Djibouti publishes French drug penalties and treatment rules

The French Territory of the Afars and Issas published France’s revised drug law in its official journal on 10 February 1971. Illicit use could bring two months to one year in prison, a fine alone, or both, while prescribed treatment offered a way to avoid prosecution.

Cannabis was already under colonial control

Earlier rules published in 1932 had listed cannabis, resin, extracts and tinctures among controlled substances. They put possession and trade behind permits, with therapeutic prescriptions governing supplies to people without authorisation.

The 1971 publication brought a broader account of criminal offences and treatment. Its overseas-application clause expressly covered the territory, while leaving local assemblies to determine arrangements for the treatment described in several sections.

Use and trafficking had different penalties

The use offence applied to illicit consumption of substances or plants classified as narcotics. It expressly allowed either imprisonment or a fine by itself.

Ordinary trafficking carried two to ten years, a fine, or either penalty alone. Illicit import, production, manufacture and export carried a higher prison range of ten to twenty years. Helping someone else use drugs, including by providing premises, also attracted criminal penalties.

The law allowed restrictions beyond imprisonment, including exclusion of foreigners from the territory. Repeat offending could double the penalties.

Treatment could stop a prosecution

A prosecutor could direct a person accused of illicit use to undergo detoxification or medical supervision. Following the prescribed treatment through to completion prevented prosecution under the conditions set out in the law.

The text also addressed people who had already sought care and those who came forward voluntarily. First-offence rules and prosecutorial discretion on repeated use affected how those routes operated. Local decisions were needed to organise treatment in the territory.

One cannabis seller received prison and a residence ban

On 29 July 1971, a Djibouti court sentenced Mohamed Aden Darar to six months and a three-year residence ban for possessing and selling cannabis. After his release in January 1972, an administrative order barred him from Djibouti district and the Obock and Tadjourah circles.

After independence, the 1984 collective pardon excluded people convicted under the older drug legislation. Djibouti’s 1995 Penal Code later set out its own separate offences for use, possession and supply.^[1][2][3]