Moscow separates drug hemp from industrial hemp in the criminal code

A 1987 all-union amendment separated drug hemp from other hemp. Growing the listed drug varieties — Indian, South Manchurian, South Chui, South Arkhon and South Krasnodar — carried up to five years, or eight for repeat, while growing other hemp or oil poppy was an administrative offence with a 20–100 rouble fine, escalating to prison only for repeats. The same decree set up to 15 days' arrest for drug use and allowed compulsory treatment. Its list of prohibited hemp varieties survives almost word for word in Abkhazia's current administrative code.^[1]