🇦🇪 Cannabis status in United Arab Emirates
Federal Decree-Law 30 of 2021 made first-time cannabis offenders eligible for rehab rather than mandatory prison; second-offence carries 5+ years. UAE recently softened personal-use penalties but cross-border carriage remains a serious offence.
Legal status (4 axes)
- Recreational
- illegal
- Medical
- illegal
- CBD / hemp
- illegal
- THC limit
- 0% THC
Cross-border carriage
Cross-border carriage of cannabis is illegal under the UN Single Convention 1961 in every signatory country regardless of domestic legal status. Even where domestic possession is legal, taking cannabis across the border is a separate prosecutable offence.
Last verified 2026-04-28.