Cannabis Freedom Index

Changelog 8532991

#195 disclose PNG alternative forty-year drug charges

1 country profile edited2 files of code, design or docs +78 −23 lines

Countries and states 1 file

Papua New Guinea countries/pg.yaml

summary

Cannabis is a strictlypossession and cultivation are prohibited Schedule I substance. Ten grams or less can bringThe Controlled Substance Act has quantity tiers, including up to two years in prison; more than two kilograms falls infor 10 g or less. A separate Dangerous Drugs Act charge has been used for cannabis and carries a 16-maximum of forty years-to-life tier, and courts do jail users and transporters under/or K1 million; the lawquantity tiers are not a guarantee of the only charge or penalty.

segments › possession › text

Cannabis,The Controlled Substance Act 2021 lists cannabis, resin and cannabis oil arein Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substance Act 2021. Its Schedule VII sets up to two years in prison and/or a K15,000 fine for 10 g or less, up to 15fifteen years and/or K25,000 for more thanabove 10 g but less thanbelow 2 kg, and 16sixteen years to life and/or K26,000–2 million for more thanabove 2 kg. Courts apply the[@csa21] Separately, Dangerous Drugs Act to small possession: one man received 18 monthssection 3, replaced from 13 January 2022, sets a maximum forty years and/or K1 million for nine packetsknowing unauthorised possession or conveyance. It has been used in 2023cannabis cases.[@dda2021,dda_case] The Controlled Substance Act says it prevails where criminal laws conflict; how that affects a particular charge needs legal assessment.[@csa21]

segments › possession › sources

controlledcsa21, small_casedda2021, dda_case

segments › cultivation › text

Section 34 expresslyThe Controlled Substance Act prohibits cultivating a Schedule I plant. Schedule VII grades fewer than five plants atcultivation and has quantity tiers of up to two years or K15,000, more than five at up to 15fifteen years or K25,000, and more than 20 at 16sixteen years to life or K26,000–2 with fines also possible.[@csa21] Dangerous Drugs Act section 3 separately covers knowing unauthorised cultivation, with a maximum forty years and/or K1 million. The Controlled Substance Act's priority rule for inconsistent criminal laws matters to the applicable charge; plant tiers alone do not exhaust the reported enforcement framework.[@dda2021,csa21]

segments › cultivation › sources

controlledcsa21, dda2021

segments › enforcement › text

Prison is used atCourts use both endsstatutes. A June 2024 report describes a conviction under Dangerous Drugs Act section 3(1)(d) for 1.3 kg of the scalemarijuana: a court imposed 18K15,000, with three years in default; the prosecutor invoked the forty-year/K1 million maximum.[@dda_case] Other reported sentences include eighteen months for nine packets in 2023, while two men withtwenty-five years for 14–20 kg received 25 years in 2025. In August 2026, a court ordered a man caught with 4.7 kg to payand K30,000 or serve 20twenty years for 4.7 kg in 2026. Maximum penalties are not typical sentences.[@small_case,long_case,police]

segments › enforcement › sources

dda_case, small_case, long_case, police

context › visitors › text

There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. UnderCannabis possession can lead to prison under either reported charging route: the Controlled Substance Act 2021, 10 g or less of cannabis carries's quantity tiers include up to two years in prisonfor 10 g or a fine of K15less,000, while Dangerous Drugs Act section 3 has a forty-year/K1 million maximum and more than 10 g up to fifteen yearshas been used for cannabis possession. The former Act's conflict rule requires legal assessment; do not treat its lower tiers as exhaustive punishment limits.[@csa21,dda2021,dda_case]

context › visitors › sources

controlledcsa21, small_casedda2021, dda_case

sources

The National — Man with disability fined K15,000 (26 June 2024) Papua New Guinea — certified Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 20 of 2021 (PacLII) 9 unchanged

Code, design and documents 2 files

docs/research/issue-corrections-186-204-2026-10-27.md +22 −0
@@ -63,2 +63,24 @@ existing fixed-threshold description lacked the number: read the official 2025/2
 notice and added 5 ng/mL THC in oral fluid, an evidential laboratory threshold,
 not the separate roadside device threshold. Its source/commencement is recorded.
+
+## #195 — PNG overlapping cannabis offences
+
+Read the certified No.20 of 2021 on PacLII in the normal browser:
+https://www.paclii.org/pg/legis/num_act/dda2021260/ . Certification and operation are
+13 January 2022. Replacement section 3 covers knowing unauthorised cultivation,
+manufacture, export, possession/conveyance; maximum K1 million and/or forty years,
+triable summarily. Read the Controlled Substance Act original, section 3(2), which
+says its provisions prevail in an inconsistency; its Schedule VII is not the only
+reported charging route. Read The National's 26 June 2024 report in full: 1.3 kg,
+Dangerous Drugs Act 3(1)(d), actual K15,000 with three years in default, prosecution
+invoking the maximum. Preserve the difference between maximum and actual sentence.
+
+No.37 of 2021 is a different amendment proposing repeal of section 3; the April
+2022 commencement index marks it N.I.F., while No.20 is operative. That catalogue
+alone does not establish later non-commencement. Searches did not recover a later
+commencement/repeal or binding judgment settling the overlap. Accordingly the
+profile reports the enacted provision and demonstrated charging practice, identifies
+the conflict rule and avoids promising an exhaustive small-quantity ceiling or
+purporting to decide which provision must prevail in an individual prosecution.
+Scores remain: possession 0, enforcement 1 (severe imprisonment already recorded).
+No unverified new historical score step or commencement event was invented.
scripts/profile-claims.test.mjs +11 −0
@@ -387,2 +387,13 @@ test('fixed THC classes require numerical evidence; Kenya remains unverified (#1
   }
 });
+
+// Issue #195
+test('PNG quantity tiers cannot hide the alternative forty-year charging route (#195)', () => {
+  const pg = country('pg');
+  for (const text of [pg.summary,pg.segments.possession.text,pg.segments.cultivation.text,pg.context.visitors.text]) {
+    assert.match(text, /forty years|forty-year/);
+  }
+  assert.match(pg.segments.possession.text, /prevails where criminal laws conflict/);
+  assert.match(pg.segments.enforcement.text, /three years in default/);
+  assert.match(pg.sources.dda2021.locator, /13 January 2022/);
+});
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