Gibraltar presumes 20 grams of cannabis is held for supply

Gibraltar introduced a rule in August 1989 that presumed a person with 20 grams of cannabis or cannabis resin intended to supply it to someone else. Once the prosecution proved possession of the listed quantity, the defendant had to prove the contrary to defeat that presumption.^[1]

Quantity changed what the court could presume

The 1973 drug law already distinguished ordinary possession from possession with intent to supply. The latter offence concerned having drugs with the intention of passing them to another person unlawfully.^[2]

The 1989 amendment added an evidential shortcut for prosecutors. Its table called 20 grams of cannabis or resin a commercial quantity. Proof of possession at that quantity brought the presumption into play, without requiring separate proof of a planned recipient before the presumption could arise.^[1]

For someone holding cannabis for personal use, the rule made the explanation for their stock important: a claim of personal use had to overcome the statutory presumption.^[1]

The rule also reached drugs held through someone else

The amendment expressly said that showing the defendant had never physically possessed the drug would not, by itself, rebut the presumption. The law therefore looked beyond whether the cannabis had actually been in the defendant’s hands.^[1]

The quantity table also covered substances contained in preparations, mixtures, extracts or other material. It listed other controlled drugs alongside cannabis, with separate weights for each.^[1]

The distinction between possession and supply remained consequential. The old drug Act had different sentencing entries for ordinary possession and possession with intent to supply, with the latter exposed to much heavier punishment.^[2]

The replacement code omitted the presumption

The rule remained in the final consolidated edition of the old Act. When Gibraltar replaced that statute in November 2012, the new code kept the separate possession and supply offences but omitted the commercial-quantity presumption.^[2][3]

The replacement also raised the summary-court maximum for Class B possession from six months to twelve months. Removing the presumption was therefore one part of a wider rewrite with changes in several directions.^[2][3]

A later possession case ended in a fine

In December 2025, police reported that a man found with approximately 127 grams of resin had been charged with possession and fined £800 in the Magistrates’ Court.^[4]

That case illustrates a possession outcome under the later code. Gibraltar’s current profile distinguishes the criminal penalties available from the particular sentences reported in individual cases.