Botswana legalises cannabis under licence
2025-10-17
Changelog 63a85ef
20 history entries added1 history entry edited12 country profiles edited8 articles written13 atlas entries written1 atlas entry edited13 files of code, design or docs +2,133 −190 lines
2025-10-17
PossessionPossessing or growing cannabis for personal use is a crimeminor offence under the Criminal Code, punished with up to a year in prison, usually resolved byshort arrest and a fine or conditional sentenceof €500–1,200. No medical programme.
Possession of any amountPossessing cannabis for one's own use is a criminalminor offence (contravenció penal) under article 499 of the PenalCriminal Code, punishable by up to 12 months in prisonpunished with arrest and a fine of €500 to €1,200 fine. For minor offences arrest means at most eight weekends, a month of house arrest or two months of partial daily arrest. In practice small amounts usually bring a fine or a conditional sentence —, often for people stopped at the border with Spain or France. The new Criminal Code passed in July 2026 keeps the same rule, as article 545.
criminalcurrent, criminaldeferred2026, cann
Cultivation is treatedGrowing cannabis for one's own use falls under the same minor offence as possession: arrest and a fine of €500 to €1,200. Growing to supply others is drug trafficking.
criminalcurrent, cann
British travel advice says Andorra has a zero-tolerance policy on theUsing cannabis is punished like possession andfor one's own use of illegal drugs, with arrest and that even the smallest amount can bring refusala fine of entry€500 to €1, expulsion200. Using it in a public place, finesor together with other people, brings arrest and prison sentences€600 to €1,500 under article 500.
fcdocriminalcurrent
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice describes a zero-tolerance policy on possession and use: evenBringing cannabis into the smallest amount can bring refusalcountry for one's own use is part of entry, expulsion from the countrysame minor offence as possession, punished with arrest and a fine or a prison sentenceof €500 to €1,200.
cann, fcdocriminalcurrent
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Andorra, safety and security
7 unchanged
Hemp seed is a traditional food and seed powder was recorded on sale in Yerevan's markets in 2020. British travel advice says marijuanaThe government's list of controlled substances, CBD andin its 2019 consolidated text, puts every hemp species on List No. 1, of substances whose circulation is prohibited in Armenia, together with any preparation containing THC products are all illegal to use"regardless of the name under which they appear", possess or tradecannabis extracts and tinctures, and all THC isomers.
balant25, fcdolist1129
No medical cannabis programme. In February 2019 the health minister said there could be no initiative to free the use of narcotics and that he would veto one. British travel advice warns that a person can be prosecuted for cannabis products even when they were prescribed abroadCannabis and THC are on the list of substances whose circulation is prohibited, not on List No. 2, of substances whose circulation is only restricted.
arm19, fcdolist1129
Armenia — Government Decision N 1129-N of 15 September 2003, list of controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (consolidated English translation, 2019)
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Armenia, safety and security
10 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says it is illegal to possess drugsPolice may deal with 14 g or less by a $200 fixed-penalty notice, with no court appearance and no conviction; above that there are severethe ordinary penalties for all drug offencesapply, and tells travellers to pack their own luggage and carry nothing through customsincluding prison for anyone elsetrafficking. The sacramental exemption covers registered Rastafari places of worship only.
mci_actbill, fcdogis, cijn
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Barbados, safety and security
10 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says penaltiesPossession remains an offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act and prison is legally possible; the 2024 Cannabis Act's fixed-penalty route for possessing or trafficking drugs are severeless than 30 g has not been brought into force. It notes that tourists may come across drugs in pubs and bars, that police are vigilant, and that a visitor could face a substantial fine, deportation or imprisonment.
dda, cannabis_act, appointed_day, trib26, fcdo
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Bahamas, safety and security
6 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says only that possession of illegal drugs can leadHolding up to 10 g is not an offence except on school premises, while smoking in a public place is punished with a fine; more than 10 g, and a prison sentenceany supply, remain crimes.
wikiact, fcdowiki
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Belize, safety and security
7 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice describesCannabis is a strictly enforced zero-tolerance policy that covers cannabisClass B drug and laughing gas: possessing, using or smuggling drugs can bring a long prison sentence and heavy fines, also it for passengerspersonal use carries up to eight years in transit, whose baggage is scannedprison; courts regularly hand down prison sentences for possession.
lc, wiki, fcdocm1
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Cyprus, safety and security
9 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says illegal drugs, including cannabis, are strictly prohibitedPossessing up to 7.5 g is a misdemeanour punished with a fine; more is a crime with up to five years. Passing on even in verya small quantities and warns of jail sentences ofamount can bring up to 10three years and heavy fines for possessingunder section 183 of the Penal Code, using, buying or smuggling them, also in transitand handling a large quantity one to ten years. Airport scanners are also used on the baggage of passengers in transit.
wiki, fcdonarko
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Estonia, safety and security
8 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says illegal drugsThe drug act bans importing, even in small amounts and including cannabisselling, carry severe penaltieshanding over, producing and tells travellers to expect a long jail sentence and heavy fines for possessing, using or smuggling them, also in transit cannabis. Airport scannersSmall amounts for personal use are also used on the baggage of passengers in transitdealt with by a fine.
tni, fcdoact65, nsfk
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Iceland, safety and security
8 unchanged
The associations are for residents only. The cannabis authority states that tourists may n … on may belong to one association at a time. With no shops, a visitor has no legal source. British travel advice says carrying up to 7 gConsuming cannabis in public is legal for Maltese residents only, that smoking in public brings a fine,prohibited and that a Schengen entry ban of up to five years may be added to a fine or follow release from detentionfined €235 under the cannabis act.
chras, fcdocap628, mt
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Malta, safety and security
10 unchanged
Cannabis ('gandia') is prohibited by the Dangerous Drugs Act 2000; simple possession or use carries up to two years in prison and/or a fine of up to 50,000 rupees and up to two years in prison under section 34. Amendments in November 2022 allow people caught with small amounts to be referred to rehabilitation instead of being prosecuted.
dda, leaf
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says illegal drugsUnder section 34 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, including cannabis, carry severe penalties and tells travellers to expect a long jail sentence and heavy fines for possessing, using or smuggling them, also when only changing planes. Anyone found withpossessing any dangerous drug is unlikely to get bail; prosecutions takecarries a year or morefine of up to reach court50,000 rupees and up to two years in prison, although the court may order treatment instead of prison for a person is detained until trialwho undertakes to be cured of addiction.
mondaq, fcdodda
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Mauritius, safety and security
4 unchanged
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says penalties are severeCannabis is a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 2016 and may includepossession is a crime; courts often impose fines and prisonor suspended sentences up to life imprisonment, for supply and for simple possession of any drugsmall amounts, but prison sentences are also in transit. Bail is highly unlikelyhanded down, and prosecutions can take a year or morepossession with intent to reach court; the airport's scanners detect cannabis and can be used on transit baggagetraffic carries up to fifty years.
regwiki, fcdonation23
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Seychelles, safety and security
5 unchanged
Tourists are held to the same rule as residents: since June 2025 cannabis flower may be bo … aimed at tourists may be operating illegally. Taking cannabis out of the country without an export permitpermission from the authorities is a crime: fines start at 30against Thai law,000 baht a kilogram, with detention if unpaid, and the traveller is put on an immigration watchlisthealth minister said in May 2025, as cases of tourists caught smuggling it out rose. Under rules introducedA deportation regulation in force since 28 August 2026, allows foreigners canto be deported without a criminal conviction for conduct judged contrary to public order or good morals, and may be barred from returningintroduces the possibility of re-entry bans.
tat25, fcdoeuronews25, newland26
Euronews (with AP) — Thailand vows tighter controls of cannabis as smuggling cases among tourists soar (21 May 2025)
Newland Chase — Thailand's new deportation regulation introduces formal procedures (2026)
GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Thailand, safety and security
9 unchanged
*Siemieniotka*, also called *konopiotka* or *siemieniatka*, is a traditional hemp-seed so … potato | | Bhang chutney | Kumaon, India | Seeds ground with mint, tomato and spices | | [Shichimi](/culture/traditions/hemp-seed-in-shichimi/) | Japan | A seven-spice mixture that includes hemp seed | They have in common that they u … ffers another Baltic food tradition in which cannabis seeds are prepared for nourishment.
docs/DATA-MAINTENANCE.md +5 @@ -464,5 +464,5 @@ node scripts/data-status.cjs chain de # one country's full timeline whenever a profile is edited, replace what rests on it and delete the `fcdo` source once nothing cites it. `grep -l "gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice" -r countries | wc -l` counts what is - left (147 files on 12 October 2026). + left (147 files on 12 October 2026, 29 on 14 October 2026). - **Removing a GOV.UK sentence means replacing its content, not dropping it.** Above all a statement about prison: if the travel advice was the only place a profile said how long a @@ -482,4 +482,8 @@ node scripts/data-status.cjs chain de # one country's full timeline - **Federations:** state-level changes (US, Australia, Canada, India) are context entries on the national timeline unless the national picture really shifts. +- **`history-batch.cjs` re-sorts the whole of `changes.yaml`.** The file is not kept in the + script's sort order, so one run rewrote about 41,000 lines (14 October 2026). Check `git diff + --stat changes.yaml` after a run; if it is more than the new entries, put the original text + back and insert the new blocks by hand next to entries of the same date. - **Search tool limits:** more than about ten web searches in one go start failing with rate-limit errors. Batches of five work.
docs/research/content-round-2026-10-14.md +187 @@ -0,0 +1,187 @@ +# Content round, 14 October 2026 (evening) + +New facts for countries, history entries, two articles and two atlas entries. No scores changed; +every new history entry is an unscored context entry. Score-chain check: 0 flagged steps for lb, +us, it, gh, au, sl and cg. + +## History entries (10, all checked against a read source) + +- `australia-victoria-plebiscite-bill-2026` — Victorian Hansard, Legislative Council, 29 July 2026. +- `cayman-decriminalisation-referendum-2025` — Wikipedia, 2025 Caymanian referendum (no country, + like the existing Cayman entry). +- `sierra-leone-cannabis-long-in-use-1851`, `congo-cannabis-cultivation-noted-1959` — Wikipedia + country pages (dates and events only). +- `italy-resentencing-ruling-2014` — Grazia Zuffa, TNI/UNGASS on Drugs, 5 June 2014 ("end of May"; + no exact day given). +- `lebanon-green-plan-1990` (CSM, 7 March 1990), `lebanon-off-majors-list-1997` (TIME 2007, CSM + 2012), `lebanon-eradication-abandoned-2007` (TIME, 16 October 2007), + `lebanon-clans-resist-eradication-2012` (CSM, 7 August 2012). +- `us-norml-founded-1970` — Wikipedia, NORML and Keith Stroup. + +Entries were inserted by hand into `changes.yaml` next to entries of the same date: +`history-batch.cjs` re-sorts the whole file (about 41,000 changed lines), so its output was +discarded and the original text kept (see the note in DATA-MAINTENANCE.md). + +## Articles + +- `italy-constitutional-court-2014` — from the judgment itself, Sentenza 32/2014, read through an + Internet Archive copy (the court's site sits behind a bot check). Penalties in the table are the + ones the referring court quoted. The 10,000-prisoner figure is Zuffa's estimate. +- `ghana-narcotics-commission-act-2020` — IDPC (2020, 2022, 2026) and ISS (2017). The old penalty + was disputed between sources: ISS says a five-year minimum for all drug offences and ten for + possession; IDPC says "up to 10 years". The entry's "minimum of ten years" follows ISS. The + 2022 Nsawam figure (over 4% of inmates sentenced for drug use alone) is from the prisons + director-general as reported by IDPC. + +## Atlas + +- `traditions/hashish-in-the-bekaa` — CSM 1990 and 2012, TIME 2007, Wikipedia. No source read + describes sieving or grading in detail (L'Orient-Le Jour's account returned 403), so the entry + says only what the reports state: green crop reduced to resin, harvested at the end of October. + Picture: Voice of America video still, June 2021, public domain. +- `people/keith-stroup` — Wikipedia (Stroup, NORML). No birth year in a read source, so no `life`. + The Peter Bourne episode is as Stroup's Wikipedia page tells it; Bourne's own page was not found. + Picture: Carolmooredc, 1998, CC BY-SA 3.0. + +## Not done, and why + +- Kiribati: High Court sentences of 2016 and 2025 on marijuana found by search, but PacLII and its + Wayback copies return block pages; not added from summaries. +- `language/weed`: no read source dates the cannabis sense (Etymonline behind a bot check, + Wiktionary undated). Left for a pass with the OED or Green's Dictionary of Slang. +- Burma 1939 licensing: too little in the sources for an article. + +## Second pass (same evening) + +**Profiles: GOV.UK travel advice replaced in six countries** (41 → 35 files). Each passage was +rewritten from a national or local source, not dropped: + +- Armenia (products, medical): Government Decision 1129-N of 2003, consolidated English text of + 2019 — every hemp species, THC preparations "regardless of the name", extracts, tinctures and all + THC isomers are on List No. 1 (circulation prohibited). The 2019 text predates the 2021 hemp law; + whether List No. 1 was amended for low-THC hemp was not checked. +- Iceland (visitors): the drug act's bans (act65) and the fines for small amounts (nsfk). Althingi + serves a bot check; the act was not re-read, the profile's existing citation was used. The + airport-scanner remark had no other source and was dropped. +- Estonia (visitors): penalties already sourced to narko.ee in the profile. +- Malta (visitors): €235 public-use fine from Cap. 628. The FCDO's "7 g for residents only" and + Schengen entry-ban statements could not be sourced locally and were removed. +- Cyprus (visitors): Class B, up to eight years, prison sentences in practice (existing sources). + The laughing-gas remark was dropped as off-topic. +- Thailand (visitors): export without permission illegal (health minister, Euronews/AP, 21 May + 2025); deportation without conviction (Newland Chase on the regulation in force 28 August 2026). + The FCDO's "30,000 baht a kilogram" fine and "immigration watchlist" were not found in any Thai + source and were removed. + +No scores changed. + +**History:** `thailand-smuggling-warning-2025`, `thailand-deportation-regulation-2026` (context). + +**Article:** `malta-first-associations-2024` — MaltaToday (30 January 2024), MaltaToday via IDPC +(November 2023), Marijuana Moment (25 October 2023), ARUC's permit register (24 associations, +read 14 October 2026; the page is undated). + +**Atlas:** `traditions/hemp-seed-in-shichimi` — Japanese and English Wikipedia, and the act itself +from e-Gov (Article 2(2) excludes seeds and mature stalks; Articles 18–20 on non-germinating seed; +Article 24 penalties). When the seed-treatment articles were first enacted was not established. +Picture: タバコはマーダー, 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0. + +**Facts:** Japan (shichimi), Malta (first association). + +## Third pass + +**Profiles: GOV.UK replaced in six more countries** (35 → 29): Andorra, Belize, Barbados, the +Bahamas, Seychelles, Mauritius. + +- **Andorra corrected from the Criminal Code itself.** Articles 499–500 (Book III, minor offences) + punish using, growing, bringing in or possessing cannabis for one's own use with "arrest" and + €500–1,200, and public or group use with €600–1,500. Article 37 limits arrest for minor offences + to eight weekends, a month of house arrest or two months of partial daily arrest. The profile had + "up to 12 months in prison" (The Cannigma) and "cultivation is treated as trafficking"; both + replaced. The consumption segment had rested only on the FCDO. The new Criminal Code (Law + 18/2026, in force four months after publication) keeps the rule as articles 545 and 547. Scores + unchanged (possession 1, "a crime, usually ends in a fine", still fits). +- **Mauritius:** possession penalty now cited to section 34 of the Dangerous Drugs Act (fine up to + Rs 50,000 and up to two years; treatment instead of prison under s. 34(2)), not only Leafwell. +- Belize, Barbados, the Bahamas, Seychelles: visitors rewritten from statutes and local sources + already in each profile. FCDO-only details (luggage advice, bail practice, scanners) dropped. + +**History:** `andorra-criminal-code-2005` (in force 23 September 2005, from the 2026 code's +preamble), `andorra-new-criminal-code-2026`. `botswana-cannabis-act-2025` dated to assent, +17 October 2025. + +**Article:** `botswana-cannabis-act-2025`, from the Gazette text of Act 20 of 2025 (a scanned PDF; +pages rendered and read: long title, ss. 1–6, 46–48, 54–55, 64). Commencement is by ministerial +notice; whether it has commenced was not established. + +**Atlas:** `people/hamilton-wright` — Wikipedia and the TNI chapter. Who led the US delegation at +The Hague was not established, so the text says only that he was a delegate. Picture: Bain News +Service, 1909, public domain. + +**Facts:** Andorra (arrest of up to eight weekends), Botswana (wild plants), Hamilton Wright. + +## Fourth pass: landrace and recent terms + +**`language/landrace`** — Wikipedia (Landrace: Landrasse, Vienna 1890, von Rümker 1908, Mansholt +1909, Danish Landrace pig), Landrace.wiki ("Landrace Cannabis": mass selection, threats; main page: +727 mapped accessions, 15 growing regions, 26% critical or high priority, CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikipedia +(Cannabis indica, charas), the existing Kush entry, Atalayar and Hespress on beldiya. The khardala +replacement and the "three- to fivefold" resin gain are Chouvy and Afsahi (2014) as reported by +Landrace.wiki; the paper itself was not read. Yield comparisons (17 vs 28 q/ha) appeared only in +search summaries and were not used. Picture: GuHKS, Ketama 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0; the caption does not +claim the plants are landrace. New history: `morocco-beldiya-authorised-2024`. + +**`language/cbd`**, **`language/delta-8`**, **`language/dispensary`** — recent terms with legal +histories. Sources: Wikipedia (Cannabidiol; Δ8-Tetrahydrocannabinol; Cannabis retail outlet), +Wiktionary (dispensary), and existing checked history and atlas entries (Farm Bill 2018, hemp +redefinition 2025, CBD rulings in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Slovakia, France, China and Andorra; Proposition +215, Oakland 2001, Colorado 2014, Thailand 2022, Barbados 2025; Dennis Peron). New history: +`us-delta-8-appeals-ruling-2022` (date only to the year). The dispensary word history is thin: no +dated first use of "dispensary" for a cannabis outlet was found. + +**Facts:** landrace (beldiya), delta-8. + +**Pending:** GOV.UK replacement for Antigua, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Guyana, Montenegro, +Liechtenstein, San Marino and Fiji. Their passages were listed; most can be rebuilt from the +statutes already cited in each profile. + +## Fifth pass: people from outside the United States + +Five People entries, each tied to the history of one country's law: + +- `people/anutin-charnvirakul` (Thailand) — Wikipedia; existing Thailand entries 2019–2026. The + 4,200 released prisoners and the million-plant announcement (8 May 2022) are from Wikipedia. + Picture: NBT, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0. +- `people/joao-goulao` (Portugal) — Wikipedia (Goulão; Drug policy of Portugal); existing 1999 and + 2001 entries. Picture: Drugreporter, 2013, CC BY 3.0 (caption from the file description; place + not stated). +- `people/karl-lauterbach` (Germany) — Wikipedia; DW via TNI/UNGASS (13 October 2021, quote on his + change of mind); existing 2023–2024 entries. A Deutschlandfunk interview a year after legalisation … 29 more lines
source-archive.json +73 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/anutin-charnvirakul-2019.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/bekaa-harvest-2021.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/hamilton-wright-1909.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/joao-goulao-2013.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/karl-lauterbach-2020.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/keith-stroup-1998.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/ketama-fields-2017.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/peter-tosh-1978.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/assets/culture/shichimi-ingredients-2017.jpg +0 Not shown: a picture, a generated file, or past the length shown per change.
src/lib/facts.js +15 @@ -57,4 +57,6 @@ const curated = [ { kicker: "India", text: "In [[IN|India]] the flowers and resin are banned, but [[c:language/bhang|bhang]], made from cannabis leaves, is legal and sold in government-licensed shops in several states." }, { kicker: "Malta", text: "[[MT|Malta]] was [[h:malta-legalisation-2021|the first EU country to legalise]], in 2021 — but there are no shops, only [[c:traditions/cannabis-social-clubs|non-profit associations]] capped at 500 members each." }, + { kicker: "Andorra", text: "In [[AD|Andorra]] possessing cannabis for one\u2019s own use is a minor offence. The penalty is a fine of \u20ac500 to \u20ac1,200 plus \u2018arrest\u2019, which for minor offences can mean spending up to eight weekends in custody." }, + { kicker: "Botswana", text: "Under [[BW|Botswana]]\u2019s [[h:botswana-cannabis-act-2025|2025 Cannabis Act]], a landowner who finds cannabis growing wild on their land must report it within seven days \u2014 or face up to five years in prison." }, ]; @@ -65,4 +67,5 @@ const fromHistory = [ { kicker: "1798 · India", history: "india-bhang-tax-1798", text: "In 1798 the British Parliament taxed [[c:language/bhang|bhang]], [[c:language/ganja|ganja]] and [[c:language/charas|charas]] in [[IN|India]], saying the aim was to reduce consumption. Attempts to make cannabis a crime in 1838, 1871 and 1877 were never enacted." }, { kicker: "1800 · Egypt", history: "egypt-french-ban-1800", text: "In October 1800 the French army occupying [[EG|Egypt]] banned [[c:traditions/hashish-in-egypt|hashish]], alarmed by its use among its own troops." }, + { kicker: "1851 · Sierra Leone", history: "sierra-leone-cannabis-long-in-use-1851", text: "In 1851 a botanical journal reported that cannabis had long been used in the interior of [[SL|Sierra Leone]], and claimed its seeds had come to the colony with \u201cCongoes captured by one of our cruisers\u201d." }, { kicker: "1874 · Egypt", history: "egypt-import-tax-1874", text: "[[EG|Egypt]] forbade importing cannabis in [[h:egypt-first-ban-1868|1868]]. Six years later it put a tax on those same imports." }, { kicker: "1830 · Brazil", history: "brazil-rio-pango-ban-1830", text: "Rio de Janeiro's council banned cannabis in 1830. A seller paid a fine of 20 milreis; a slave or anyone else caught using it faced up to three days in prison. [[BR|Brazil]]'s other councils followed." }, @@ -83,4 +86,5 @@ const fromHistory = [ { kicker: "1953 · Netherlands", history: "netherlands-possession-ban-1953", text: "The [[NL|Netherlands]] only made possessing cannabis an offence in 1953 — just over twenty years before it [[h:netherlands-toleration-1976|became known for tolerating it]]." }, { kicker: "1954 · United States", history: "us-toklas-cookbook-1954", text: "Alice B. Toklas's 1954 cookbook contained a recipe for hashish fudge, \"easy to whip up on a rainy day\". It was cut from the first American edition." }, + { kicker: "1959 · Congo", history: "congo-cannabis-cultivation-noted-1959", text: "A year before independence, cannabis was recorded growing all over the French [[CG|Congo]], above all in the Pool region, where farmers planted it in their cassava plots." }, { kicker: "1961 · Sri Lanka", history: "sri-lanka-ayurveda-act-1961", text: "In [[LK|Sri Lanka]] the only people who may legally sell cannabis are Ayurvedic practitioners, and their only legal supplier is a state corporation that gets most of it from police seizures." }, { kicker: "1966 · Nigeria", history: "nigeria-indian-hemp-decree-1966", text: "[[NG|Nigeria]]'s 1966 [[c:language/indian-hemp|Indian Hemp]] Decree set death or 21 years for growing cannabis and at least ten years for possessing it. The death penalty [[h:nigeria-death-penalty-removed-1975|was dropped in 1975]]." }, @@ -104,11 +108,14 @@ const fromHistory = [ { kicker: "2014 · Italy", history: "italy-army-cannabis-2014", text: "[[IT|Italy]]'s medical cannabis is grown by the army, at a military pharmaceutical plant in Florence. Its two varieties are called FM1 and FM2: Farmaceutico Militare." }, { kicker: "2014 · Albania", history: "albania-lazarat-operation-2014", text: "When more than 800 police moved on the cannabis-growing village of Lazarat in [[AL|Albania]] in 2014, residents answered with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars." }, + { kicker: "2014 · Italy", history: "italy-constitutional-court-2014", text: "For eight years [[IT|Italy]] punished selling cannabis like heroin, with six to twenty years in prison. The law had been added to an emergency decree on funding the Winter Olympics, and that is why the Constitutional Court [[h:italy-constitutional-court-2014|struck it down]] in 2014." }, { kicker: "2016 · United Kingdom", history: "uk-largest-legal-producer-2016", text: "In 2016 the [[GB|United Kingdom]] was the world's largest producer of legal cannabis, 95 tonnes of it, while its government held that cannabis had no therapeutic value." }, { kicker: "2017 · Indonesia", history: "indonesia-fidelis-case-2017", text: "In [[ID|Indonesia]] a man was jailed for eight months in 2017 for growing cannabis to treat his wife. She died while he was detained." }, { kicker: "2018 · Poland", history: "poland-first-pharmacy-cannabis-2018", text: "[[PL|Poland]]'s parliament [[h:poland-medical-2017|legalised medical cannabis]] by 440 votes to 2. The first delivery, a year later, was seven kilograms for the whole country and sold out within days." }, { kicker: "2018 · Georgia", history: "georgia-constitutional-court-2018", text: "In [[GE|Georgia]] using cannabis in private has been legal since a court ruling in 2018. Growing it and selling it are still crimes, so there is no lawful way to get any." }, + { kicker: "2020 · Ghana", history: "ghana-narcotics-commission-act-2020", text: "Until 2020, possessing drugs for personal use in [[GH|Ghana]] carried at least ten years in prison. The [[h:ghana-narcotics-commission-act-2020|Narcotics Control Commission Act]] replaced it with a fine \u2014 but in 2022 the prisons still held people sentenced for drug use alone." }, { kicker: "2021 · Rwanda", history: "rwanda-medical-2021", text: "[[RW|Rwanda]] licenses companies to grow cannabis for export. For anyone else, producing or selling it carries [[h:rwanda-penal-law-2018|twenty years to life]]." }, { kicker: "2022 · Italy", history: "italy-referendum-blocked-2022", text: "More than 600,000 people in [[IT|Italy]] signed for a referendum on decriminalising home growing. The Constitutional Court ruled the question inadmissible, and no vote was held." }, { kicker: "2022 · Russia", history: "russia-griner-sentence-2022", text: "[[RU|Russia]] sentenced an American basketball player to nine years in 2022 for 0.7 grams of cannabis oil. She was freed in a prisoner exchange that December." }, + { kicker: "2024 · Malta", history: "malta-first-associations-2024", text: "[[MT|Malta]]\u2019s first licensed cannabis association, KDD Society, began supplying its members in January 2024. Each may receive at most 7 g a day and 50 g a month, and only residents can join." }, { kicker: "2025 · Lebanon", history: "lebanon-cannabis-authority-2025", text: "[[LB|Lebanon]] became the first Arab country to [[h:lebanon-medical-cultivation-2020|legalise growing cannabis]] in 2020. It took five more years to appoint the regulator that issues the licences." }, { kicker: "2022–2025 · Thailand", history: "thailand-prescription-only-2025", text: "[[TH|Thailand]] went from [[h:thailand-decriminalisation-2022|thousands of open dispensaries]] to prescription-only in three years. Since June 2025 cannabis flower officially requires a prescription." }, @@ -147,4 +154,12 @@ const fromCulture = [ { kicker: "People · Canada", culture: "people/marc-emery", history: "canada-emery-arrest-2005", text: "From 1998 [[c:people/marc-emery|Marc Emery]] declared his mail-order cannabis seed sales to the tax office in [[CA|Canada]], paying nearly 600,000 dollars. Canada never charged him; it extradited him to the United States, which jailed him for five years." }, { kicker: "People · United States", culture: "people/mezz-mezzrow", text: "[[c:people/mezz-mezzrow|Mezz Mezzrow]], a jazz clarinettist, was arrested in 1940 with sixty joints at the New York World's Fair. In jail he insisted he was Black, and was moved to the Black block and asked to lead the prison band." }, + { kicker: "Traditions · Lebanon", culture: "traditions/hashish-in-the-bekaa", history: "lebanon-clans-resist-eradication-2012", text: "\u201cIn Yammouneh, we grow either apples or hashish,\u201d the mayor of a village in [[LB|Lebanon]]'s [[c:traditions/hashish-in-the-bekaa|Bekaa valley]] said in 2012. A kilogram of apples fetched 30 cents; a kilogram of resin, $1,700." }, + { kicker: "People · United States", culture: "people/keith-stroup", history: "us-norml-founded-1970", text: "The American cannabis users\u2019 lobby NORML was founded in 1970 as the National Organization for the \u201cRepeal\u201d of Marijuana Laws. A former attorney general advised [[c:people/keith-stroup|its founder]] that \u201cReform\u201d would sound more approachable." }, + { kicker: "Traditions · Japan", culture: "traditions/hemp-seed-in-shichimi", text: "In [[JP|Japan]], where possessing cannabis can bring years in prison, a shaker of [[c:traditions/hemp-seed-in-shichimi|shichimi]] with hemp seed in it stands on restaurant tables. The law leaves out the seed, as long as it has been treated so it cannot sprout." }, + { kicker: "People · United States", culture: "people/hamilton-wright", history: "hague-opium-convention-1912", text: "When Italy proposed controlling cannabis at the 1912 Hague opium conference, only one country backed it: the [[US|United States]], whose delegates included [[c:people/hamilton-wright|Hamilton Wright]]. Italy\u2019s delegation had already gone home after the first day." }, + { kicker: "Words · Landrace", culture: "language/landrace", history: "morocco-beldiya-authorised-2024", text: "In [[MA|Morocco]]\u2019s Rif the old local cannabis was largely replaced by hybrids from the early 2000s and renamed beldiya, \u2018local\u2019. Since 2024 the legal programme has licensed it again: a [[c:language/landrace|landrace]] brought back as a crop." }, + { kicker: "Words · Delta-8", culture: "language/delta-8", history: "us-hemp-thc-limit-enacted-2025", text: "The 2018 US hemp law counted only delta-9 THC. So [[c:language/delta-8|delta-8]], a close relative made from legal hemp, was sold in petrol stations across the [[US|United States]] as a legal high \u2014 until Congress rewrote the definition, from 12 November 2026." }, + { kicker: "People · Belgium", culture: "people/joep-oomen", history: "belgium-trekt-uw-plant-2006", text: "[[BE|Belgium]] tolerated one cannabis plant per adult. [[c:people/joep-oomen|Joep Oomen]] reasoned that someone else could look after it \u2014 and founded a club where each member\u2019s single plant grows in a shared room, with a name tag." }, + { kicker: "People · Thailand", culture: "people/anutin-charnvirakul", history: "thailand-decriminalisation-2022", text: "In May 2022 [[TH|Thailand]]\u2019s health minister, [[c:people/anutin-charnvirakul|Anutin Charnvirakul]], announced on Facebook that the government would give away a million cannabis plants to households." }, ];