Fill Pakistan's whipping and narcotics sentencing history gaps

Pakistan abolishesremoves the death penalty forremaining federal drug offencesdeath sentences

The Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Act 2023Parliament removed death as a possible sentence underfrom the remaining federal drug-law penalty rows, leaving life imprisonment as the maximum punishment.[@1] The cannabis rows had already changed to prison ranges under the 2022 amendment; this later repeal covered other drugs.[@2]

Pakistan Code — Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, updated to 4 August 2023 Harm Reduction International — The Death Penalty for Drug Offences, Global Overview 2024 1 unchanged

The federal cannabis penalty rows had already lost death in 2022; this amendment changes the remaining other-drug rows.

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1997-07-07

tighteningother

Pakistan passes the Control of Narcotic Substances Actsets cannabis sentences by weight in a permanent drug law

The Act1997 law allowed up to two years, still in forcea fine, set prison termsor both for producing, making and distributingup to 100 grams of cannabis, replacingwidening the patchwork left by the 1979 prohibition orderearlier ordinance’s ten-gram lowest band.[@1,2] More than 100 grams to one kilogram carried up to seven years and a fine; above one kilogram, death remained possible, alongside life imprisonment or a term up to fourteen years and a fine.[@1] It replaced earlier narcotics legislation while retaining provincial and special laws imposing additional or greater restrictions.[@1]

Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, historical text reproduced by UNODC SHERLOC Control of Narcotic Substances Ordinance 1995, government communication to the United Nations Wikipedia — Cannabis in Pakistan

Consolidates earlier narcotics ordinances with mixed sentencing changes; separating their effects requires reconstruction of the inherited 1979 enforcement step.

pakistan-prohibition-1979, pakistan-narcotics-ordinance-1995, pakistan-whipping-abolition-1996, pakistan-cannabis-penalty-tables-2022

Until 1979 charas and bhang were sold through licensed vendors. The Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Orderprohibition order made cannabis possession punishable by up to two years in prison or thirty lashes, part ofwith a fine also possible.[@1] Issued under General Zia'’s Islamisation programme, banned intoxicantsit listed bhang, siddhi, ganja, charas and closed the shopshashish and retained licensing for institutional medical, scientific and industrial purposes.[@1] Parliament removed non-hadd whipping in 1996.[@2]

pakistan-dangerous-drugs-act-1931, pakistan-west-punjab-excise-amendment-1949, pakistan-medicinal-hemp-rules-1959, pakistan-narcotics-ordinance-1995, pakistan-whipping-abolition-1996

Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order 1979, government reprint with amendment notes Abolition of the Punishment of Whipping Act 1996, original Gazette Wikipedia — Cannabis in Pakistan Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979

Pakistan's drug1997 narcotics law isplaced cannabis possession and supply within three quantity bands: up to 100 grams, more than 100 grams to one kilogram, and more than one kilogram.[@1,2] The first allowed a single statutefine instead of prison, while the Controllargest could bring death, life imprisonment or a term of Narcotic Substances Act of 1997up to fourteen years, plus a fine. It replaced three laws inherited from British India[@1,2] ## A permanent law followed the Opium Acts of 1857earlier ordinances The [1995 ordinance](/history/pakistan-narcotics-ordinance-1995/) had already prescribed quantity-based sentences and 1878 anddeath or life for drugs above its higher limits.[@3] For cannabis, its lowest fine-or-prison band stopped at ten grams; the Dangerous Drugsmiddle band extended to one kilogram and carried a three-year prison minimum.[@3] The 1997 Act of 1930widened the lowest band to 100 grams and gave the middle band a seven-year ceiling without that minimum.[@1,2] It received presidential assent on 7 July and it is still incame into force at once; publication followed on 11 July.[@1] ## What it defines The Act treatsweight of the drug shaped the sentence The new law covered cannabis in all its forms as one narcotic. Its definition coversresin, including charas and hashish oil, the separated resin; the flowering or fruiting tops of the plant, by whatever name, including bhang, siddhi and ganja; and any mixturemixtures or drinkdrinks made from themthose forms. Section 4 forbids cultivating any cannabis plant[@1, letting land for it, or gathering any part of2] Seeds and leaves unaccompanied by the planttops were excluded from the definition of cannabis. Section 6 forbids producing[@1, possessing2] Unauthorised production, sellingpossession, buyingsale, delivering or transporting a narcotic. Both allow one exception: a government licence for medicalpurchase, scientific or industrial purposesdistribution and delivery on any terms were prohibited. ## A sentence for every weight Section 9 sets the punishment by a table: the drug[@1, the quantity, the term. In the consolidated text it reads as follows for cannabis. | | Quantity | Prison | |---|---|---| | Bhang | up2] Up to 999 g | 6 months to 3100 grams could mean two years | | | 1 to 10 kg | 3 to 7 years | | | 10 to 20 kg | 7 to 14 years | | | 20 kg, a fine, or more | 14 years to life | | Charas |both; the middle band carried up to 499 g | 10 months to 5seven years | | | 500 to 999 g | 5 to 9 years | | | 1 to 5 kg | 9 to 14 years | | | 5 to 10 kg | 14 to 20 years | | | 10 kg or more | 20 years to life | Every row has a minimum as well as a maximum, and a fine. The smallest amount of charas a person can be caught with carries[@1,2] Above ten kilograms, the large-quantity rule required at least ten monthslife imprisonment.[@1,2] ## Growing is punishedand treatment had their own rules Growing cannabis or gathering part of a plant was separately prohibited, with licensing possible for medical, scientific or industrial purposes. Since an amendment of 2022 the term is one[@1,2] The original cultivation penalty allowed up to seven years, with a fine, or both. ## Users The Act has a chapter on addicts. Each province is[@1,2] Provincial governments were required to register thempeople dependent on drugs, the addict mustwho were to carry a registration card and show it on demandcards.[@1, and the2] The federal government payswas to pay for a first-time compulsory detoxification. Provinces are, while provinces were to set upestablish treatment and rehabilitation centres.[@1,2] ## WhyLater amendments separated the index did not movecannabis products The [Act replaced older opium and dangerous-drug laws and the preceding 1997 ordinance, while preserving specified earlier proceedings and liabilities.[@1,2] It also retained provincial and special laws imposing additional or greater restrictions.[@1,2] The [2022 federal amendment](/history/pakistan-narcoticscannabis-actpenalty-1997tables-2022/) is recorded as contextreplaced the shared weight bands with separate tables for bhang, charas and hashish oil. The step that set [Pakistan@4] That later law explains today's federal prison ranges in [Pakistan](/country/pk/) scores is the prohibition order of 1979, which closed the licensed shops; the 1997 Act put that prohibition into a single code with fixed terms. A caution onfigures belong to the table above: the copy read is published by a provincial judicial academy and marks the table as substituted by a Sindh act of 2021, so the bhang rows in particular should be checked against the federal gazetteearlier system.[@4]

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Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, original Gazette Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, historical text reproduced by UNODC SHERLOC Control of Narcotic Substances Ordinance 1995, government communication to the United Nations Pakistan Code — Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, updated to 4 August 2023 Pakistan — Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, consolidated with amendments to Federal Act XXXVIII of 2023 (Sindh Judicial Academy, PDF)

On 10 February Pakistan's 1979 a singleprohibition order ended the legal salemade possession of cannabis punishable by up to two years in Pakistanprison or up to thirty lashes, with a fine also possible. Until that day[@1] Its schedule named bhang, siddhi, ganja, charas and bhang had been sold through licensed vendors. The Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Orderhashish, issuedbringing several forms of cannabis under the day before by General Zia-ul-Haq as same prohibition.[@1] The order began on 10 February.[@1] ## The order put cannabis inside an Islamisation law President and Chief Martial Law Administrator, banned intoxicants across Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq issued the country. ## What counts as an intoxicant The order is best known for alcohol,with the stated purpose of bringing intoxicant law into conformity with the Quran and its best-known penalty, eighty stripes forSunnah.[@1] It extended throughout Pakistan and replaced a Muslim who drinks, applies to1977 prohibition act and four provincial prohibition ordinances from 1978.[@1] Its definition of an intoxicant included the scheduled drugs as well as alcoholic liquor. But its schedule goes further. It lists Indian hemp by name[@1] Cannabis leaves, "including bhangsmall stalks, siddhi and ganja"flowering or fruiting tops, along with charas, hashish, any mixtureresin and mixtures or drinkdrinks made from them, opium and coca were expressly listed. So[@1] Receiving or transferring something as a gift counted as buying or selling under the same articles that closed the liquor shops closed the bhang shopsdefinitions.[@1] ## ThePossession and use carried separate penalties | Act | Article | Penalty | |The possession rule covered owning an intoxicant or keeping it in one's custody.[@1] Its prison---|---|---| | Making, selling, transporting or serving-whipping alternatives exposed a cannabis holder to punishment even when no commercial sale was alleged.[@1] The order also defined “drinking” broadly as intentionally taking an intoxicant | 3 | up to 5 yearsby any means, upsubject to 30 stripes,specified coercion and a fine | | Owning or possessing one | 4 |necessity exceptions.[@1] The non-hadd consumption offence could bring up to 2three years or up to 30 stripesin prison, and a fine | | Breaking the terms of a licence | 20 | lifethirty lashes, or at least 2 yearsboth, and a fine | Heavier terms, up to life, were reservedwith different rules for opiumMuslims, coca, heroinnon-Muslim citizens and cocaine above set weightsforeigners. Cannabis stayed in[@1] “Hadd” meant punishment prescribed by the ordinary tierQuran or Sunnah; the order's eighty-lash hadd rule specifically concerned an adult Muslim taking alcoholic liquor by mouth.[@1] Its liquor definition excluded solid intoxicants even when liquefied.[@1] ## What was still allowed The order did not abolish licences. Provincial governmentsMedical and scientific permissions survived Authorities could grant themissue institutional licences for genuine medicinal, scientific and, industrial or similar purposes, for export, and for the religious ceremonies of non-Muslims. A non-Muslim, citizen[@1] Acts performed under the order or foreigner, could keep a reasonable quantity of an intoxicant for a religious ceremony. It repealed a Prohibition Act of 1977 and four provincial prohibition ordinances of 1978valid rule, notification or licence were exempt from the general manufacture and overrode any other law in forcepossession prohibitions. The colonial Dangerous Drugs Act of 1930 stayed[@1] Police also faced a procedural restriction on arresting someone merely suspected of consumption: the books beside it. ## Whatorder required a request to attend an authorised medical officer, followed A report by the narcotics control board in 1983 described cannabis as onerefusal or medical certification of the two common drugs of the previous decadesconsumption.[@1] Breaching that restriction was itself punishable.[@1] ## Parliament later removed non-hadd whipping The order's cannabis provisions were overtaken in 1997 by the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, which set a sentence for every weight[1996 repeal](/history/pakistan-whipping-abolition-1996/) abolished non-hadd whipping sentences and repealedremitted those still unexecuted.[@2] It preserved hadd punishment while repealing the colonial lawsWhipping Act. ## Why[@2] Cannabis controls continued through the index moved The [order1997 narcotics law](/history/pakistan-prohibitionnarcotics-1979act-1997/) is the largest single falland later amendments in [Pakistan's](/country/pk/) score. Before it the country was scored as a place with licensed sale: access 4, possession 4, enforcement 5. The order closed the shops and made holding any amount a crime with prison and whipping, and the scores fell to where they stand today.

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Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order 1979, government reprint with amendment notes Abolition of the Punishment of Whipping Act 1996, original Gazette Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979 (President's Order No. 4 of 1979), text at pakistani.org Wikipedia — Cannabis in Pakistan