The story
Kazakhstan made personal drug possession and non-medical public use criminal offences when its replacement criminal code took effect on 1 January 2015. Keeping drugs for oneself could now fall under a lesser criminal offence even in the smallest quantity band. Especially large personal holdings continued to carry three to seven years in prison.[1]
The administrative route closed
The 2011 reform had removed the legally defined large-possession band from criminal law. Buying, carrying or keeping that amount without intent to supply brought an administrative fine of up to 200 calculation units or up to 45 days’ detention. A separate lower administrative tier also allowed a fine or short detention for drug handling outside the criminal offence.[2][3]
The replacement code put personal possession in its criminal-law chapter on public health. It distinguished lesser criminal offences from crimes, with different sentencing options. That meant a person could face criminal proceedings without facing the multi-year prison term reserved for the especially large band.[1]
Quantity still shaped the sentence
In the code’s opening edition, ordinary personal possession could bring a fine of up to 200 monthly calculation units, corrective work linked to that amount, or up to 180 hours of community work. The large band raised those limits to 300 units and 240 hours. Calculation units were the statutory measure for fines; the code referred separately to a drug-quantity table to decide which band applied.[1]
Both tiers also listed arrest, but the original commencement rule delayed the general arrest provision until 2017. The text therefore distinguished becoming criminally liable in 2015 from the planned introduction of that custodial punishment. Voluntarily surrendering drugs acquired for personal use or voluntarily seeking medical help could exempt a person from liability under the article.[1]
Public use became criminal too
The previous administrative code started public-use penalties with a five-unit fine, increased it for repetition and allowed detention after two earlier penalties in a year. The replacement code made non-medical use in a public place a lesser criminal offence from the outset, with fines, corrective work or community work among its penalties.[1][2]
Growing stayed separately prohibited
Cannabis cultivation had its own offence. The ordinary tier offered a fine, corrective work, restriction of liberty or up to two years in prison; group, repeated or large-scale growing carried three to eight years. The code thus kept growing separate from possessing a harvested drug.[1]
The country profile describes the later amended penalties. The 2015 change explains the return to criminal proceedings after the earlier administrative reform, and why an account ending in 2011 misses a central turn in Kazakhstan’s drug law.[1][3]
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%2 → 2
- Personal cultivation · 25%1 → 1
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%2 → 2
- Sharing & gifting · 10%1 → 1
- Consumption · 10%2 → 1−1
- Legal access · 10%0 → 0
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. The scores after the change are Kazakhstan's current scores.
References
- Kazakhstan — Criminal Code, edition effective 1 January 2015, WIPO Lex 16084Russian text, articles 10, 296, 300 and 467(1); arrest under article 45 initially deferred until 2017
- Kazakhstan — Code of Administrative Offences, consolidation through January 2013, ILO NATLEXPDF pp. 208 and 215: articles 320 and 336-2
- Kazakhstan — Law 393-IV of 18 January 2011, reproduced by CDBArticle 1(1)(124), deleting criminal article 259(1); article 1(4)(9), adding administrative article 320(1-1); article 2, commencement after publication
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.