Cannabis Freedom Index

Changelog edbdb3dtree

Sri Lanka: death-penalty and arrest updates, 12 history entries

State that no cannabis offence carries death, add the 2026 high-seas limit and the August 2026 debate, update arrests to 2025 and early 2026, raise the 2025 seizure figure to 17,193 kg, and record the 2023 Katunayake pilot. Add 12 entries from 1984 to 2026 and expand the 2026 scheduling/bail entry.

12 history entries added1 history entry edited1 country profile edited1 file of code, design or docs +361 −14 lines

History changes.yaml

Added 12

Edited 1

Sri Lanka passes a bill making Cannabis sativa an explicit dangerous drug

description

OnParliament passed two amendment bills on 22 October 2026 Parliament passed Bill O 11/2026, which adds Cannabis sativa L. and galenical preparationsOne speeds destruction of it to Group B of the dangerous-seized drugs scheduleafter sampling and sets a two-month Government Analyst report; the other adds methamphetamine to the death-eligible manufacturing offences. The bill had not been certified when this profile was updatedlist, so it was not yet in force. The current schedule already listscreates a ten-to-twenty-year offence for manufacturing other scheduled drugs including cannabis flowering tops and resin, extractsraises the bail threshold to 100 g and tincturesadds Cannabis sativa and galenical preparations to Group B. Certification and commencement were not verified by 28 October.

Countries and states 1 file

Sri Lanka countries/lk.yaml

context › production › text

The state supplies cannabis to the Ayurvedic sector, largely from seized stock.[@morning24] InA Katunayake export pilot was approved in May 2023, and in February 2024 the Cabinet approved cultivation and export for medicinal purposes, and in. In August 2025 seven foreign investors received six-month licences to grow on 64 acres at Mi … expected in 2026; no confirmed planting or export was found by late October 2026.[@dm25b]

context › black market › text

The government reported 8,360 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 10,220 kg in 2023, and 292 kg of resin in 2024, against 274 kg in 2023.[@unodc_szr] The police narcotics bureau counted 8,359 kg in 2024 and 17,189193 kg in 2025, while local reporting separates local cannabis from Kerala cannabis and gives … and the record 2026 haul at Bandaranaike airport was kush brought from Thailand.[@scmp26]

context › arrests › text

The National Dangerous Drugs Control Board counted 228,450 drug arrests in 2024, of whom 75,602, or 33.1 per cent, were for cannabis, 75,097 for heroin and 68,132 for methamphetamine.[@nddcb24] In the first half of 2023 it hadIt counted 74262,444321 drug arrests in 2025, with 32of whom 76,908058, or 4429 per cent, were for cannabis, and 121,266 drug arrests in January–May 2026, of whom 27,833 were for cannabis.[@nddcb23nddcb25,nddcb26] The police narcotics bureau seized 8board recorded 17,359193 kg of cannabis seized in 2024 and 172025,189 against 8,359 kg in 20252024.[@derana26nddcb25] The figures cover all drugs unless stated, and the cannabis share is of arrests, not convictions.[@nddcb24]

context › arrests › sources

nddcb24, nddcb23nddcb25, derana26nddcb26

sources

Sri Lanka NDDCB — Annual Statistical Bulletin 2025 (25 May 2026) Sri Lanka NDDCB — Arrest fact sheet, January–May 2026 Ada Derana — President's council discusses death penalty for drug offences (10 August 2026) 17 unchanged

context › death penalty › text

No cannabis offence carries death. Section 54A reserves death or life for manufacturing heroin, cocaine, morphine or opium, and the 2026 high-seas provision repeats that limit; cannabis trafficking tops out at fifteen years.[@ord2024,act2026] A 2026 presidential council discussed the death penalty for drug offences generally but took no decision and did not extend it to cannabis.[@derana_death26]

context › death penalty › sources

ord2024, act2026, derana_death26

Code, design and documents 1 file

docs/research/expansion-2026-10-28-asia-4.md +3 −1
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ marked busy.
 | Maldives | cultivation correction, fines, hemp/planting/driving/black-market sections, 14 history entries | 1980s empty; 2025 amendment text partially unavailable | this commit |
 | Nepal | penalty tables split, Gandaki/Ilam updates, 18 history entries | Rana-era gap; Gandaki not commenced | this commit |
-| Sri Lanka | in progress | | |
+| Sri Lanka | death-penalty section, arrests/black-market updates, 12 history entries | October 2026 bills not certified; no 2024 decriminalisation law found | this commit |
 | Afghanistan | 2026 Penal Code penalties, enforcement/arrest updates, 16 history entries | 1930s–1940s/1980s empty; code not gazetted by Feb 2026 | this commit |
 
@@ -21,2 +21,4 @@ Nepal validation: `profile-audit np` zero errors/warnings; `country-gaps np` has
 
 India validation: `profile-audit in` zero errors/warnings; `country-gaps in` has no missing sections, tables or citations. The possession and trafficking tables now carry the small/intermediate/commercial bands (under 1 kg, 1–20 kg, over 20 kg ganja; under 100 g, 100 g–1 kg, over 1 kg charas), cultivation carries the ten-year maximum and ₹100,000 fine, and section 31A is described as a discretionary second-conviction route for at least 20 kg of hashish or 500 g of THC with no ganja entry. The profile adds a state-licensed hemp section at Himachal's below-0.3% line, an arrest section with the 2024–2025 NCB figures, and clearer bhang/state qualifications. Ten entries cover 2011–2026.
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+Sri Lanka validation: `profile-audit lk` zero errors/warnings; `country-gaps lk` has no missing sections, tables or citations. The profile now states that no cannabis offence carries death, adds the 2026 high-seas limit and the August 2026 death-penalty discussion, updates arrests to 262,321 drug arrests and 76,058 cannabis arrests in 2025 plus 27,833 in January–May 2026, and raises the 2025 seizure figure to 17,193 kg. It records the May 2023 Katunayake pilot before the 2024 Cabinet decision, and the 2026 scheduling/bail bill is described precisely. Twelve entries cover 1984–2026.
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