in luggage, THC vape cartridges, CBD oil, and edibles purchased legally elsewhere are all illegal to bring into Tanzania. The legal status of these items at home is irrelevant at a Tanzanian border checkpoint, where airports, seaports, and land crossings use screening technology and customs searches to detect narcotics.
Zanzibar is not an exception. Cannabis is illegal across the entire country, including all islands. The tourism-focused economy there does not translate to relaxed drug enforcement.
If You Are Arrested
Anyone caught with cannabis faces immediate detention by officers of the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority, who hold the same powers of arrest, search, and seizure as the police.
U.S. citizens detained in Tanzania can contact the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, which lists assistance to incarcerated citizens as one of its highest priorities. Embassy staff can visit you, press for fair and humane treatment, and provide a list of local attorneys. They cannot get you out of jail, override Tanzanian law, pay your legal fees, or intervene in the judicial process.3U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. U.S. Citizen Services Citizens of other countries face the same practical reality through their own embassies: advocacy for fair treatment, not for release. With mandatory minimums running from 5 years for use to life imprisonment for larger trafficking cases, there is no low-stakes cannabis offense in Tanzania.