Nepal's Supreme Court on Sunday issued a mandamus order directing the government in Kathmandu to establish a regulatory framework for the controlled cultivation and production of cannabis for medicinal, scientific, agricultural, horticultural, and industrial purposes — a ruling that could end nearly five decades of prohibition on marijuana cultivation in the Himalayan nation.

What the Court Ordered

The apex court directed the Nepali government to formulate the necessary regulations, standards, and procedures within three months to govern cannabis cultivation and production. The court also ordered the creation of a strict regulatory and monitoring mechanism for issuing licences or permits covering the commercial cultivation, processing, storage, use, sale, distribution, export, and import of cannabis for permitted purposes.

Crucially, the mechanism must also prohibit unlawful cultivation, manufacture, sale, and distribution, ensuring that legalisation does not translate into an unregulated free-for-all.

Why the Ruling Took So Long to Emerge

Although the judgment was delivered on 18 May 2025, its full text was made public only recently. The delay was caused by the destruction of court documents in a fire at the Supreme Court during the Gen Z protests on 9 September last year, which meant the document could not be located for months. The belated publication has now set the regulatory clock ticking.

The Legal Basis and Historical Context

Nepal's Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 1976, criminalised the sale, cultivation, and consumption of cannabis — a law that currently carries prison sentences and fines. However, the Supreme Court found that the same legislation contains a provision that allows controlled cultivation for medicinal, scientific, and industrial purposes. The government's failure to ever formulate the requisite regulations effectively made that provision a dead letter.

Historical records indicate that cannabis cultivation and sales were legal in Nepal until the early 1970s. The shift came as Western hippies travelling the overland trail created a commercialised demand for Nepal's marijuana and hashish, drawing unwanted scrutiny. Domestic and international researchers have said that pressure from the United States, then prosecuting its 'War on Drugs', was a key driver behind Nepal's decision to criminalise cannabis.

Growing Momentum for Reform

The ruling builds on years of incremental reform efforts. In March 2020, then Member of the House of Representatives Sher Bahadur Tamang registered a private member's Bill seeking to legalise marijuana primarily for medicinal use and export, though it did not pass. The proposed legislation would have allowed licensed farmers to cultivate and sell cannabis under conditions requiring them to specify cultivation areas and provide assurances against unauthorised use.

More recently, on 9 July 2025, Nepal's Gandaki Province Assembly unanimously passed a Bill to license cannabis cultivation for medicinal and industrial purposes — signalling growing political consensus at sub-national level even before the Supreme Court's order became public.

Several US states have since legalised cannabis for medicinal use, with some permitting recreational use as well, and numerous other countries have followed suit — a global shift that has lent fresh legitimacy to Nepal's reform debate.

What Happens Next

The government now has a court-mandated three-month window to draft a comprehensive regulatory framework. Stakeholders — from farmers in traditionally cannabis-growing districts to pharmaceutical firms eyeing Nepal's export potential — will be watching closely. The outcome could reshape both the country's drug policy landscape and its economic prospects in a sector that has remained underground for half a century.