The story
Bahrain’s new drug law took effect on 17 August 2007, retaining death or life imprisonment for trafficking while giving some users a treatment route. Personal possession and growing remained criminal offences, punishable by imprisonment and a fine up to 3,000 dinars.[1]
Capital penalties came from an earlier law
The 1984 amendment had already introduced death or life imprisonment for drug supply and growing for trafficking. The replacement law preserved those capital penalties and required death in specified aggravated cases, including repeat offending and using a minor.[2][1]
It also separated different kinds of conduct. Providing drugs for use without payment carried up to seven years and a fine, while the corresponding paid provision offence carried at least ten years. The trafficking offence had its own death-or-life penalty.[1]
Personal use and growing shared a penalty
Holding cannabis or its seeds for personal use, or growing a listed plant for that purpose, fell under the personal-use offence. The law required imprisonment and a fine up to 3,000 dinars.[1]
The plant schedule expressly named cannabis. A separate schedule excluded cannabis fibre and seeds treated so they could not germinate. That exemption distinguished these products from viable seeds and growing plants, which remained controlled.[3]
Treatment could replace punishment
A court could order treatment instead of the personal-use punishment for someone proven to be addicted. Treatment could take place in a designated facility, hospital or specialist clinic, under the programme’s attendance requirements.[1]
Placement in a treatment facility ordinarily lasted between three months and one year. The court could return to sentencing in specified circumstances, including ineffective placement, failure to recover within the maximum period or breach of the programme’s obligations.[1]
Seeking help early could prevent prosecution
The law also protected eligible people approaching for treatment voluntarily, or through a spouse or relative up to the fourth degree. It provided observation, treatment and a process for reviewing continued placement.[1]
That protection depended on timing: it did not cover someone already caught using drugs or already prosecuted for that offence. Treatment records were protected by a separate confidentiality rule.[1]
A specialist prosecution unit followed
Bahrain created a dedicated drug-crimes prosecution unit in June 2025 to investigate and prosecute offences under this law. Its remit included coordination with police and international bodies and proposals for legislative improvements.[4]
The Bahrain profile explains the continuing possession, growing and supply penalties alongside the law’s treatment provisions.
Listed for context. No score change is recorded for Bahrain here.
References
- Bahrain Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission — narcotics lawLaw 15/2007, articles 3, 26, 30–33, 38–44, 51, 54 and 60; Gazette 2804, 16 August 2007; effective next day
- Bahrain — capital drug penalties introduced in 1984Decree-Law 10/1984, replacement articles 23–24; signed 9 July; effective upon publication
- Bahrain Official Gazette — original narcotics law and schedulesGazette 2804, 16 August 2007; PDF page 22, printed page 26: Tables 5 and 6; cannabis fibre and treated non-germinating seeds excluded
- International Narcotics Control Board — Annual Report 2025Paragraph 608: dedicated drug-crimes prosecution unit created 24 June 2025
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read.