15/03/2026
Did you know Nepal once had a legal system to regulate cannabis cultivation?
While reading “Cannabis in Nepal: An Overview” by James Fisher (Cannabis and Culture, 2011), we came across something fascinating.
Under Nepal’s Intoxicants Act of 1961, cannabis cultivation was licensed and taxed.
- Farmers could legally cultivate cannabis (typically one bigha)
- The government collected excise and sales taxes
- Shops in Kathmandu paid official taxes
- Much of the cultivation happened in the Terai districts — Bara, Parsa, Siraha, Dhanusha and Mahottari
In other words, Nepal once had a regulated cannabis system.
As conversations about cannabis policy slowly return today, an important question arises:
Could the future of cannabis in Nepal lie in understanding its past?
Source: Cannabis in Nepal: An Overview — James Fisher
Also — if anyone has access to the full text of Nepal’s Intoxicants Act of 1961, please share it.
Understanding the original law is essential before we try to shape the future.
Sometimes the answers we seek… are already part of our history.
**pNepal **pInnoventures