Jordan grades drug penalties and widens first-offence record protection

Jordan reorganised personal-use drug penalties on 23 October 2021 and broadened the acts protected from a first-offence criminal or security record. The amendment also widened distribution offences and allowed licensing rules for controlled plants and seeds, combining changes for users with wider drug controls.

First-offence protection already existed

Under the 2016 replacement law, personal use and a specified list of own-use acts carried one to three years in prison plus a fine. A first offence created no criminal precedent or security record, and courts could substitute treatment.

That earlier list already included personal-use growing and manufacture. In 2021, lawmakers added more acts to the record protection, including importing, transporting and storing drugs for personal consumption.

The Lower House backed the proposal in September. It was published later that month and became operative thirty days afterwards.

Four bands replaced the single personal-use range

The amendment tied personal-use punishment to the controlled-drug table containing the substance. Drugs in several tables retained one to three years in prison and a fine of 1,000 to 3,000 Jordanian dinars.

Other tables carried six months to one year plus a fine, or three to six months plus a fine. For substances in tables 3 and 9, the punishment became one to six months in prison, a fine of 200 to 500 dinars, or both.

Under the regulator’s September 2026 schedules, cannabis plant material appears in table 3, while cannabis resin appears in table 1. The current personal-use penalties consequently differ between those forms of cannabis.

Gifts came within the expanded distribution definition

The amendment expressly extended the distribution definition to transfers with or without payment. The distribution offence carried at least five years of temporary hard labour and a fine of at least 5,000 dinars, with higher minimums for cases involving minors.

It also added express authority to license dealings in controlled plants and seeds under regulations. This gave the government a legal basis for authorised handling within a law that continued to prohibit unlicensed cultivation and supply.

Treatment and product regulation developed alongside criminal controls

The law retained the court’s option to substitute treatment, first-offence record protection and the exemption for seeking treatment before being caught. Record protection continued to coexist with prosecution and possible imprisonment.

In 2023, Jordan issued detailed approval and prescription rules for CBD products, alongside hemp seed food rules. Those specific product routes sit beside the criminal cannabis offences described in Jordan’s profile.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}