Changelog ab23036tree
Add the Article 34 and 33 death tiers and a cultivation table, plus hemp, impairment-based driving, black-market and H1 2026 arrest figures. Keep the government and Houthi areas distinct, and add 14 entries from 1977 to 2026, including the qat context, the Sana'a mass trial and the Hadramout death sentences. Flag the 1925 estimate against Aden's verified 1942 ban.
14 history entries added1 history entry edited1 country profile edited1 file of code, design or docs +360 −11 lines
No first law is recorded here for Yemen. Its first restrictions on cannabis are assumed to … ational control, and the 1961 Single Convention, which required a ban on non-medical use. The first verified ban in the territory is Aden's 1942 Dangerous Drugs Ordinance; the 1925 date remains an estimate for the north.[@1][@2]
Aden — Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (No. 9 of 1942), Revised Edition of the Laws 1955, Chapter 41 1 unchanged
label Personal use, Article 38 · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison 5 years · note Residential treatment instead for a person proved dependent; voluntary entry protects from prosecution
label Unpaid supply or facilitating use, Article 35 · treatment criminal · term Supply · death true · prison 25 years · note Death or twenty-five years, label Trading or preparing premises, Article 34 · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · prison 25 years · note Death or twenty-five years
Article 38 sets five years for holding or buying drugs, or growing listed plants, for cons … aking place in premises prepared for it, with specified family exceptions.[@law93] Qat is a separate legal crop, not a scheduled narcotic, and is central to social life, though local authorities have recently restricted late-night chewing and chewing in government offices.[@wb2007,albab]
law93, albab, wb2007
No lawful cannabis production. Growing licences are limited toThe only exception is research growing by government departments and scientific institutes for research; all other growing is prohibited.[@law93,l3]
Articles 28–29 prohibit growing the listed plants and dealing in them at every stage of growth, including their seeds.[@law93] Schedule 5 expressly names male and female cannabis.[@law93] Schedule 6 exempts stalk fibres and cannabis seeds treated so they cannot germinate.[@law93] Article 30 limits research-growing licences to government departments and scientific institutes.[@law93, l3]
The drug control administration of the internationally recognised government counted 704 drug cases in 2025 in the governorates it controls, 488 of them for use, and 1,260 suspects, of whom 827 were users.[@ym26] It seized 2,986 kg of hashish, beside 1,530 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 169 kg of heroin.[@ym26] In the first half of 2026 it reported 484 cases and 734 suspects, with 613.7 kg of hashish seized.[@ydn26] The figures do not cover areas held by the Houthi authorities.[@ym26]
ym26, ydn26
World Bank — Yemen: Towards Qat Demand Reduction (2007) Yemen — Traffic Law No. 46 of 1991, article 58 Yemen Daily News — Drug control figures for the first half of 2026 (28 July 2026) Yemen Press Agency — Sana'a court sentences a hashish dealer to death (17 December 2025) 4 unchanged
YER
label Growing for personal use (Article 38) · treatment criminal · term Personal use · prison 5 years, label Growing for trade (Article 34) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · prison 25 years · note Death or twenty-five years, label Import or manufacture for trade (Article 33) · treatment criminal · term Import or manufacture · death true · note Death is mandatory
none
No hemp or CBD regime and no THC threshold. Schedule 6 exempts only stalk fibre and cannabis seeds chopped so they cannot germinate, while growing the plant remains an offence under article 28.[@law93] No industrial-hemp or CBD licensing route was found.[@law93]
law93
impairment
Traffic Law 46 of 1991, article 58, punishes driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with up to two years, a fine of up to 6,500 rials, or both; the court may suspend or withdraw the licence.[@traffic1991] There is no numeric THC limit or separate medical-patient defence.[@traffic1991]
traffic1991
Hashish is the main cannabis product in reported seizures. The government's drug-control administration counted 2,986 kg of hashish in 2025 and 613.7 kg in the first half of 2026 in the governorates it controls; it publishes no herbal-cannabis series.[@ym26,ydn26] Qat is a separate legal crop and is not part of these figures.[@wb2007] Houthi authorities report individual cases rather than annual totals.[@ypa25]
ym26, ydn26, wb2007, ypa25
docs/research/expansion-2026-10-28-asia-1.md +3 @@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ authority. None was marked busy. | Syria | 1993 Act penalty tables, recreational/hemp/driving/arrests sections, 12 history entries | 2021 amendment and Schedule 4 unverified; no cannabis execution found | this commit | | Palestine | in progress | | | -| Yemen | in progress | | | +| Yemen | cultivation table, hemp/driving/black-market sections, 14 history entries | 1930s empty; 1925 estimate retained; no Houthi annual totals | this commit | | Qatar | 1987/2006 penalty tables, hemp and arrest sections, 13 history entries | no annual arrest count; no drug execution found | this commit | | Bahrain | in progress | | | @@ -17,2 +17,4 @@ Qatar validation: `profile-audit qa` zero errors/warnings; `country-gaps qa` has Syria validation: `profile-audit sy` zero errors/warnings; `country-gaps sy` has no missing sections, tables or citations. The profile now corrects personal possession from "up to three years" to Article 43's three to fifteen years (Penal Code article 44), keeps the 100,000–500,000 pound fine and treatment route, and separates Article 39 death for any smuggling, manufacture or cultivation from Article 40's life sentence with death only for aggravating facts. It adds recreational, hemp, driving and arrest sections, the 2024–2026 Captagon-dominated enforcement figures, and 12 history entries from 1959 to 2026. The 1993 entry now carries the exact detention range and the correct death scope. + +Yemen validation: `profile-audit ye` zero errors/warnings; `country-gaps ye` has no missing sections, tables or citations. The profile keeps the 1993 law's five-year personal-use penalty and treatment route, adds the Article 34/33 death tiers and a cultivation table, and distinguishes the government-controlled 2025 figures (704 cases, 2,986 kg hashish) from the Houthi areas where no annual series exists. It adds hemp, impairment-based driving, black-market and H1 2026 arrest figures, and 14 history entries from 1977 to 2026, including the qat context and the Sana'a and Hadramout death sentences. The 1925 estimate is retained but now states that the first verified ban is Aden's 1942 ordinance.