Portugal's Supreme Court confirms criminal liability above a ten-day personal supply
related
portugal-decriminalisation-2001, portugal-decree-15-93-1993, portugal-personal-use-quantity-2023
Changelog d8e347f
Date scored history from commencement, and record Portugal's 2023 personal-use rule.
Uganda, India and New Zealand were scored on assent. The score now moves when each law took effect, and Portugal's profile treats 25 g as a reference amount.
3 history entries added7 history entries edited1 country profile edited2 articles edited2 files of code, design or docs +280 −59 lines
History changes.yaml
Added 3
- Portugal ends the automatic crime for personal possession above ten days 2023-10-01
- Uganda's narcotics law comes into force 2025-04-14
- India's president assents to quantity-based drug sentences 2001-05-09
Edited 7
Uganda's president assents to a replacement narcotics law
title
Uganda re-enacts its's president assents to a replacement narcotics law
description
On 5 May 2023 the Constitutional Court nullified the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act of 2016 because Parliament had lacked a quorum when passing it. Parliament passed a replacement,The President assented to the replacement on 2 February 2024, which. Section 1 says it comes into force on a date the internal affairs minister appoints. It allows licensed cultivation of prohibited plants and sets up to twenty years in prison for possession with no lesser tier for a small amount, up to ten years for using a drug, up to five for growing without a licence and life for trafficking, which is defined to include givingThat date was later fixed as 14 April 2025. The court had said the annulment did not legalise cannabis.
before
possession 1 · cultivation 1 · enforcement 1 · sharing 1 · consumption 1 · access 0
unscored
Assent only. Statutory Instrument 42 of 2025 commenced the Act on 14 April 2025.
related
uganda-narcotics-commencement-2025, uganda-court-nullifies-act-2023
Uganda's Constitutional Court strikes down the 2015 drug law
description
The court annulled the Narcotic Drugs Act because parliament had passed it without a quorum. The judiciary stressed that the ruling did not legalise cannabis. Parliament passed a replacement, and parliament passedthat Act commenced on 14 April 2025. The national score stays on the law againearlier ban until then.
Uganda raises possession penalties and imposes life for cannabis trafficking
unscored
The recovered 2016 penalties require reconstruction of the existing 1902–2024still need a reconstructed score interval;for the current timeline places itsyears they were in force. The later decrease atdrop is recorded when the 2024 replacement, which also needs comparison with the post-annulment rules Act commenced on 14 April 2025.
related
uganda-national-drug-authority-1993, uganda-court-nullifies-act-2023, uganda-narcotics-act-2024, uganda-narcotics-commencement-2025
New Zealand's Dangerous Drugs Act begins to operate
category
otherban
title
New Zealand's Dangerous Drugs Act comes into forcebegins to operate
description
Section 1 of the Dangerous Drugs Act assented to1927 brought the Act into force on 1 January 1928. Assent had been on 11 November 1927 fixed commencement on New Year's Day 1928. Its scheduled Indian -hemp controls therefore became operative on this date, its resin, preparations, extracts and tinctures were among the scheduled drugs. This entry distinguishes commencement from enactmentUnlicensed production, sale, distribution and carries no additional score stepother dealings were controlled, and supply through a licence or other lawful authority, including medical supply, remained lawful.
sources
Controlling and Regulating Drugs — A Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, NZLC R122 1 unchanged
before
possession 10 · cultivation 10 · enforcement 10 · sharing 10 · consumption 10 · access 10
New Zealand passes the Dangerous Drugs Act's cannabis controls
before
possession 10 · cultivation 10 · enforcement 10 · sharing 10 · consumption 10 · access 10
unscored
Assent on 11 November 1927. Section 1 commenced the Act on 1 January 1928.
related
new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-commencement-1928
India grades drug sentences by quantity
date
2001-0510-0902
description
TheNotification S.O. 957(E) of 27 September brought the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act, Act 9 of 2001, received theinto force on 2 October. The President's assent had assented on 9 May, and section 1 had left the date to the Official Gazette. ItThe Act introduced the terms small quantity and commercial quantity, and a. A further notification ofon 19 October 2001 fixed the figures for each substance. Since then theThe punishment sections, including the one for cannabis among them, havethen use three bands: below the small quantity, between the two, and above the commercial quantity, and the. The strict bail rule applies only to the last.
sources
Indian Kanoon — Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act, 2001 MyNation — NDPS Act, section 1, with the 2001 commencement footnote 2 unchanged
related
india-ndps-amendment-assent-2001
Countries and states 1 file
Portugal countries/pt.yaml
summary
All drugs were decriminalised in 2001: up to. Since 1 October 2023, 25 g of flower isand 5 g of hashish are the ten-day reference amounts: proven personal possession stays an administrative matter for a dissuasion commission even above them, while a larger amount can still start a criminal inquiry. Cultivation remains a crime. Portugal is a major medical exporter.
segments › possession › text
Since July 2001 possessing up to a ten-day supply — 25 g of cannabis flower or 5 g of hashish —, possession for personal use is an administrative matter, not a crime. Police confiscate itthe cannabis and refer youthe person to a regional dissuasion commission, which can suspend the case, fine youthem or recommend treatment. ItSince 1 October 2023 the figures of 25 g of flower and 5 g of hashish are the average ten-day amounts. Holding more is decriminaliseda sign that the purpose may be something other than personal use, not legaland the police can still seize it and open an inquiry. Where a judicial authority finds the cannabis was only for personal use, it closes the criminal case and sends the person to the commission.
segments › possession › sources
law, law55, qmhc
segments › enforcement › text
Users are not prosecuted; sanctions arePersonal use is handled with administrative andsanctions, often waived. Above the ten-day reference amount, a criminal inquiry can continue until exclusive personal use is shown. Growing and dealing carry prison sentences.
segments › enforcement › sources
qmhc, law, law55
context › visitors › text
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone. Possessing up to a ten-day supply, 25 g of cannabis flower or 5 g of hashish,Possession for personal use is an administrative matter and not a crime: police confiscate it and refer the person to a regional dissuasion commission, which can suspend the case, fine them or recommend treatment. Since 1 October 2023, 25 g of flower and 5 g of hashish are reference amounts for ten days. A larger amount can still start a criminal inquiry until exclusive personal use is shown.
context › visitors › sources
law, law55, qmhc
sources
Lei n.º 55/2023 — personal possession above the ten-day amount (Diário da República, 8 September 2023) 11 unchanged
Articles and atlas entries 2
new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-1927 articles/new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-1927.md
text
New Zealand's Dangerous Drugs Act received assent on 11 November 1927. Its
Schedule inclu … lties
for dealing under that legislation.
For [New Zealand's history](/country/nz/), the 1927 Actcontrols take effect on
[1 January 1928](/history/new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-commencement-1928/).
That is an important starting
pointthe date the index uses for the first national cannabis controlsdrop. Its dateThe November 1927
assent, the product definition and the licensing structure still need to be describedstay on their own
terms, with later changes and evidence of enforcement recorded separately.
uganda-narcotics-act-2024 articles/uganda-narcotics-act-2024.md
text
Uganda passed the same drug law twice. The first version was struck down on 5 May 2023, w … a fine of up to 120 currency points, three times the crop's value, or up to five years.
The Act comes into force onSection 1 leaves the start to a date the internal affairs minister appoints by statutory instrument. Statutory Instrument 42 of 2025 appointed 14 April 2025.
## Why the index moved
The score moves on [Act14 April 2025](/history/uganda-narcotics-actcommencement-20242025/), the day the Act came into force, and lowers [Uganda's](/country/ug/) possession score from 1 to 0 and its sharing score from 1 … g stays at 1, because the separate five-year offence is far lighter than trafficking. The earlier Act[February 2024 assent](/history/uganda-narcotics-act-2024/) is recorded on its own, with no score change. The Constitutional Court had said in 2023 that this one replaced couldstriking down the previous Act did not be readlegalise cannabis, so the change is recorded atyears before April 2025 stay on the text that couldearlier ban.
sources
ULII — Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, Cap. 37 (Commencement) Instrument, 2025 2 unchanged
Code, design and documents 2 files
docs/research/history-effective-dates-2026-10-23.md +60 −0
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +# Effective dates for Uganda, Portugal, India and New Zealand + +23 October 2026. Issues 11, 12, 13 and 14. `date` in `changes.yaml` is the day +the change took effect. Read `docs/DATA-MAINTENANCE.md` and `docs/WRITING.md`. + +## Uganda + +ULII's copy of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, +2024 records assent on 2 February 2024, publication on 23 February 2024, and +section 1: the Act comes into force on a date the internal affairs minister +appoints. The same page records commencement on 14 April 2025 by the +Commencement Instrument, 2025. ULII's page for that instrument is Statutory +Instrument 42 of 2025, made 9 April 2025, with 14 April 2025 as its date. + +The scored drop (possession 1 to 0, sharing 1 to 0, total 9 to 6) is +`uganda-narcotics-commencement-2025`. The 2 February 2024 assent stays, with +no score. The 2023 court entry already said the annulment did not legalise +cannabis. The national line stays on the 1902 ban, total 9, until 14 April +2025. The 2016 penalty step is still unscored: those years still need their +own reconstruction. + +## Portugal + +Law 55/2023 was read in the Diário da República, series I, no. 175, 8 September +2023. Article 5 brings it into force on the first day of the next month, 1 +October 2023. Article 40(2) of Decree-Law 15/93 makes acquisition and +possession for personal use an administrative offence. Article 40(3), and +article 2(2) of Law 30/2000, make a quantity above the average ten-day amount +a sign that the purpose may not be personal use. Article 40(4) and article +2(3) say that where exclusive personal use is shown, the judicial authority +closes the case, withholds indictment or acquits, and refers the person to a +dissuasion commission. Article 40(1) still makes cultivation for one's own use +a crime of up to three months or a fine of up to 30 days. + +The profile now says 25 g of flower and 5 g of hashish are those reference +amounts. Possession stays at 3 and enforcement at 5. A larger holding can +still open a criminal inquiry until personal use is shown, so no whole segment +moves. The event is `portugal-personal-use-quantity-2023`, linked to the 2008 +ruling it supersedes for proven personal use. + +## India + +Indian Kanoon's text of Act 9 of 2001 is dated 9 May 2001 in the heading. +Section 1(2) leaves commencement to a notification in the Official Gazette. +The MyNation reproduction of section 1 prints the standard footnote: the 2001 +insertions take effect on 2 October 2001 by S.O. 957(E) of 27 September 2001. +The India Code compilation PDF cited in the issue did not download from here. +The scored event `india-ndps-amendment-2001` is dated 2 October 2001. Assent +on 9 May is a separate entry with no score. The 19 October 2001 quantity +notification stays in the October event's text. Both dates are in 2001, so the +year-end score is unchanged: 11 to 13, possession 0 to 1. + +## New Zealand + +The checked 1927 entry already said section 1 postponed commencement until +1 January 1928, from the official text of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1927. That +site returned a bot check on this pass, so the date was not re-read. The score +now sits on `new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-commencement-1928`. Assent on +11 November 1927 has no score. The 1927 year-end total is 100. The 1928 +year-end total is 11, which is the Misuse of Drugs Act's `before`.
scripts/history-scope.test.cjs +48 −0
@@ -91,2 +91,50 @@ test("known regional events are not the first scored step for their modern count for (const id of blocked) assert.equal(byId[id].before, undefined, id); }); + +test("scored dates follow commencement, not assent", () => { + for (const id of [ + "uganda-narcotics-act-2024", + "uganda-narcotics-commencement-2025", + "india-ndps-amendment-assent-2001", + "india-ndps-amendment-2001", + "new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-1927", + "new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-commencement-1928", + "portugal-personal-use-quantity-2023", + ]) { + assert.equal(changes.filter((e) => e.id === id).length, 1, id); + } + const ugandaAssent = byId["uganda-narcotics-act-2024"]; + const ugandaStart = byId["uganda-narcotics-commencement-2025"]; + assert.equal(ugandaAssent.before, undefined); + assert.match(ugandaAssent.unscored, /14 April 2025/); + assert.equal(ugandaStart.date, "2025-04-14"); + assert.equal(total(ugandaStart.before), 9); + assert.equal(total(scoreAt("ug", 2024)), 9); + assert.equal(total(scoreAt("ug", 2025)), total(y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/ug.yaml", "utf8")).scores)); + + const indiaAssent = byId["india-ndps-amendment-assent-2001"]; + const indiaBands = byId["india-ndps-amendment-2001"]; + assert.equal(indiaAssent.date, "2001-05-09"); + assert.equal(indiaAssent.before, undefined); + assert.equal(indiaBands.date, "2001-10-02"); + assert.equal(indiaBands.before.possession, 0); + + const nzAssent = byId["new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-1927"]; + const nzStart = byId["new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-commencement-1928"]; + assert.equal(nzAssent.before, undefined); + assert.match(nzAssent.unscored, /1 January 1928/); + assert.equal(scored("nz")[0].id, "new-zealand-dangerous-drugs-commencement-1928"); + assert.equal(nzStart.date, "1928-01-01"); + assert.deepEqual(scoreAt("nz", 1927), FREE); + assert.equal(total(scoreAt("nz", 1928)), 11); + + const portugal = byId["portugal-personal-use-quantity-2023"]; + assert.equal(portugal.date, "2023-10-01"); + assert.equal(portugal.before, undefined); + assert.match(portugal.unscored, /administrative/); + const pt = y.load(fs.readFileSync("countries/pt.yaml", "utf8")); + assert.match(pt.segments.possession.text, /1 October 2023/); + assert.match(pt.segments.possession.text, /25 g/); + assert.equal(pt.scores.possession, 3); + assert.equal(pt.scores.enforcement, 5); +});