Cannabis Freedom Index

Changelog a0f21cb

State Ethiopia's seven-year personal-use ceiling, Uruguay's lawful gifts of legal cannabis, Trinidad and Tobago's unproclaimed 2022 licensing Act, and Brazil's joint-use offence. Fixes #61, #62, #63 and #64.

1 history entry added1 score changed3 country profiles edited2 files of code, design or docs +190 −44 lines

Score changes 1 place

  1. Uruguay5152+1sharing 3 → 4

History changes.yaml

Added 1

Countries and states 4 files

Uruguay countries/uy.yaml

sharing 3 → 4

segments › sharing › text

The law is built around personalSharing or household use. Club harvests are shared among membersgiving cannabis that was obtained legally, but therefrom a pharmacy, a registered club or a registered home grow, is no general right to givenot penalised. The 2026 national evaluation counts that sharing as legal access: 20.9% of people who had used cannabis to other adultsin the past year most often got it that way. Buying cannabis for someone else, and any supplysharing cannabis from an unregistered grow or from a dealer, sit outside the registered channels can be prosecuted as dealingthat rule. Sale without a licence remains a criminal offence.

segments › sharing › sources

lawsndmar, uyxxi

sources

Secretaría Nacional de Drogas / Observatorio Uruguayo de Drogas — Regulación del mercado de cannabis en Uruguay: segunda evaluación de la Ley 19.172 (March 2026, PDF) Uruguay XXI — Sector Cannabis 2026 (PDF) 9 unchanged

Brazil countries/br.yaml

segments › sharing › text

Any supplyOffering a drug occasionally, without aiming at profit, to anothersomeone the person is traffickingknows, so that the two of them use it together, is a seriousseparate crime with: detention of six months to one year and a minimumfine of 700 to 1,500 day-fines. Other unauthorised supply, including a gift that does not meet those conditions, can be trafficking even when no money changes hands, with five to fifteen years.

segments › sharing › sources

gv, conectaslei

Ethiopia countries/et.yaml

summary

Possession for personal use is reported tocan bring six monthsup to fiveseven years; cultivation' rigorous imprisonment and salea fine of up to fifteen50,000 Birr. Supply with the intent to traffic starts at five years.

segments › possession › text

Illegal under Article 525(4) of the 2004 Criminal Code punishes planting, which also penalises unlawful use. Possessionbuying, receiving, making, possessing, selling or delivering a narcotic for personalprivate use is reportedby oneself or another, and unlawful use, with rigorous imprisonment of up to bring six months to fiveseven years depending on quantity and recorda fine of up to 50,000 Birr. Those figures are the statutory ceilings.

segments › possession › sources

leafet525, et525wipo

segments › cultivation › text

Cultivation can bring up to fifteenGrowing for one's own use falls under the same ceiling of seven years where commercial. Growing with the intent to traffic is showna different offence: rigorous imprisonment of not less than five years and a fine of up to 100,000 Birr. The aggravated trafficking cases start at ten years and a fine of up to 200,000 Birr. The article states those minimums and does not set a maximum term for them.

segments › cultivation › sources

leafet525, et525wipo

segments › enforcement › text

British travel advice says drug offences are treated seriously and that possession can leadThe personal-use offence is rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years. Trafficking-intent offences start at five to ten years in prison, and potentially large finesthe aggravated cases at ten. No account of how the law is applied tooften ordinary users are jailed was found.

segments › enforcement › sources

fcdoet525

segments › sharing › text

Trafficking and sale carryDelivering or selling a narcotic for private use by another person is the personal-use offence, with up to fifteenseven years. Supply with the intent to traffic starts at five years, and the aggravated cases at ten.

segments › sharing › sources

leafet525, et525wipo

context › visitors › text

There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. British travel advice says drug offences are treated seriously and that possessionPossession for personal use can lead to a prison sentencebring rigorous imprisonment of 5up to 10seven years and potentially large finesa fine of up to 50,000 Birr.

context › visitors › sources

leaf, fcdoet525

sources

UNODC SHERLOC — Ethiopia Criminal Code, Article 525 (2004) WIPO Lex — Criminal Code of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 414/2004, Article 525 GOV.UK (FCDO) — Foreign travel advice: Ethiopia, safety and security 4 unchanged

Trinidad and Tobago countries/tt.yaml

medical

nonelimited

segments › access › text

None in operation. The companion Cannabis Control BillAct, which would have licensed growers and retailersAct No. 10 of 2022, was sentassented to a parliamentary committee in 2019on 17 June 2022 and neverpublished in the Gazette on 23 June 2022. Section 2 brings it into operation only on a date the President fixes by proclamation. Parliament's record of the 2020 bill, which became lawthat Act, still says assent is awaiting proclamation. The only lawful source today is youran adult's own four plants.

segments › access › sources

econcca22, wikicca22page, ccb20

context › production › text

The 2022 Act would create a Cannabis Licensing Authority and licences for cultivation, processing and sale, once the President proclaims a commencement date. No licensing system existsproclamation is recorded, so all commercial cultivation is illegalnot licensed.

context › production › sources

econcca22, ccb20

context › medical › text

The 2022 Act provides for medicinal-cannabis licences, including a dispensary licence, but those licences do not operate until the President proclaims a commencement date. There is no working medical cannabis programme; the bill that would have created one was not enacted.

context › medical › sources

econcca22, wikiccb20

sources

Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago — Cannabis Control Act, 2022 (Act No. 10 of 2022, PDF) Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago — The Cannabis Control Act, 2022 Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago — The Cannabis Control Bill, 2020 6 unchanged

Code, design and documents 2 files

docs/research/profile-legal-et-uy-tt-br-2026-10-23.md +39 −0
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Ethiopia, Uruguay gifts, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil — 23 October 2026
+
+Issues #61 to #64.
+
+## Ethiopia (#61)
+
+UNODC SHERLOC and the WIPO Lex English text of the 2004 Criminal Code, Article 525, were both read.
+
+Subsection (4) punishes planting, buying, receiving, making, possessing, selling or delivering a narcotic for private use by oneself or another, and unlawful use, with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding seven years and a fine not exceeding 50,000 Birr.
+
+Subsection (1) is conduct with the intent of trafficking, including planting. The punishment is rigorous imprisonment of not less than five years and a fine not exceeding 100,000 Birr. Subsection (2) raises that to not less than ten years and a fine not exceeding 200,000 Birr in the aggravated cases. Neither subsection states a maximum term of imprisonment. The old "up to fifteen years" line had no basis in the article that was read.
+
+The Ministry of Justice article and the 2026 Addiction paper named in the issue were not opened. The British travel advice of five to ten years was removed from the possession, enforcement and visitor lines. No later gazette amendment was found in the texts that were opened.
+
+Possession and enforcement stay at 1. The enforcement card still reads as routine jail because no study of how often ordinary users are imprisoned was read.
+
+## Uruguay (#62)
+
+The March 2026 second evaluation of Law 19.172, Table 13, was read. The footnote says sharing cannabis obtained legally is not penalised. Legal access in that table includes sharing from a pharmacy, a club or a registered home grow, and 20.9% of past-year consumers most often got cannabis that way. The same pages class someone buying for another person, and sharing from an unregistered grow, as illegal national access.
+
+Uruguay XXI, Sector Cannabis 2026, footnote 21, says it is legal to share or give cannabis of legal origin. Decree 120/014, article 2(ii), allows registered home growing for personal use or use shared in the home. It was read and was not used as the source for gifts beyond the household.
+
+Sharing moves from 3 to 4. Level 3 is a legal grey area, which the evaluation contradicts. Level 5 is gifts legal up to a cap, and no separate gram cap on a gift was read. Level 4 sits between those two. The displayed score moves from 51 to 52. No history entry was added, because the evaluation describes the current rule and does not give a commencement date for it.
+
+## Trinidad and Tobago (#63)
+
+Parliament's page for the Cannabis Control Act records assent on 17 June 2022 and Gazette publication on 23 June 2022. The Act PDF, sections 1, 2, 4 and 29, was read. Section 2 says the Act comes into operation on a date the President fixes by proclamation. Section 4 establishes the Cannabis Licensing Authority. Section 29 lists cultivator, processor, dispensary and other licences. The 2020 bill page still says assent is awaiting proclamation, and names the result as Act 10 of 2022.
+
+Medical status is `limited`, whose label covers a framework that is not yet operational. Access stays at 0. The adult possession and growing ages were not changed.
+
+An existing history entry, `trinidad-age-limit-bill-2026`, already records the Senate vote of 7 October 2026 and says the bill still needed assent. That entry's age-25 claim comes from the Trinidad Guardian, which was not re-read. The parliament progress page confirms the House passed the bill on 30 September 2026 and the Senate on 7 October, 15 votes to 12 with 3 abstentions, and does not record assent or the age figure. No second history entry was added for that bill. The new entry is the 17 June 2022 enactment, category `other`, with no score.
+
+The law-firm commentary named in the issue was not opened.
+
+## Brazil (#64)
+
+The Presidency's consolidated Law 11.343/2006 was read. Article 33, the opening paragraph, punishes unauthorised supply, including supply without payment, with five to fifteen years. Article 33 §3 punishes offering a drug occasionally, without a profit motive, to a person with whom one has a relationship, for them to consume it together, with detention of six months to one year and a fine of 700 to 1,500 day-fines. The Chamber and UNODC copies named in the issue were not opened.
+
+Sharing stays at 1. The joint-use offer is still a crime.

scripts/history-scope.test.cjs +31 −0
@@ -583,2 +583,33 @@ test("Romania's drug-driving ruling, Uruguay's possession exemption and Jamaica'
   assert.equal(jm.scores.access, 4);
 });
+
+test("Ethiopia, Uruguay gifts, Trinidad's uncommenced Act and Brazil's joint-use offence follow the texts that were read", () => {
+  const et = y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/et.yaml", "utf8"));
+  const uy = y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/uy.yaml", "utf8"));
+  const tt = y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/tt.yaml", "utf8"));
+  const br = y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/br.yaml", "utf8"));
+  const act = byId["trinidad-cannabis-control-act-2022"];
+  assert.match(et.segments.possession.text, /up to seven years/);
+  assert.match(et.segments.possession.text, /50,000/);
+  assert.match(et.segments.cultivation.text, /not less than five years/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(et.summary, /six months to five years/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(et.segments.enforcement.text, /five to ten/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(et.segments.cultivation.text, /fifteen/);
+  assert.equal(et.scores.possession, 1);
+  assert.equal(et.scores.enforcement, 1);
+  assert.match(uy.segments.sharing.text, /not penalised/);
+  assert.match(uy.segments.sharing.text, /20\.9%/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(uy.segments.sharing.text, /no general right/);
+  assert.equal(uy.scores.sharing, 4);
+  assert.equal(tt.medical, "limited");
+  assert.match(tt.segments.access.text, /awaiting proclamation/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(tt.segments.access.text, /never became law/);
+  assert.equal(tt.scores.access, 0);
+  assert.equal(act.date, "2022-06-17");
+  assert.equal(act.category, "other");
+  assert.equal(act.before, undefined);
+  assert.match(br.segments.sharing.text, /six months to one year/);
+  assert.match(br.segments.sharing.text, /five to fifteen years/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(br.segments.sharing.text, /minimum of five years/);
+  assert.equal(br.scores.sharing, 1);
+});

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