Bahrain extends cannabis controls to people under British jurisdiction

A British regulation extended Bahrain’s dangerous-drug rules to people under British jurisdiction on 5 April 1955. The rules expressly included Indian hemp and its resin, with unauthorised possession or supply punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine up to 5,000 rupees, or both.^[1]

Local rules met British jurisdiction

Bahrain’s regulations labelled 1374, or 1954, restricted obtaining, possessing, selling and supplying dangerous drugs. The British regulation applied those existing rules to people subject to the Bahrain Orders, with an exception for the medical services of Britain’s armed forces.^[1]

Britain’s Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, B. A. B. Burrows, issued the regulation, which Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden allowed. It replaced a British dangerous-drug regulation dating from 1931, while preserving the ability to prosecute offences committed under that earlier regulation.^[1]

For people covered by British jurisdiction, the change connected the local drug rules to the courts and penalties applicable to them.^[1]

Indian hemp appeared by name

The attached schedule listed Indian hemp, Indian-hemp resin and preparations based on that resin. The possession and supply restrictions therefore covered cannabis expressly.^[1]

The penalty allowed prison, a fine, or both. Drugs and containers involved in an offence could be forfeited. People authorised to handle controlled drugs also had to keep a register recording where supplies came from and where they went.^[1]

Hospitals and prescriptions had exceptions

The rules exempted named medical institutions from the general possession and supply prohibition. These included government hospitals and dispensaries, the American Mission Hospital and the Bahrain Petroleum Company Hospital, alongside other handlers licensed by the health authorities.^[1]

Individuals could hold quantities genuinely prescribed for their personal medical treatment by approved doctors. Doctors were prohibited from prescribing for another purpose. Importing or exporting scheduled drugs required customs authorisation and a licence from the British Political Agent.^[1]

Replacement laws kept cannabis controlled

Bahrain’s 1959 ordinance replaced the local 1954 rules, retaining a three-year maximum, the rupee fine and medical exceptions. It again named cannabis and resin, and separately addressed extracts and tinctures.^[2]

The 1973 narcotics decree later replaced that ordinance. It distinguished personal possession from supply, allowing up to three years for the former and up to ten for the latter.^[3]

The Bahrain profile follows the prison, treatment and capital-penalty rules that developed from these earlier controls.