Bahrain: 2007 penalty tables, hemp/arrests sections and 10 history entries

No first law is recorded here for Bahrain. Its first restrictions on cannabis are assumed … ational control, and the 1961 Single Convention, which required a ban on non-medical use. The first verified cannabis-specific instrument is the 1954 dangerous-drugs regulation; the 1925 date remains an estimate, and the 1931 British regulations' cannabis coverage is unverified.[@1][@2]

United Nations — Bahrain drug regulations of 1954 and 1955 1 unchanged

label Personal-use possession of listed plants or seeds · treatment criminal · fine 3000term Personal use · prison min 10 days · prison 3 years · fine 3000 · note Imprisonment (ordinary range ten daysTreatment substitution available, label Possession without intent to three years) and a fine of up to BHD3use,000; consume or traffic · treatment substitution availablecriminal · term Other possession · prison 7 years · fine 5000

Trafficking carries death or life imprisonment, plus a BHD5,000–50,000 fine, with death required in specified aggravated cases.[@l15] Personal possession and growing carry imprisonment and a fine, with treatment alternatives for proven addiction.[@l15] The Public Prosecution recorded 1,629 drug-crime cases in its published statistics, and an interior ministry official said more than 2,000 drug-related cases were handled in the year to June 2026; both figures cover all drugs.[@ppstats,gdn26]

l15, ppstats, gdn26

label Providing cannabis for use without payment · treatment criminal · fine 10000term Supply · prison 7 years · note Up to seven years and a BHD1,000–10,000 fine, harsher min 1000 · fine 10000 · note Harsher in specified aggravated cases, label Paid supply, transport or managing a drug place (article 31) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison min 10 years · fine min 3000 · fine 30000 · note Life with the article 31(b) aggravating facts, label Trafficking (article 30) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · fine min 5000 · fine 50000 · note Death or life imprisonment plus a BHD5,000–50,000 fine; death required in specified aggravated casesmandatory with the five aggravating facts

CannabisThere is no standalone use penalty: a user is prohibited,charged with possession for personal -use possession punished by imprisonmentunder article 32(1), which carries ten days to three years and a fine of up to BHD3,000.[@l15] Being found in a place prepared for drug use is a separate offence under article 44.[@l15] Courts can substitute treatment for proven addiction. Eligible people approaching for trea … otected from prosecution unless caught using or already prosecuted for that offence.[@l15]

TraffickingArticle 30(a) applies to trafficking in listed drugs and plants carriesany quantity of cannabis — the plant, any part or its seeds — with death or life imprisonment and a BHD5,000–50,000 fine. Listed aggravated circumstances, includingand no quantity threshold.[@l15] Death is mandatory where the offender is a repeat offendingdrug offender, using a minor and involvement with international drug-control official, uses a minor under 21, belongs to an international smuggling syndicatessyndicate, require deathor abuses authority or immunity.[@l15] Death sentences for hashish have been imposed since 2018, but no drug offender has been executed; the last execution of any kind was in 2019, and there were none in 2023–2025.[@wcadp,amnesty25]

l15, wcadp, amnesty25

Cannabis plants are listed among prohibited plants, while cannabis fibre and treated non-germinating seeds are excluded from the plant controls. Growing remains subject to the law’s cultivation controls.[@tables,l15]

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No medical cannabis programme. The general controlled-medicine route requires medical prescriptions and licensed pharmacy supply. Listed, but cannabis plants are subject to the separateis a listed plant prohibition, including restrictions on prescribing and the law restricts prescribing or dispensing themit.[@l15,tables] Article 11 allows institutional cultivation for medical or scientific research, not patient access.[@l15] No registered cannabis medicine was found.[@l15]

Traffic Law article 35 prohibits driving when alcohol or a drug causes loss of control or impaired driving ability, and separately prohibits taking these substances while driving.[@traffic2014] It provides six-month administrative licence withdrawal; refusal of an authorised examination or attempted escape brings the same withdrawal.[@traffic2014] Repetition has longer administrative periods.[@traffic2014] Decree-Law 30/2025 replaced article 51: ordinary drug-influence driving now carries two months to one year in prison and BHD1,000–2,000, or either penalty.[@traffic2025] Committing a further crime or traffic-rule violation through that driving raises this to f … or either penalty; repetition within a year of judgment doubles the article 51 penalties.[@traffic2025] The court may additionally suspend the licence for up to a year under amended article 54. New, and new article 51 bis has separate fatal-collision tiers.[@traffic2025] Current specimen-specific testing standards and a numeric THC cutoff were not established; the older official English law should not be used for the 2025 penalty figures.[@trafficAmendments]

Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 90.891 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, and 106 kg of cannabis resin seized in 2024.[@unodc_szr] The large cases are resin: 350 kg in a sea network whose life sentence was upheld in November 2025, and more than 100 kg of marijuana and hashish from Iran seized in April 2026.[@nob25,gdn26b] The UN publishes them asfigures are kilogram equivalents, and countries count seizures differently, so the figuresthey are not comparable across borders.[@unodc_szr]

unodc_szr, nob25, gdn26b

Bahrain Public Prosecution — statistics Gulf Daily News — 2,000 drug-related cases handled over the past year (June 2026) Gulf Daily News — Three men arrested after BHD1.5 million drugs raid (11 April 2026) News of Bahrain — Appeal rejected in 350 kg hashish smuggling case (20 November 2025) World Coalition Against the Death Penalty — Bahrain Amnesty International — Death sentences and executions 2025 7 unchanged

BHD

label Growing for personal use (article 32) · treatment criminal · term Personal growing · prison min 10 days · prison 3 years · fine 3000, label Growing for trade (article 30) · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · fine min 5000 · fine 50000 · note Death or life; death mandatory with the five aggravating facts

none

No hemp or CBD regime and no THC threshold. Schedule 6 excludes cannabis fibre and seeds treated so they cannot germinate from the plant controls, but growing any cannabis plant still needs an article 11 institutional licence.[@tables,l15] No commercial hemp sector or CBD route was found.[@l15]

tables, l15

No cannabis-only arrest total is published.[@ppstats] The Public Prosecution recorded 1,629 drug-crime cases in its statistics page, and an interior ministry official said more than 2,000 drug-related cases were handled in the year to June 2026.[@ppstats,gdn26] Both figures cover all drugs. Reported cannabis cases include an Adliya indoor farm with five arrests in 2025 and three arrests over more than 100 kg from Iran in April 2026.[@nob25,gdn26b]

ppstats, gdn26, nob25, gdn26b