Gibraltar makes cannabis possession punishable by a fine or a month in jail

Gibraltar’s Governor in Council made rules on 18 October 1951 making possession of Indian hemp punishable by a fine of up to £150 or imprisonment for up to one month. The offence reached cannabis kept for someone by another person as well as cannabis in their own hands.^[1]

New powers for the colonial government

Earlier that year, the legislature had given the Governor in Council power to control or restrict the production, possession, sale and distribution of Indian hemp, raw opium and coca leaves. The amendment received Governor Kenneth Anderson’s assent in March.^[2]

The power was broad enough to prohibit these activities except when carried out by authorised people. It also let the Governor in Council set penalties for breaking the resulting rules, subject to a ceiling of one month in prison or a £150 fine.^[2]

That distinction between a power and a rule mattered. The March amendment gave the government authority to act; the October rules then expressly created a possession offence.^[1][2]

Cannabis appeared under an opium title

The rules were called the Dangerous Drugs (Raw Opium) Rules, but their possession clause also named coca leaves and Indian hemp. A person found possessing any of the three could be prosecuted under the same rule.^[1]

The short text gave no weight threshold dividing a personal quantity from a larger stock. Its wording applied to anyone found in possession, making the fact of possession central to the offence.^[1]

Handing the cannabis to someone else did not remove possession

The rule also explained what possession meant. Cannabis counted if it was in a person’s actual custody, held by someone subject to their control, or held for them or on their behalf.^[1]

For someone keeping cannabis with another person, physical separation therefore did not put the drug outside the offence. The legal question included who controlled it and for whom it was being held.^[1]

The penalty powers later widened

In 1960, Gibraltar removed the ceiling on punishments that could be set through this rule-making power. The amendment deleted the part of the 1951 law that had limited those penalties.^[2][3]

A new drug statute took effect in 1973, with separate offences for possession, production, supply and cannabis cultivation. That statute remained in place until November 2012.^[4] These changes form part of the longer history behind Gibraltar’s current criminal possession rules.