Northern Cyprus offers drug users supervised treatment instead of a sentence

Northern Cyprus gave eligible drug users a route through supervision and treatment before sentence in May 2016. Someone who accepted the programme and completed it successfully could leave without a sentence or a conviction entered on their record. The law covered possession and use, with a further route for qualifying personal imports.^[1]

Parliament offered a different outcome after conviction

The assembly approved the law unanimously, with 28 votes, on 16 May. It appeared in the official gazette on 27 May, and its final clause brought it into force on publication. That date made the new route available in law.^[1]

The court first had to deal with the drug offence. Supervised release then offered monitoring, treatment or rehabilitation before the punishment was set. If the defendant accepted, the court ordered the programme to begin and waited for the board’s final assessment.^[1]

Successful completion had two linked effects: no sentence was imposed and the conviction was not entered on the record. People already in prison, and those whose cases were still pending when the law began, could apply if they met the eligibility rules. The court could change or remove an earlier order where it considered that appropriate and fair.^[1]

Treatment could last from one to three years

A report signed by two psychiatrists helped the court determine the person’s needs and the programme’s duration. The statutory period was one to three years. Participants had to follow the board’s programme, including regular blood and urine testing; the law provided a testing-fee exemption for people whose poverty was certified by Social Services.^[1]

The route had exclusions. People convicted of selling, trading, manufacturing, exporting or growing drugs were outside it. A similar conviction within three years after completing an earlier programme also blocked another offer. Refusing the option, or breaching its obligations, returned the case to the ordinary criminal process.^[1]

A scheduled amount was part of the import rules

The personal-import provisions used a schedule listing cannabis and cannabis resin at twelve grams. Amounts beyond the schedule required further judicial assessment of the circumstances, quantity and purpose. The law supplied a way to deal with an offence after conviction; cannabis possession and import remained criminal.^[1]

Implementation required health and social services. In its 2019 activity report, the Social Services Department recorded regular interviews and psychosocial support for 98 people benefiting from supervised release. That was a count across drug users, without a cannabis breakdown.^[2]

The Northern Cyprus profile now records both the criminal offences and the treatment route introduced in 2016. Its practical benefit depended on eligibility, acceptance and completing the programme.^[1]