What is prohibited?
Article 10 of the Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021 (Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances) prohibits producing and manufacturing the controlled substances in its schedules, and Article 11 does the same for others, except in authorised cases. Article 14 prohibits planting, bringing, importing, exporting, owning, possessing and acquiring the listed plants and any plant that produces narcotics or psychotropic substances, in all stages of growth, as well as their seeds.
Licensed activity exists for scientific and research purposes, issued by the competent minister (Article 16).
What are the penalties?
Violations of Article 10(1) and Article 14 are punished under Schedule 10 (Article 57), and violations of Article 11 under Schedule 10 (Article 58). The penalty is death where the intent is trafficking or promotion or the offender belongs to a hostile group or gang (Article 57), and death or life imprisonment under Article 58.
Schedule 10 sets the penalty by substance and quantity, and for plants by number. Personal use of cannabis and its extracts has its own penalties under Article 42.
What is a landowner's duty?
Article 15 requires a landowner to inform the public authority as soon as they become aware that listed plants are planted on their land.
That is a point to raise in the defence for a landlord or farm owner who did not know what was grown.
What does a defence look at?
Who controlled the premises and equipment, who planted or made the substance, whether you knew, what the chemistry or botanical report says and whether the quantity points to personal use.
Chain of custody and the way samples were taken and tested are decisive in these cases.
What should I do first?
Do not touch or move anything
Evidence must stay as it is.
Collect tenancy and ownership documents
They show control.
Identify who had access
Staff, tenants, visitors.
Call us immediately
Quantity and intent decide the penalty.
Call us on +971 50 653 1334 or message us on WhatsApp. We answer at any hour.
Frequently asked questions
Is growing cannabis an offence?
Yes. Planting, owning or possessing listed plants is prohibited (Article 14).
Must a landowner report?
Yes, on becoming aware (Article 15).
What decides the penalty?
The substance, the quantity or number of plants and the intent (Articles 57 and 58, Schedule 10).
Is there a licence for research?
Yes, for government agencies and recognised scientific institutes (Article 16).
Related guides
Drug Offences overview
The main points, the process and your first steps.
Read the overviewTrafficking and Supply
How UAE law treats importing, producing, possessing and supplying controlled substances, and why quantity and intent shape the whole case.
Read the guideDrug Possession
How the narcotics law distinguishes possession for personal use from possession for others, and the defence of lack of knowledge.
Read the guideSources
Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021 (Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances), official English text on the UAE Legislation portal, checked 9 October 2026. The portal lists the law as active and last updated on 1 October 2025. The Arabic text prevails over translations.
This page is general information, not legal advice.