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The first dated restriction on cannabis in Niger’s record was written in Paris. On 30 December 1916 a decree extended a French law on poisonous substances to French West Africa, the federation of colonies that included what is now Niger.
A law made for France
The law was the Act of 12 July 1916 on the importation, exportation, trade in, possession and use of poisonous substances. It was passed during the First World War for metropolitan France, and the regulations made under it there list Indian hemp, its resin and their preparations among the narcotics of Schedule B.
Three further decrees carried it into the colonies.
| Date | Decree |
|---|---|
| 30 December 1916 | extends the Act to French West Africa |
| 5 March 1918 | on the application of the Act there |
| 26 January 1926 | regulations on the trade in, possession and use of poisonous substances in French West Africa |
| 31 May 1952 | amends one article of the 1926 regulations |
What these texts said about cannabis in the colony is not confirmed. They are known from a filing France made to the United Nations in 1953, which cites them by title and date and reproduces only the 1952 amendment, a change of one word.
After independence
Niger’s own law is Ordinance 99-42 of 23 September 1999. It has a tier written for cannabis.
| Small quantity for personal use (Article 145) | Penalty |
|---|---|
| A high-risk drug, cannabis oil included | 2 months to 1 year, and or a fine of 500,000 to 1 million CFA francs |
| A cannabis derivative other than oil | 1 to 6 months, and or a fine of 250,000 to 500,000 CFA francs |
| A lower-risk drug | 15 days to 3 months, and or a fine of 100,000 to 250,000 CFA francs |
The tier covers keeping, buying and growing alike. Supply carries ten to twenty years. A court may invite a convicted addict to undergo treatment in place of, or on top of, the sentence.
Why the index moved
The 1916 decree is the first step in Niger’s score, from the unregulated state to prohibition. The index dates the change to the extension of the French Act because that is the earliest text that reached the territory, while noting that the colonial wording has not been read. The country’s present total is 9.[1][2]
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%10 → 1−9
- Personal cultivation · 25%10 → 1−9
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%10 → 1−9
- Sharing & gifting · 10%10 → 1−9
- Consumption · 10%10 → 1−9
- Legal access · 10%10 → 0−10
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. The scores after the change are Niger's current scores.
References
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.