Eswatini’s Cannabis Stance: Colonial-Era Prohibition, Slow Reform Signals, and Cross-Border Reality

Eswatini remains one of the more restrictive jurisdictions in the region. The Opium and Habit-Forming Drugs Act of 1922 and related pharmacy legislation still treat cannabis broadly as a prohibited substance. There is no operational adult-use framework and no clearly established public medical-cannabis access system for ordinary citizens. Industrial hemp is not separately legalised for commercial cultivation.

Policy discussion has occurred. Draft medical and scientific production regulations have been prepared in previous years, and government statements have at times linked cannabis and hemp to economic diversification. Research-oriented or limited licensing interest has been reported, but commercial cultivation remains prohibited and enforcement against possession and dealing continues. Recent court cases show ordinary possession still attracting fines or imprisonment under the old statutes.

Cross-border flows with South Africa are a persistent feature of the informal market. Eswatini’s restrictive posture contrasts with South Africa’s private-use protections and limited formal channels, creating price and risk differentials that informal networks exploit.

Comparison with South Africa: Eswatini has not followed the constitutional private-use route. Its reform conversation, when it surfaces, tends toward controlled medical or industrial models rather than broad decriminalisation. For South Africa, the neighbour illustrates how colonial-era statutes can persist and how the absence of clear domestic pathways sustains informal cross-border movement.