History
1990s
World average score and entries per decade
13.2 today, from 99.1 in 1860
World average score, every country counted the same Entries that moved a score Context only
No entries for the chosen countries here.
199931 entries3 score changes
๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan Death penalty โ
Turkmenistan abolishes the death penalty
Turkmenistan abolished the death penalty on 28 December 1999, following the moratorium introduced that January. The moratorium had already barred courts from imposing death and covered existing death sentences. The change ended a punishment that had been used for drug trafficking: Amnesty International reported 123 such executions in 1996.
๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan Other law โ Article
Tajikistan adopts a drug law linking licensing, policing and treatment
Tajikistan adopted its general drug law under President Emomali Rakhmonov, with commencement to follow official publication. In the later consolidated text, licensed research institutions alone could grow drug-containing plants for scientific purposes, non-prescribed use was prohibited, and treatment and registration followed separate rules. The statute operated alongside the Criminal Code introduced in 1998 and was amended again in February 2026.
๐ฑ๐ฎ Liechtenstein International โ
Liechtenstein joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Liechtenstein ratified the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 24 November 1999. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ฆ๐ด Angola Other law โ Article
Angola cuts personal-use penalties and raises trafficking terms
Angola shortened the ordinary personal-use sentence to three months, or up to one year above three days' supply, while raising ordinary trafficking terms to eight to twelve years. Growing for oneself came under the personal-use rule, and courts could suspend dependent users' sentences on condition of treatment. The law replaced colonial drug legislation and took effect ninety days after its August publication.
๐ฆ๐ด Angola Other law โ Article
Angola requires licences for controlled-drug growers and suppliers
Angola put cultivation, manufacture and trade in controlled drugs under authorisation from the national medicines directorate, including cannabis in its controlled list. Medical, veterinary and scientific growers had to identify their plots, expected harvest and secure storage; pharmacists had to reject special prescriptions more than ten days old or already filled. The rules accompanied the replacement criminal drug law and aimed to prevent lawful supplies from reaching the illicit market.
๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan Other law โ Article
Uzbekistan passes its narcotics law
Law 813-I created a national framework for controlled-drug schedules, licensed lawful circulation and state oversight. Narcotic-plant cultivation was reserved to licensed research institutions for scientific purposes; a low-THC industrial exception was added in 2020.
๐ฒ๐ด Macau Other law โ
Macau sets licensing and prescription rules for controlled medicines
Macauโs new rules allowed licensed chemical and pharmaceutical businesses to seek authorisation to manufacture controlled medicines, including substances in the cannabis table, while prohibiting cultivation of scheduled plants. Supply to patients went through pharmacies or hospitals and special prescriptions. The law completed the lawful-supply side of the 1991 drug reforms and took effect on 1 August 1999.
๐ฆ๐ฉ Andorra International โ
Andorra joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Andorra acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 23 July 1999. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan International โ
Pakistan joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Pakistan ratified the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 2 July 1999. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ช๐น Ethiopia Tightening โ Article
Ethiopia sets up to fifteen years for allowing drug use on premises
Owners or occupiers who allowed illicit narcotic drug use on their premises faced seven to fifteen years in prison and a fine of 30,000โ50,000 birr under Ethiopia's new drug law. It also punished promoting drug abuse and supplying drugs against a prescription known to be forged, altered, cancelled or expired. The earlier penal code had allowed the ordinary drug-supply penalty for knowingly providing a place to use drugs.
๐ซ๐ท France Easing โ
France tells prosecutors to keep drug users out of prison
A circular signed by the justice minister, รlisabeth Guigou, left the 1970 law untouched, under which use is punishable with a year in prison and a fine of 25,000 francs, but said imprisonment of a user with no other offence must be a last resort. It asked for alternatives to prosecution, and found a simple warning well suited to occasional users, above all of cannabis.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada Medical โ
Canada's health minister begins exempting patients one by one
Allan Rock used Section 56 of the drug law to let two AIDS patients grow and use cannabis, and in October added fourteen more people who were very sick or dying. A hundred had applied. In August the health department offered 7.5 million dollars over five years for research into medical cannabis, and it looked for a firm to grow a supply.
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand Other law โ
New Zealand's Court of Appeal sets sentencing bands for growing
In R v Terewi the court set three sentencing bands for growing cannabis, so that the scale of the growing decides the range of the sentence.
๐ International Debate โ
The first Global Marijuana March
The yearly demonstration, held on the first Saturday of May, began in 1999. In New York the police counted 4,000 marchers and the organisers 20,000. Marches have since been held in more than 1,000 cities in 85 countries and territories.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada ยท Ontario Medical โ
An Ontario judge exempts an AIDS patient from the cannabis ban
Justice Harry LaForme of the Ontario Superior Court granted Jim Wakeford a constitutional exemption from prosecution, so that he could possess and grow cannabis while the health ministry considered his application. Nineteen other patients had applied; government lawyers admitted the ministry had adopted only preliminary guidelines that week. The government did not appeal.
๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova Other law โ
Moldova passes its narcotics law
Law 382 of 1999 on the circulation of narcotic and psychotropic substances and precursors governed the field, hemp growing included, until Law 201 of 2025 repealed it.
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso Other law โ Article
Burkina Faso gives small personal supplies and growing a separate penalty
People buying, holding or growing a small personal quantity could receive a fine alone under the new drug code. Its cannabis-related prison ranges ran from one month to a year, while ordinary high-risk production and trafficking carried ten to twenty years, a fine, or both. The law followed the 1996 Penal Code, which had punished personal possession and use with three to six months, a fine, or both; the 2018 code later replaced these drug penalties.
36+3 points
๐ณ๐ฎ Nicaragua Tightening โ
Nicaragua reforms its narcotics law
Law 285 rewrote the earlier Law 177 on narcotics and psychotropic substances, with penalties of five to twenty-five years in prison and heavy fines.
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania International โ
Tanzania joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Tanzania acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 25 March 1999. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐บ๐ธ United States Medical โ
An American scientific review finds medical promise in cannabinoids
The White House drug policy office had asked the Institute of Medicine to review the evidence. Its report found that cannabinoids appear to help with pain, nausea from chemotherapy and wasting, with modest effects, and advised against smoking as a long-term medicine while allowing it under supervision for patients with no alternative. It found no conclusive evidence that cannabis itself causes people to move on to other drugs.
๐จ๐บ Cuba Death penalty โ Article
Cuba extends the death penalty to drug trafficking
Law 87, passed by the National Assembly in February and published on 15 March, rewrote article 190 of the Penal Code. Trafficking, growing marihuana or knowingly possessing its seeds brought four to ten years; large quantities eight to twenty; and fifteen to thirty years or death applied to officials, international trafficking and cases using children under 16.
๐ญ๐บ Hungary Tightening โ Article
Hungary restricts diversion to addicts
The first Orbรกn government tightened the drug law. Only people diagnosed as dependent could choose treatment over prosecution; occasional users faced the courts.
128โ4 points
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia International โ
Indonesia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Indonesia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 23 February 1999. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius Enforcement โ
A legalisation rally in Mauritius ends in a death in custody
The musician Kaya smoked cannabis publicly at a rally calling for legalisation. He was detained by police and died in custody four days later.
๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan International โ
Azerbaijan joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Azerbaijan acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 11 January 1999. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan Death penalty โ Article
Turkmenistan bars courts from imposing death sentences
President Saparmurat Niyazov signed a law barring courts from imposing death sentences from 1 January 1999 and extending the moratorium to people already sentenced to death. They were to be held in correctional colonies under special-regime conditions. The reform followed reports of executions for drug trafficking and preceded full abolition that December.
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia Tightening โ Article
Czechia makes possession a crime again
Possession for personal use had not been a crime since 1990. An amendment to the criminal code made holding an amount "greater than small" a criminal offence, without saying how much that was; smaller amounts stayed an administrative offence.
2520โ5 points
๐ต๐น Portugal Debate โ
Portugal adopts a national drug strategy built on health
With an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 heroin users and the highest HIV rate among injecting drug users in the European Union, the government adopted a strategy that expanded harm reduction and doubled spending on treatment and prevention. Decriminalisation of use followed from it two years later.
๐ด๐ฒ Oman Death penalty โ
Oman issues its narcotics law
Royal Decree 17/99 was Oman's first dedicated narcotics law. It allowed the death penalty for trafficking in quantities above 50 kg.
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria Tightening โ
Nigeria's cannabis eradication peaks at 3,500 hectares
The eradication programme launched in 1994 as Operation Burn the Weeds destroyed 3,500 hectares of cannabis in 1999, against 40 hectares in its first year. It fell substantially in the 2000s.
199838 entries2 score changes
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea Other law โ
Guinea raises personal-use prison ranges but allows fines for trafficking
Personal drug possession and use carried six months to two years, a fine, or both under the new Penal Code, compared with two months to a year in the 1989 ordinance. Ordinary cultivation and trafficking carried ten to twenty years, a fine, or both, adding an explicit fine-only alternative to the earlier combined punishment. Prosecutors could still withhold prosecution after a user completed prescribed treatment.
๐ฐ๐ท South Korea International โ
South Korea joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
South Korea acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 December 1998. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand International โ
New Zealand joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
New Zealand ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 16 December 1998. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ป๐จ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Tightening โ
US-backed raids destroy Saint Vincent's hillside crop
A United States-led eradication operation swept the island's mountain farms in December 1998. A Vincentian news site, citing a New York Times report of 4 March 1999, puts the toll at more than one million plants. Growers recall American helicopters returning several times a year in the 1990s.
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand Debate โ
A New Zealand parliamentary committee finds the harms of cannabis overstated
The ten-member health select committee, chaired by Brian Neeson, reported that the mental health effects of cannabis appeared to have been overstated and that moderate use did not seem to harm most people who tried it. It recommended that the government review its cannabis policy; Neeson worried that illegality kept people from seeking treatment. It was described as the first such inquiry since 1973.
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa International โ
South Africa joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
South Africa acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 14 December 1998. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe International โ
Zimbabwe joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Zimbabwe deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 1 December 1998. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland Debate โ
Swiss voters reject the drug legalisation initiative
A year after refusing a repressive course, the Swiss turned down the opposite one. The initiative "for a sensible drug policy", launched by the Working Group for Drug Legalisation and backed by the Greens and Social Democrats, won 26% of the vote and no canton, on a turnout of 38.4%. Government and parliament had opposed it; the Swiss vote archive calls the result a clear no to decriminalising hard drugs.
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom Debate โ Article
House of Lords recommends prescription access to cannabis
The Science and Technology Committee published its report after an inquiry beginning in April 1998. It recommended urgent clinical trials and moving cannabis and resin to Schedule 2 to allow named-patient prescribing, while supporting continued prohibition of recreational use. Patient groups gave evidence. This corrects the previous 1997 dating and separates the 1997 conference from the parliamentary report; the recommendation itself did not change the law.
๐ต๐ผ Palau International โ
Palau joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Palau acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 19 August 1998. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฌ๐ฉ Grenada International โ
Grenada joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Grenada acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 19 August 1998. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq International โ
Iraq joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Iraq acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 22 July 1998. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore Tightening โ
Singapore criminalises residents' drug use abroad
Section 8A extended the consumption offence beyond Singapore. Citizens and permanent residents who test positive after using a controlled drug such as cannabis overseas can be prosecuted as though the consumption happened in Singapore.
๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan Other law โ
Kazakhstan passes its narcotics law
Law No. 279 on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances set the framework for drug control in independent Kazakhstan, home to the wild cannabis of the Chuy Valley.
๐ International International โ
The United Nations pledges to cut cannabis growing within ten years
At a special session of the General Assembly in New York from 8 to 10 June, governments adopted a political declaration promising to reduce the supply of and demand for illicit drugs substantially by 2008, and to eliminate or significantly reduce crops of opium poppy, coca and cannabis. A briefing published a week later called the session a lost opportunity, because existing policy was not evaluated at all.
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique International โ
Mozambique joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Mozambique acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 8 June 1998. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐น Lithuania International โ
Lithuania joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Lithuania acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 8 June 1998. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ผ Taiwan Other law โ
Taiwan promulgates its rewritten narcotics statute
The full 36-article revision renamed the Narcotics Elimination Act as the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act. The actual 1998 text divided drugs into three categories and placed cannabis in the second. Article 10 prescribed up to three years for second-category use; Article 11 set up to two years, short-term detention or a fine for possession. Articles 20 and 23 provided observation, detoxification and compulsory-treatment procedures. These are the historical provisions, rather than a description inferred from today's statute.
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia International โ
Zambia joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Zambia acceded to the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 13 May 1998. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia International โ
Namibia joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Namibia acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 31 March 1998. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐น๐ฌ Togo Other law โ Article
Togo sets a shorter personal-use penalty for cannabis
Togo set one to six months in prison and a fine of 25,000โ500,000 CFA francs, or either penalty alone, for a small amount of cannabis derivatives other than oil kept, bought or grown for personal consumption. The law also banned cannabis cultivation nationwide and required landholders to destroy plants growing on their land. After joining the UN convention against trafficking in 1990, Togo placed personal use and commercial supply under separate penalties; a 2015 rewrite later raised the personal-use range.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada Hemp โ Article
Canada starts its licensed industrial-hemp programme
Health Canada dates the Industrial Hemp Regulation Program to 12 March 1998, following research in 1994โ1998. The first commercial growing licence followed in May 1998. This was a controlled industrial-hemp route, not general recreational cultivation permission.
๐ธ๐ป El Salvador International โ
El Salvador joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
El Salvador ratified the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 26 February 1998. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ธ๐ท Suriname Tightening โ
Suriname passes its Narcotics Act
The Wet verdovende middelen forbids growing Cannabis sativa and lists hemp, meaning any part of the cannabis plant from which the resin has not been extracted, among controlled substances. It was amended in 2002.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada Culture & science โ
A Canadian snowboarder gets back an Olympic gold lost over marijuana
Ross Rebagliati won the Olympic snowboarding giant slalom at Nagano on 8 February 1998. Days later the International Olympic Committee took the gold medal away after his test was positive for marijuana; he said he had breathed others' smoke at a farewell party. The Court of Arbitration for Sport restored it, finding no agreement between the IOC and the skiing federation that covered marijuana. Its secretary general called it "purely a legal issue".
๐ฌ๐ช Georgia International โ
Georgia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Georgia acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 8 January 1998. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ญ๐ท Croatia Other law โ
Croatia's new criminal code keeps possession a crime, and the courts fill up
Article 173 of the Criminal Code repeated the 1996 rule: a fine or up to a year for possession. Final convictions for drug offences rose from 1,041 in 1998 to 2,957 in 2002, from 8.5% to 15.5% of all convictions in the country. Of the 11,298 proceedings completed in those five years, 77% were for simple possession. From 30 December 2000 the maximum for dealing was twelve years.
๐ฆ๐น Austria Easing โ
Austria replaces its drug law and retains diversion with a cannabis-specific assessment rule
The Narcotic Substances Act replaced the 1951 law, retaining provisional withdrawal of small-quantity personal-use cases for a two-year probation period under section 35. A health-authority opinion could be omitted for cannabis-only cases where no health measure appeared necessary, but was required if another such report had been made within five years. This continued earlier diversion provisions rather than introducing treatment instead of punishment for the first time.
1119+8 points
๐บ๐ธ United States Tightening โ
The United States bars students with drug convictions from federal aid
The 1998 amendments to the Higher Education Act added a provision that keeps students with drug convictions from receiving federal aid for college, and the federal aid form gained a question about such convictions. A federal appeals court later upheld the rule against a constitutional challenge.
๐บ๐ธ United States ยท California Culture & science โ
Reefer Madness becomes a musical comedy
Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney's stage musical opened at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles, turning the film's warnings into show tunes. It later ran off-Broadway and became a television film for Showtime in 2005, with Alan Cumming and Kristen Bell.
๐บ๐พ Uruguay Easing โ
Uruguay widens the personal-use exemption
An amendment replaced the "minimal quantity" of the 1974 decree with a "reasonable quantity" for personal use, judged by the court in each case.
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom Medical โ
Britain licenses a company to grow cannabis for research
Two doctors, Geoffrey Guy and Brian Whittle, founded GW Pharmaceuticals and the same year obtained a licence from the Home Office and the medicines regulator to cultivate, possess and supply cannabis for scientific research. Its mouth spray Sativex, a cannabis extract, became the first natural cannabis derivative to gain market approval in any country, and was approved in the United Kingdom in 2010 for multiple sclerosis.
๐ฑ๐ท Liberia Other law โ
Liberia creates a dedicated drug enforcement agency
Liberia created an autonomous Drug Enforcement Agency under the Ministry of Justice to enforce anti-narcotics laws, develop policy and run public-awareness work. A later regional assessment found that its officers lacked a forensic laboratory and were absent from entry and exit ports, limiting their ability to intercept drugs.
๐ฎ๐น Italy Medical โ
Italian doctors may prescribe cannabinoids
From 1998 doctors could prescribe cannabis products and synthetic cannabinoids on a non- repeatable prescription. In 2007 the therapeutic uses of THC, dronabinol and nabilone were recognised, and in 2013 the active compounds of cannabis were added to the table of medicines.
๐ฎ๐น Italy Hemp โ
Italian growers found Assocanapa to revive industrial hemp
Hemp growers set up Assocanapa, the national coordination for hemp farming, in Carmagnola, Piedmont, in 1998. Parrella describes how it went on to work on Italian hemp varieties, seed supply and processing technology. It speaks for hemp as a farm and industrial crop.
๐จ๐ณ China Tightening โ
Yunnan sets out to become cannabis free
The provincial government began an eradication campaign with the aim of removing cannabis from Yunnan by 2000. Wild and commercial growing both fell.
199731 entries4 score changes
๐ง๐ท Brazil Enforcement โ
Brazilian police jail the band Planet Hemp for its songs
The members of the band were arrested at a concert in Brasรญlia on suspicion of apologia, the offence of advocating drug use. They spent five days in jail before habeas corpus was granted. Fans, musicians, politicians and the press protested, and the band's records sold out.
๐ป๐ณ Vietnam International โ
Vietnam joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Vietnam acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 4 November 1997. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar Other law โ Article
Madagascar distinguishes personal cannabis supplies from trafficking
Madagascar's replacement drug law gave small personal quantities of non-oil cannabis derivatives two to six months in prison, a fine, or both; cannabis oil fell under a three-month to one-year range with the same alternatives. Production and trafficking offences could bring forced labour or fines, while offering drugs directly for another person's consumption had a separate one-to-five-year range or a fine. The law replaced the 1960 rongony ordinance and required landholders to destroy cannabis crops.
39+6 points
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore International โ
Singapore joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Singapore acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 23 October 1997. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ฑ Poland Tightening โ Article
Poland criminalises possession, with an exception
The Act on counteracting drug addiction, passed on 24 April 1997, made possessing drugs an offence for the first time since 1985, with up to three years in prison. Article 48(4) left unpunished anyone holding a small amount for their own use. Growing cannabis other than fibre hemp carried up to two years. The act also provided for substitution treatment. The exemption lasted three years.
2721โ6 points
๐จ๐ณ China Tightening โ
China's revised Criminal Law takes over the drug offences
The Criminal Law revised on 14 March 1997 absorbed the 1990 decision. Article 357 lists cannabis among the drugs, Article 351 orders unlicensed cannabis plants uprooted, and Article 347 punishes trafficking whatever the quantity, with the death penalty available for the most serious cases.
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland Debate โ
Swiss voters reject the initiative "Youth without drugs"
A committee of right-of-centre politicians and figures from sport and entertainment had collected 140,949 signatures. Government and parliament opposed the initiative, and only 29.3% of voters and not a single canton said yes, on a turnout of 40.8%. The Swiss vote archive sums the result up as a clear no to pure repression and support for a broad drug policy.
๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland International โ
Iceland joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Iceland acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 2 September 1997. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia Death penalty โ Article
Indonesia introduces Class I and the death penalty
Law 22 put cannabis in Class I, ending its restricted medical use and permitting it only for research. It doubled the maximum sentence for personal use to four years, set long terms for possession and cultivation, and introduced life imprisonment or death for serious supply offences.
30โ3 points
๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan Tightening ?
Taliban radio announces a ban on hashish production, sale and use
Radio Shariah in Kabul announced that producing, selling and taking hashish and heroin were banned, according to the UN human-rights rapporteur's report. The Taliban representative in Islamabad told the rapporteur that drugs harmed health and were contrary to Islam, while seeking cooperation on eradication and alternative crops.
๐ฉ๐ช Germany Debate โ
Berlin holds the first Hanfparade
About ten thousand people marched to the Brandenburg Gate in what was billed as the first nationwide demonstration for hemp, under the demand "Legalisation now!". A year later, with a federal election ahead, nearly 50,000 came. The parade has been held every August since.
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali Other law โ
Mali limits controlled-drug prescriptions to seven days
Mali required special prescription forms for narcotics on its controlled list, including cannabis and resin, and limited each prescription to seven days of treatment, with a fresh prescription needed to continue. Pharmacists had to keep stocks locked up and report theft or diversion, while imports needed a special ministerial certificate. These handling rules operated under the earlier criminal drug law and its scheduled list of narcotics.
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon Other law โ Article
Cameroon sets lighter penalties for small personal cannabis supplies
Cameroon set a separate penalty for possessing, buying or growing a small personal supply: two months to one year, a fine, or both for high-risk drugs, with a shorter range for cannabis derivatives other than oil. Judges could waive punishment after a promise not to reoffend, while the main cultivation and trafficking offences carried ten to twenty years, a fine, or both. Landholders had to destroy cannabis growing on their land, and courts could require treatment for convicted people with drug dependence.
๐ง๐ฏ Benin Tightening โ
Benin passes its drug control law
Law 97-025 on the control of drugs and precursors is the law under which cannabis is illegal in Benin.
๐ฆ๐น Austria International โ
Austria joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Austria ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 July 1997. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan International โ
Tajikistan joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Tajikistan acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 26 March 1997. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique Other law โ Article
Mozambique raises trafficking penalties and gives growers shorter terms
Mozambique replaced its colonial drug law with ordinary trafficking penalties of sixteen to twenty years and a separate cannabis-growing offence carrying three days to one year. Using or possessing drugs for oneself carried up to two years plus a fine, with a one-year minimum above three days' supply and possible waivers for occasional users. The law sought to implement the 1988 UN trafficking convention and created a central drug-control office.
๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon International โ
Lebanon joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Lebanon ratified the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 5 March 1997. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia Other law โ
Cambodia's king signs drug law banning cannabis cultivation
King Norodom Sihanouk promulgated the drug law parliament had approved the previous December, prohibiting cannabis cultivation with limited research permissions. Cannabis and resin appeared in its most restricted list, bringing production, distribution, purchase and use under the law's controls. Personal-use offences and discretion for very small quantities used in customary village practice were addressed separately.
๐ณ๐ช Niger Other law โ Article
Niger keeps narcotic medicines behind prescriptions in its pharmacy law
Medicines on Niger's narcotics list could be dispensed only on prescription under the new pharmacy law. It carried forward the 1977 schedules, adopted the controlled-drug lists of ratified international conventions and required marketing authorisation before medicines could be supplied free or sold. Two years later, the separate drug ordinance rewrote the controls on illicit possession, supply and personal growing.
๐ท๐บ Russia Other law โ Article
Russia's new criminal code punishes only "large" amounts, and ten grams is large
Article 228 of the code that took effect on 1 January 1997 punished buying or keeping drugs without intent to sell only on a large scale, with up to three years. A summary table of 4 June 1997 was used to class 10 grams of marijuana as large. Valentin Ostroukhov, caught with that amount in 1996, got eighteen months; the courts refused to treat the new code as a decriminalisation, and in 2005 the UN Human Rights Committee declined to hear his case.
๐ป๐ณ Vietnam Tightening โ
Vietnam makes drug use a crime
The fourth amendment of the Criminal Code made using drugs punishable by three months to five years in prison and spread capital punishment across seven drug articles.
65โ1 point
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom Debate โ Article
Patient and professional groups organise a cannabis-trials conference
The MS Society, Royal Pharmaceutical Society and British Medical Association organised a conference on clinical trials. Suzanne Taylor describes the meeting as bringing together scientists, clinicians, patients and funders and drawing industry attention. It is separate from the House of Lords inquiry whose report was published in November 1998, and did not itself change prescribing law.
๐ช๐ธ Spain Tightening โ
Spain convicts the founders of its first cannabis association
Four members of ARSEC in Barcelona, the first users' association, were sentenced to four months in prison and a fine. Around the same time a court in Bilbao found that another association had not broken the law, and in 2006 and 2007 club members in Andalusia were acquitted and their crops returned.
๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan Tightening โ Article
Pakistan passes the Control of Narcotic Substances Act
The Act, still in force, set prison terms for producing, making and distributing cannabis, replacing the patchwork left by the 1979 prohibition order.
๐ฒ๐น Malta Enforcement โ
A Swiss teenager is jailed in Malta for a little hashish
Gisela Feuz, a 16-year-old Swiss student, was convicted of importing hashish with intent to traffic after admitting she carried a small amount, by her account to share with her boyfriend, and received a mandatory six months in prison. Accounts give the amount as under 8 g or under 1 g. The case was long cited in Malta as an example of the harshness of its drug laws.
๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon International โ
The United States takes Lebanon off its list of major drug producers
An eradication campaign in the early 1990s had nearly halted cannabis farming in the Bekaa, and Lebanon was removed from the US list of major drug-producing countries. The money promised for alternative crops never arrived, and the development programme was dropped in 2001.
๐ฆ๐น Austria Debate โ
Austrian deputies ask for cannabis for personal use to go unpunished
After parliament passed the Narcotic Substances Act on 16 April 1997, the deputies Klara Motter, Schmidt and colleagues moved that the government prepare a law exempting the purchase, possession, use, import and export of cannabis for one's own use from punishment. They pointed to the Netherlands, Spain, Britain and the German Constitutional Court's ruling of 1994, and argued that cannabis was less harmful than alcohol or nicotine.
199638 entries4 score changes
๐บ๐ธ United States Tightening โ
Washington threatens doctors who recommend cannabis
Eight weeks after California's vote, the health secretary, the attorney general and the drug czar Barry McCaffrey announced plans to prosecute those involved in prescribing medical marijuana. Doctors sued with the American Civil Liberties Union and won in federal court and on appeal; the Supreme Court declined to hear the government's appeal in 2003.
๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia Ban โ Article
Cambodia's parliament votes to ban cannabis cultivation
Parliament approved a ban on cannabis cultivation, with permission for specified research. People growing, buying or storing drugs for themselves faced six days to one month in prison, a fine, or both; prosecutors and judges could show leniency for very small quantities consumed in customary village practice. The king promulgated the law on 24 January 1997.
10012โ88 points
๐ป๐ฌ British Virgin Islands Tightening โ
BVI adds forfeiture of vehicles used for drug trafficking
A new rule required courts to order forfeiture of a conveyance connected with drug trafficking when the convicted person possessed or controlled it and the court found it was used, or intended for use, in the offence. The rule also incorporated procedures for owners to seek restoration. It extended the drug lawโs existing property-forfeiture rules.
๐ญ๐บ Hungary International โ
Hungary joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Hungary ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 15 November 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฉ๐ช Germany Debate โ
A German state proposes selling cannabis over the counter
Schleswig-Holstein, governed by Social Democrats and Greens, announced that it would ask the federal drugs agency for a permit to sell cannabis legally, in order to separate it from the market in hard drugs. Its health minister, Heide Moser, said general warnings about drugs were no longer taken seriously. A federal spokesman said the idea had little to do with reality.
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso Other law โ Article
Burkina Faso separates personal drug possession from supply
Personal possession, purchase or use of narcotics carried three to six months in prison, a fine, or both under the newly adopted Penal Code; courts could also order detoxification, including hospital treatment. Giving drugs directly to another person for their own use carried one to five years and a fine, while supplying minors carried five to ten years. This followed the health code's drug offences and preceded the small-personal-quantity rules adopted in 1999.
๐บ๐ธ United States ยท California Medical โ Article
California legalises medical cannabis
Proposition 215 let patients with a doctor's recommendation possess and grow cannabis, the first state medical law. Dozens of states followed, and dispensaries became the first legal shops in the country.
1416+2 points
๐บ๐ธ United States ยท Arizona Medical โ
Arizona votes to let doctors prescribe cannabis, which federal law forbids
About 65% of Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which let doctors prescribe cannabis to seriously ill patients if a second doctor agreed. No doctor could lawfully prescribe a federal Schedule I drug, so the provision never worked. In April 1997 the legislature made it wait for FDA approval, and in 1998 voters rejected that change; California's law of the same day had used the word "recommend".
๐ง๐ฟ Belize International โ
Belize joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Belize acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 24 July 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐พ Libya International โ
Libya joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Libya acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 22 July 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria International โ
Bulgaria joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Bulgaria acceded to the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 18 July 1996. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ช๐ช Estonia International โ
Estonia joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Estonia acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 5 July 1996. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฆ๐บ Australia ยท Northern Territory Easing โ
The Northern Territory allows infringement notices
The Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act let police issue an infringement notice in place of a charge for minor cannabis offences.
๐ธ๐น Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe International โ
Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Sรฃo Tomรฉ and Prรญncipe acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 20 June 1996. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐บ Cuba International โ
Cuba joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Cuba ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 12 June 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ญ Philippines International โ
The Philippines joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
The Philippines ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 7 June 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ท๐บ Russia International โ
Russia joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Russia acceded to the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 3 June 1996. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada Other law โ
Canada replaces the Narcotic Control Act
The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act received royal assent and took the place of the Narcotic Control Act. A Senate committee had recommended no significant changes to the bill, although several of its members favoured decriminalising possession; its chair said such a proposal would be politically futile. The committee did approve an amendment taking mature hemp stalks out of the definition of marijuana.
๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan International โ
Tajikistan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Tajikistan acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 6 May 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ด Tonga International โ
Tonga joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Tonga acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 29 April 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia International โ
The Gambia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
The Gambia acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 23 April 1996. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland International โ
Switzerland joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Switzerland acceded to the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 22 April 1996. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ญ๐ท Croatia Tightening โ Article
Croatia makes possession of drugs a crime
Until this day the criminal code Croatia had inherited from Yugoslavia punished producing and dealing, and holding drugs only when it was for sale. An amendment renamed the offence 'abuse of narcotic drugs' and added a first paragraph: whoever possesses drugs without authorisation is punished with a fine or up to a year in prison. Dealing carried one to ten years.
1911โ8 points
๐น๐ฟ Tanzania International โ
Tanzania joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Tanzania ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 17 April 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ท Tรผrkiye International โ
Tรผrkiye joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Tรผrkiye ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 2 April 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐พ๐ช Yemen International โ
Yemen joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Yemen acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 25 March 1996. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon International โ
Lebanon joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Lebanon acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 March 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐น Malta International โ
Malta joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Malta acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 February 1996. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan International โ
Turkmenistan joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Turkmenistan acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 21 February 1996. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan Death penalty โ
Turkmenistan reportedly executes 123 people for drug trafficking
Amnesty International reported that 123 people were executed for drug trafficking in Turkmenistan during 1996, while the authorities published no official execution statistics. The organisation called for complete abolition of the death penalty. A nationwide moratorium followed in January 1999, barring courts from imposing death sentences.
๐ธ๐ด Somalia Enforcement โ
Somali warlords are reported to fund themselves with cannabis
A Nairobi newspaper reported that warlords were growing cannabis to pay for military operations, with yearly harvests of 160 tonnes worth US$272 million. Cannabis had been described in 1970 and 1971 as one of the few narcotic drugs found in Somalia apart from khat, and it is named in the penal code.
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand Debate โ
A cannabis party wins 1.66% in New Zealand's first proportional election
The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party stood for the first time in the 1996 general election and took 1.66% of the party vote, not enough for a seat in parliament.
๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands Tightening โ
The Netherlands cuts the tolerated amount to 5 g
New rules for coffeeshops cut the amount they may sell to one person in a day, and the amount a person may carry without being prosecuted, from 30 g to 5 g, and capped a shop's stock at 500 g.
3937โ2 points
๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico Tightening โ
Mexico's organised crime law multiplies penalties
The Federal Law against Organised Crime sharply raised sentences for offences committed as part of a criminal association and introduced arraigo, detention of up to 80 days without a formal charge. Arraigo was written into the constitution in 2008.
๐ฌ๐ฒ Gambia Other law โ
Gambia replaces its earlier drug law with a decree
A drug-control decree replaced the 1993 drug legislation, according to the enforcement agencyโs institutional history. It governed the period before the 2003 replacement law, which expressly repealed it and set rules for handling prosecutions already under way.
199535 entries3 score changes
๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali International โ
Mali joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Mali acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 31 October 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau International โ
Guinea-Bissau joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Guinea-Bissau acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 27 October 1995. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ช Belgium International โ
Belgium joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Belgium ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 25 October 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini International โ
Eswatini joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Eswatini acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 18 October 1995. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi International โ
Malawi joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Malawi acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 12 October 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini International โ
Eswatini joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Eswatini acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 3 October 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ป๐ฌ British Virgin Islands Other law โ
BVI rewrites possession rules with a supply presumption above 50 grams
A 1995 amendment rewrote the BVIโs possession section, including a rule presuming possession for supply when someone holds more than 50 g of cannabis or cannabis resin. The accused can rebut that presumption; possession below it remains an offence under the ordinary possession rule. The same amendment is recorded in the later consolidated lawโs cannabis-related definitions and penalty table.
๐ญ๐น Haiti International โ
Haiti joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Haiti acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 18 September 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan International โ
Uzbekistan joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Uzbekistan acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 24 August 1995. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐จ Saint Lucia International โ
Saint Lucia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Saint Lucia acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 21 August 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait Death penalty โ Article
Kuwait expands death penalties for drug trafficking and repeat offences
An amendment expanded capital punishment for drug importation and trafficking, with a contemporary Philippine government notice reporting commencement in August. That notice warned departing workers that repeated smuggling, manufacture and growing drug plants attracted mandatory death. Kuwaitโs judicial institute also records the amendmentโs three-month transition and the rule that harsher penalties could apply only to later conduct.
20โ2 points
๐บ๐ธ United States Other law โ Article
Supreme Court upholds random drug tests for student athletes
In Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, the Supreme Court upheld an Oregon public school's suspicionless urine-testing policy for student athletes. The panel tested for marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines; confirmed positives could lead to assistance or exclusion from athletics. The Court cautioned against extending its reasoning to other contexts. This records school-testing policy without changing adult cannabis scores.
๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong Other law โ
Hong Kong doubles two hashish couriersโ sentences after a weight dispute
Two men caught with more than 51 kg of cannabis resin had their sentences increased from two to four years each. The Court of Appeal held that sentencing began with the full weight, with a limited adjustment for low THC concentration, and revised the lowest trafficking bands into one covering under 2 kg. It also retained more lenient treatment of herbal cannabis than resin, a distinction revisited in 2023.
๐น๐ฉ Chad International โ
Chad joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Chad acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 9 June 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ฎ Gibraltar Easing โ Article
Gibraltarโs appeal court rejects a charge for intended cannabis supply abroad
A man who carried 737 grams of cannabis resin through Gibraltar for supply in England defeated the prosecutionโs appeal against the removal of his possession-with-intent-to-supply charge. The court held that the intended act of supply had to take place in Gibraltar, even after the 1985 amendment concerning recipients abroad. He had admitted possession, importation and exportation; the ruling concerned the separate intent-to-supply count.
๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria International โ
Algeria joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Algeria ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 9 May 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde International โ
Cabo Verde joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Cabo Verde acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 8 May 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฐ๐ณ Saint Kitts and Nevis International โ
Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Saint Kitts and Nevis acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 19 April 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti Other law โ Article
Djibouti's new penal code sets separate penalties for use and supply
Illicit drug use carried up to one year and a fine, possession up to ten years, and production or import up to twenty under the penal code that took effect on 16 April. Courts could impose just one of the listed penalties under its general sentencing rules. The code followed French drug legislation used before independence and Djibouti's approval of accession to UN drug conventions in 1992.
๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho International โ
Lesotho joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Lesotho acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 March 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐พ Uruguay International โ
Uruguay joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Uruguay ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 10 March 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ฎ Gibraltar Tightening โ
Gibraltar gives officers wider powers against drug smuggling at sea
Gibraltar extended drug offences to its registered ships and created offences involving controlled drugs on ships registered in other states party to the 1988 UN trafficking convention. Officers gained powers to stop, board, divert and search ships, arrest suspects and seize evidence. Action against another convention stateโs ship outside Gibraltar waters required that stateโs request or authorisation through the Collector of Customs; operations in another stateโs waters required its consent.
๐น๐น Trinidad and Tobago International โ
Trinidad and Tobago joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Trinidad and Tobago ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 17 February 1995. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine Easing โ
Ukraine orders releases for specified cannabis-growing convictions
Parliament ordered release from punishment for people convicted of ordinary prohibited cultivation, or its repeat-offence form, when it adopted the drug-law implementation resolution on 15 February 1995. Pending cases in those categories were to be closed, including cases whose sentences were not yet final or being served. The new law gave ordinary first cultivation an administrative fine and confiscation, while retaining criminal penalties for repetition and aggravated growing. The resolution expressly excluded specified other cultivation convictions from release.
๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova International โ
Moldova joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Moldova acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 15 February 1995. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine Other law โ Article
Ukraine eases growing penalties but criminalises public drug use
Parliamentโs 1995 drug-law overhaul put ordinary first unlawful grows under an administrative fine and confiscation, while retaining crimes for repetition and aggravated growing. It also made open or group drug use at educational, sporting and cultural venues, and other crowded places, punishable by up to four years in prison or a fine, rising to three to five years in aggravated cases. The changes followed the 1991 removal of general penalties for non-prescribed use. The law was adopted in February and took effect on publication under a companion resolution that ordered releases and case closures for specified growers.
1317+4 points
๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates Tightening โ
The UAE sets a four-year minimum for drug use
Federal Law 14 of 1995 on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances carried a minimum of four years in prison for personal use or possession.
๐ International Culture & science โ
A second cannabinoid made by the body is described
Raphael Mechoulam's group at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reported isolating 2-arachidonoylglycerol, or 2-AG, from the canine gut and characterised its effects, while a group at Teikyo University reported its affinity for the cannabinoid receptors. The compound was already known to chemists; that it occurs in mammals and acts on these receptors was new.
๐ณ๐ต Nepal Tightening โ Article
Pashupatinath's trust stops handing out cannabis to holy men
Until 1995 the trust that runs the Pashupatinath temple gave sadhus marijuana at the Shivaratri festival, taken from the Home Ministry's confiscated stock. The practice ended on King Birendra's instruction, according to the trust's director.
๐ฒ๐ป Maldives Tightening โ
The Maldives toughens its drug law
Substantial amendments to Law 17/77 made planting, producing, importing, selling or possessing drugs with intent to sell punishable by life imprisonment.
๐ฐ๐ฎ Kiribati Tightening โ
Kiribati targets unexplained property suspected to come from drug offences
Parliament passed rules making possession of suspected drug-offence proceeds punishable by two years in prison when the holder could not give the court a satisfactory lawful account. Police gained power to arrest without a warrant for that offence, and courts could order forfeiture. Attorney General Michael Takabwebwe said a recent drug-import and possession prosecution had exposed the need to target drug profits.
๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros Other law โ
The Comoros penal code punishes narcotics, hashish and Indian hemp by name
Article 328 of the Penal Code (Act 95-012/AF, adopted in sessions of 1981, 1982 and 18 September 1995) punishes growing, buying, importing, processing, transporting, distributing even for free, or selling narcotics, "particularly the hashish or Indian hemp", with one to ten years and a fine of 1,000,000 to 50,000,000 francs.
๐จ๐ฑ Chile Easing โ
Chile stops punishing private use
Law 19.366 made using drugs in private, or holding them for one's own immediate use, not punishable. Using in public became a minor offence with a fine.
1122+11 points
๐ง๐ท Brazil Easing โ
Brazil begins to soften its treatment of drug users
Law 9,099 relaxed the penalties for consuming drugs, and Law 9,714 of 1998 went further towards taking prison out of the picture for users. The 1976 law that made use a crime stayed in force until 2006.
199429 entries4 score changes
๐จ๐ฌ Congo Other law โ Article
Congo creates a committee to coordinate prevention and drug treatment
An interministerial technical committee was created to support drug-policy decisions and promote prevention, care, social integration, information and research. It followed the creation of a judicial-police drug service in 1992. The government's 2010 report said the committee faced severe operating difficulties and called for its reactivation.
๐ช๐น Ethiopia International โ
Ethiopia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Ethiopia acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 October 1994. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฐ๐ฌ Kyrgyzstan International โ
Kyrgyzstan joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Kyrgyzstan acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 7 October 1994. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia Tightening โ Article
Independent Slovakia makes possession a crime
A year after the split from the Czech Republic, Act 248/1994, passed on 18 August 1994 and in force from 1 October, rewrote section 187 of the criminal code so that keeping a narcotic or psychotropic substance "for oneself or for another" without permission is an offence, punished with one to five years in prison or a fine. Since 1990 only possession for another person had been punishable.
259โ16 points
๐จ๐ด Colombia International โ
Colombia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Colombia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 10 June 1994. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ธ United States Other law โ Article
The US Supreme Court stops Montana taxing marijuana it had already destroyed
Montana's Dangerous Drug Tax Act taxed illegal drugs at 10 percent of their market value or a fixed rate such as $100 an ounce for marijuana, whichever was greater. After the Kurth family were convicted over a marijuana farm, the state assessed almost $900,000 in tax, interest and penalties on drugs that police had seized and presumably destroyed. In Department of Revenue of Montana v. Kurth Ranch the Supreme Court held that a tax with "an unmistakable punitive character", imposed after the criminal case, was a second punishment barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause.
๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone International โ
Sierra Leone joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Sierra Leone acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 6 June 1994. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ฑ Poland International โ
Poland joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Poland ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 26 May 1994. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso Other law โ
Burkina Faso punishes drug possession and group use in its health code
Holding narcotics without a legitimate reason carried six days to six months in prison, a fine, or both under the health code adopted by parliament. Group use and helping someone else use drugs carried one to five years, a fine, or both, with doubled penalties for illicit growing or manufacture. These national health-law offences preceded the 1996 Penal Code and the more detailed drug code adopted in 1999.
๐ป๐จ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines International โ
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 17 May 1994. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฐ๐ณ Saint Kitts and Nevis International โ
Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Saint Kitts and Nevis acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 9 May 1994. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐จ๐ด Colombia Easing โ Article
Colombia's Constitutional Court protects the personal dose
The court ruled that punishing an adult for carrying or using a personal dose, 20 g of cannabis, violates the right to free development of personality. The dose itself had been defined in a 1986 law that still punished it.
1130+19 points
๐ฑ๐น Lithuania International โ
Lithuania joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Lithuania acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 28 February 1994. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฑ๐ป Latvia International โ
Latvia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Latvia acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 24 February 1994. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ซ๐ฎ Finland International โ
Finland joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Finland accepted the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 15 February 1994. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ธ United States Debate โ
Willie Nelson becomes co-chair of NORMLโs advisory board
NORML founder Keith Stroup dates Nelsonโs acceptance of the advisory co-chair role to 1994, following a relationship beginning in the mid-1970s. His support includes fundraising benefits and public advocacy.
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom Debate โ Article
Patient advocates press the health department for medical cannabis access
The Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics organised a delegation of MPs, scientists and clinicians to the Department of Health. It sought herbal-cannabis preparations for research and named-patient prescribing. Suzanne Taylor records another delegation in 1997. These were advocacy efforts, not permission for patients to possess or grow cannabis.
๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria Tightening โ
Nigeria launches Operation Burn the Weeds
The area cleared under the eradication programme peaked at 3,500 hectares in 1999.
๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico Other law โ
Mexico raises trafficking sentences and stops prosecuting personal amounts
A reform of the Federal Penal Code set 10 to 25 years for producing, transporting, trading and supplying drugs, and lowered the penalty for sowing, growing and harvesting. A person who was not dependent and carried an amount presumably meant for personal use was not prosecuted; a dependent person in the same position received no penalty, and dependent defendants were subject to treatment.
๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait Debate โ
Kuwaitโs parliament first rejects wider death penalties for drug offences
A proposal to extend death penalties to drug importing, manufacture and cultivation passed a first parliamentary reading but failed to secure majority support at its second reading, Amnesty International reported. The proposal would have made death optional for some trafficking offences and mandatory in specified aggravated circumstances. Broader capital drug penalties followed in 1995.
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya Tightening โ
Kenya passes its narcotics act
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act set the framework still in force, with up to eight years in prison for using cannabis.
๐ช๐ฌ Egypt Tightening โ
Egypt destroys seven million cannabis plants in Sinai
Eradication in the Sinai peninsula destroyed 7 million cannabis plants and 10.3 million opium poppies in a single year.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada Easing โ
A Canadian court ends the ban on marijuana literature
A court challenge sponsored by the activist Marc Emery persuaded an Ontario judge to overturn Canada's prohibition on marijuana and drug-related literature, so that High Times magazine and growing books could again be sold. Emery had moved to Vancouver that March and founded Hemp BC, a shop selling cannabis paraphernalia.
199349 entries6 score changes
๐ต๐ญ Philippines Death penalty โ
The Philippines restores capital punishment for major drug offences
Republic Act 7659 made 750 g or more of marijuana subject to reclusion perpetua to death and fines of โฑ500,000โ10 million. The same range applied to cultivation and other prohibited-drug offences when the Act's quantity rules were met.
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia International โ
Czechia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Czechia deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 30 December 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it deposited its succession to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda Other law โ Article
Uganda places cannabis controls under its new drug authority
Uganda's new national drug law prohibited cannabis smoking, hosting smoking and holding pipes for it, while cultivation required the health minister's written consent after consultation with the drug authority. Cannabis and resin were Class A drugs, for which a first offence without a separate penalty could bring up to five years in prison, a fine of up to two million shillings, or both. The statute created the National Drug Authority to regulate drug supply and carry out a policy that included treaty compliance and action against drug abuse; its main narcotics offences were replaced in 2016.
๐ฉ๐ช Germany International โ
Germany joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Germany ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 30 November 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde Other law โ
Cabo Verde corrects and republishes its drug law
The official gazette republished Law 78/IV/93 because the July version had been incomplete and inaccurate. The corrected article 9 uses seven days for the relevant user-trafficker quantity test, where the July printing used five; this is separate from article 20โs small personal-consumption offence. The correction is not treated as the first cannabis restriction.
๐ธ๐ฉ Sudan International โ
Sudan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Sudan ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 19 November 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ช๐น Ethiopia Debate โ
Ethiopia adopts a national drug policy
The policy committed the government to a system for controlling illicit drugs and provided for treating and rehabilitating users. A 1995 study in Addis Ababa and 24 towns found khat, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis the most used substances, with police figures showing cannabis rising fast and some farmers growing it as a sideline.
๐ง๐ณ Brunei International โ
Brunei joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Brunei ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 12 November 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau Other law โ Article
Guinea-Bissau replaces its 1976 narcotics law
Decree-Law 2-B/93 replaced Decree-Law 1/76 and distinguished small personal-use possession, cultivation and consumption from trafficking. Article 20 imposed different custody bands for high-risk plants, cannabis oil and other derivatives, with a conditional waiver restricted to qualifying minors. The edited copy flags a missing trafficking minimum in the gazette. No unsupported score immediately before the reform is assigned.
๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia International โ
North Macedonia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
North Macedonia acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 13 October 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ป๐ช Venezuela Easing โ Article
Venezuela replaces prison with treatment for a personal dose
A reform of the drug law defined a personal dose as up to 20 grams of cannabis or 2 grams of cocaine. Possession within it remained an offence, but prison was replaced by security measures such as treatment.
914+5 points
๐ฉ๐ฒ Dominica International โ
Dominica joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Dominica acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 24 September 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan International โ
Azerbaijan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Azerbaijan acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 22 September 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic International โ
The Dominican Republic joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
The Dominican Republic acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 21 September 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ถ Equatorial Guinea Other law โ Article
Equatorial Guinea signs its drug prohibition decree
Decree-Law 3/1993 expressly prohibited drug production, possession, use, donation and trafficking, subject to Health Ministry authorisation for medical and scientific purposes. Article 4 prescribed medium-term imprisonment and a CFA fine. It repealed Penal Code article 433. The date is the signing date; commencement depended on publication in national media, whose date remains unverified. Later Penal Code provisions still require reconciliation.
๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenia International โ
Armenia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Armenia acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 13 September 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia Culture & science โ Article
Artists and activists occupy Metelkova's barracks
During the night of 10โ11 September, artists and activists occupied former military barracks in Ljubljana to prevent demolition. The site developed into an autonomous cultural zone of music venues, studios and community initiatives. A 2017 visitor's report later described cannabis sales there; this did not establish a legal exemption or document the continuity of that market to the present.
๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands International โ
The Netherlands joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
The Netherlands accepted the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 8 September 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina International โ
Bosnia and Herzegovina joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Bosnia and Herzegovina deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 1 September 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it deposited its succession to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe International โ
Zimbabwe joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Zimbabwe acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 30 July 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ญ๐ท Croatia International โ
Croatia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Croatia deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 26 July 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it deposited its succession to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania Death penalty โ Article
Mauritania sets death penalties for repeat and aggravated drug offences
Producing, growing or trafficking high-risk drugs carried fifteen to thirty years in prison and a fine, with death for repeat offences; organised crime, violence, weapons or a death caused by the drugs could also bring capital punishment. Simple illicit use carried up to two years, a fine alone, or both, with treatment routes that could prevent prosecution. President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya signed the law nineteen days after Mauritania joined the UN convention against drug trafficking.
๐ฑ๐ป Latvia International โ
Latvia joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Latvia acceded to the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 16 July 1993. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde Other law โ Article
Cabo Verde publishes its drug-offences law
Law 78/IV/93 was published on 12 July, with article 45 providing commencement thirty days after publication. It separated small personal consumption, possession and cultivation from ordinary and lesser trafficking and provided conditional treatment measures. The July publication was later officially corrected and republished on 29 November.
๐ธ๐ช Sweden Tightening โ Article
Sweden adds prison as a penalty for drug use
Use had been punishable only by a fine. Adding a prison term of up to six months gave police the power to take a suspect in for a urine or blood test.
๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania International โ
Mauritania joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Mauritania ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 1 July 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฉ๐ฒ Dominica International โ
Dominica joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Dominica acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 30 June 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฆ๐ท Argentina International โ
Argentina joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Argentina ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 June 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ฑ Poland International โ
Poland joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
Poland acceded to the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 9 June 1993. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia International โ
Zambia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Zambia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 May 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia International โ
Slovakia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Slovakia deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 28 May 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it deposited its succession to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ป El Salvador International โ
El Salvador joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
El Salvador acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 21 May 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia International โ
Malaysia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Malaysia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 May 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐ป Latvia International โ
Independent Latvia signs the Single Convention
Two years after regaining independence Latvia signed the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Before the war it had not signed the 1936 convention against the drug trade. Cannabis is on List I of especially dangerous prohibited drugs, which also rules out medical use.
๐ฎ๐น Italy Easing โ Article
Italy votes to decriminalise personal use
A referendum repealed the criminal penalties for possessing drugs for personal use that had been introduced three years earlier. Possession became an administrative matter again, punished by suspending a driving licence or passport.
1121+10 points
๐ธ๐พ Syria Death penalty โ Article
Syria allows the death penalty for drugs
Law No. 2 of 1993, approved by the People's Assembly on 31 March and issued on 12 April, replaced the drug law of 1960. Article 39 sets death for smuggling or making drugs and for growing the listed plants; a court that finds mitigating grounds may reduce it to life or to at least twenty years, but not for a repeat offender, an official or a member of an international gang. Dealing brings life imprisonment. Possession for personal use brings a term of detention and a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 pounds, which the court may suspend to send an addict to a clinic for three months to a year, and no case is brought against a user who comes forward for treatment. Amnesty International had appealed to President Hafez al- Assad not to sign the death penalty clause.
83โ5 points
๐ฆ๐ฌ Antigua and Barbuda International โ
Antigua and Barbuda joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Antigua and Barbuda acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 5 April 1993. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ซ๐ฏ Fiji International โ
Fiji joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Fiji acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 25 March 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐พ Guyana International โ
Guyana joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Guyana acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 19 March 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ฒ Myanmar Other law โ Article
Myanmar's replacement drug law keeps prison for cannabis possession
Myanmar replaced its 1974 drug law and set five to ten years in prison for unauthorised cannabis possession and growing, with a possible fine. Holding at least 75 grams of cannabis or cannabis essence counted as possession for sale, carrying at least ten years. Production, distribution, sale and import or export could bring at least fifteen years or death. Drug users who failed to register for treatment or follow treatment directions faced three to five years.
๐ต๐น Portugal Easing โ
Portugal softens the penalty for use
Decree-Law 15/93 kept drug use a crime but cut the penalty to at most three months in prison or a fine, and encouraged courts to order treatment instead.
911+2 points
๐ท๐ด Romania International โ
Romania joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Romania acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 21 January 1993. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐พ๐ช Yemen Death penalty โ Article
Yemen's narcotics law provides for the death penalty
Law 3 of 1993 on illicit trafficking in and use of narcotics punishes import, export and production for trade with death, and trading or giving drugs to a user with death or 25 years. Holding or growing for personal use carries five years, with treatment possible instead.
52โ3 points
๐ช๐ธ Spain Culture & science โ
Spain's cannabis movement gets its magazine
The magazine Cรกรฑamo was founded two years after the first associations of cannabis users appeared in Spain.
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore Death penalty โ
Singapore creates a capital offence for cannabis mixtures
The Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 1993 (Act 40 of 1993) introduced the term "cannabis mixture" for cannabis broken up and mixed with other vegetable matter such as tobacco, and made trafficking, importing and exporting it offences. At the bill's second reading on 10 November 1993 the Minister for Home Affairs said a new capital offence would apply to more than 1,000 grammes of cannabis mixture, against more than 500 grammes of cannabis alone, with 20 to 30 years and 15 strokes for 660 to 1,000 grammes.
๐ญ๐บ Hungary Easing โ Article
Hungary introduces treatment instead of punishment
An amendment to the criminal code let people caught with a small amount for their own use avoid prosecution by entering treatment.
812+4 points
๐ International International โ
The European Union founds a drug monitoring centre
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was established in 1993 and based in Lisbon, to give member states factual, objective and comparable information on drugs. In 2024 it was renamed the European Union Drugs Agency.
199239 entries6 score changes
๐ International Culture & science โ
Researchers find the brain's own cannabinoid
A paper in Science by William Devane, Lumรญr Hanuลก, Aviva Breuer and colleagues reported a substance in pig brain that binds to the same receptor as THC. They named it anandamide, from the Sanskrit ananda, meaning joy or bliss. The body, it turned out, makes its own counterpart to the plant's active ingredient.
๐ฎ๐ท Iran International โ
Iran joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Iran ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 7 December 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ญ Philippines Medical โ
The Philippines creates a compassionate-access permit
A health-department order created a case-specific permit for specialised institutions and medical societies to obtain unregistered medicines for terminally or seriously ill patients. This general scheme later became the only route cited for importing a cannabis-based medicine.
01+1 point
๐ฆ๐บ Australia International โ
Australia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Australia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 16 November 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ณ๐ช Niger International โ
Niger joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Niger acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 10 November 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ท Suriname International โ
Suriname joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Suriname ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 October 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco International โ
Morocco joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Morocco ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 October 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฐ๐ช Kenya International โ
Kenya joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Kenya acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 19 October 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ง Barbados International โ
Barbados joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Barbados acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 15 October 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐น Guatemala Other law โ Article
Guatemala sets separate prison terms for personal cannabis possession
The drug law signed in September 1992 prescribed four months to two years in prison plus a fine for acquiring or possessing drugs for personal consumption. It required a reasonable amount for immediate use and supporting circumstances, leaving the quantity unnumbered. Compared with the older penal codeโs three-to-five-year terms, the new law set five to twenty years for unauthorised growing and twelve to twenty years for trafficking, both with fines.
๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria International โ
Bulgaria joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Bulgaria ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 24 September 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde Other law โ
Cabo Verde publishes its controlled-drug licensing framework
Decree-Law 92/92 established controls over the licit controlled-drug market. Article 6 prohibited cannabis cultivation while allowing Health Ministry licences for scientific or teaching purposes; other provisions regulated controlled medicines and prescriptions. The date records publication, not proof of an operating cannabis patient service.
๐ง๐ณ Brunei Death penalty โ
Brunei extends the death penalty to possession of more than 200 grams of cannabis or opium
In July 1992 the death penalty was extended to cover possession of more than 200 grams of cannabis or opium, according to Reuters news agency as cited by Amnesty International.
20โ2 points
๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia International โ
Slovenia joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Slovenia deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 6 July 1992. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it deposited its succession to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong Other law โ Article
Hong Kong raises drug-possession penalties and removes trafficking presumptions
Drug possession and consumption could carry up to seven years and HK$1 million on indictment, while the maximum fine in summary cases rose from HK$10,000 to HK$100,000. The reform also removed the rule presuming trafficking from possession above a set quantity, following rights-based court rulings; courts would assess the evidence of intended supply. Lawmakers passed the amended bill on 24 June, and the legislatureโs later official table records commencement on 26 June 1992.
๐ฏ๐ต Japan International โ
Japan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Japan ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 12 June 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso International โ
Burkina Faso joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Burkina Faso acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 2 June 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg International โ
Luxembourg joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Luxembourg ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 29 April 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti International โ
Djibouti approves joining the UN drug conventions
Parliament approved accession to the UN narcotics and psychotropic-drug conventions, the 1972 amending protocol and the convention against illicit drug trafficking. President Hassan Gouled Aptidon promulgated the approval law. The national approval preceded Djibouti's recorded treaty accessions at the UN in February 2001.
๐ธ๐จ Seychelles International โ
The Seychelles joins two UN drug conventions on one day
The Seychelles acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 27 February 1992. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ช๐ธ Spain Tightening โ Article
Spain starts fining possession and use in public
Private use had been left alone since 1983. A public safety law now made having or using drugs in a public place an administrative offence with a fine, which could be suspended if the person entered treatment.
3430โ4 points
๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan International โ
Afghanistan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Afghanistan ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 14 February 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ท Greece International โ
Greece joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Greece ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 January 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ช Peru International โ
Peru joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Peru ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 16 January 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia International โ
Saudi Arabia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Saudi Arabia acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 9 January 1992. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ธ United States Medical โ
The United States closes its medical cannabis programme to new patients
Since 1978 the federal government had supplied cannabis to a handful of patients under a compassionate-use programme that grew out of Robert Randall's court case, and in the mid-1980s it was opened to people with AIDS. Under President George H. W. Bush it stopped taking new patients. Forty-three people had been approved; 28 of them never received any. At its peak fifteen people were supplied, and four still were in 2011.
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom Debate โ Article
British patients form the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics
Clare Hodges, who had multiple sclerosis and had found that smoking cannabis relieved symptoms that nine years of orthodox medicine had not, set up the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics with other patients who were medicating themselves. Modelled on the American group of the same name, it campaigned for research into cannabis and for access through the National Health Service.
๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa Easing โ Article
South Africa replaces its apartheid-era drug law
The Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act did away with the mandatory minimum sentences of 1971 and left punishment to the courts. Possession stayed a crime, and anyone with more than 115 g was presumed to be dealing.
711+4 points
๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon Tightening โ
Lebanon cracks down on cannabis farming
Hashish had been grown openly in the Bekaa valley throughout the civil war. Under pressure from the United States, the post-war government sent the army to destroy the fields.
๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel Medical โ
Israel begins to permit cannabis for patients
In the early 1990s cannabis was allowed case by case for people with cancer and painful illnesses, the beginning of what became a national programme. In 2004 the army started an experimental treatment of soldiers' post-traumatic stress with THC. By 2012 about 10,000 patients were registered, and by 2017 about 26,000.
๐ฌ๐ฑ Greenland Other law โ
Greenland takes responsibility for its own drug laws
Greenland took over legislative responsibility for euphoriant substances when it assumed responsibility for health services in 1992. Existing health legislation continued until replaced locally, so later Danish cannabis reforms needed Greenlandic decisions to apply there. This became central to the later debate about low-THC oils.
๐ฉ๐ช Germany Easing โ
Germany lets prosecutors drop small cases
A new section 31a of the narcotics law allowed prosecutors to close a case without going to court when someone held a small amount for their own use. The Constitutional Court made this the expected outcome two years later.
๐จ๐ฌ Congo Other law โ
Congo creates a national drug service within the judicial police
A national drug-control service was created within the judicial police in 1992. A later government report described two officers staffing it and a register of drug users and their addresses updated between 1998 and 2003. By 2010, the government said the service lacked the resources to operate more effectively.
๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon Other law โ
Cameroon creates a national committee against drugs
Cameroon set up a National Committee for the Fight against Drugs, a year after ratifying the 1988 UN trafficking convention on 28 October 1991. It had ratified the Single Convention on 15 January 1962 and the 1971 psychotropics convention on 5 June 1981. A justice ministry magistrate noted in 2017 that the Penal Code itself does not punish growing, selling or using cannabis; those acts fall under the special law of 1997.
๐ง๐ผ Botswana Other law โ
Botswana passes the Drugs and Related Substances Act
The act prohibits cannabis in general and remains the basis of the country's drug law.
๐ฆ๐บ Australia ยท Australian Capital Territory Easing โ
The Australian Capital Territory introduces fines for simple offences
The Drugs of Dependence (Amendment) Act created simple cannabis offences that can be dealt with by paying a fine, following South Australia's expiation scheme.
199133 entries3 score changes
๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark International โ
Denmark joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Denmark ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 19 December 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ญ๐ณ Honduras International โ
Honduras joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Honduras ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 December 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐น Portugal International โ
Portugal joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Portugal ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 3 December 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ฎ Cรดte d'Ivoire International โ
Cรดte d'Ivoire joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Cรดte d'Ivoire ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 25 November 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ธ United States ยท California Debate โ
San Francisco voters support medical cannabis through Proposition P
Voters approve a declaration of policy recommending that California and the California Medical Association restore hemp medical preparations to available medicines and protect prescribing physicians. Dennis Peron and Mary Jane Rathbun campaign for the measure. The declaration expresses local support; it does not create an exemption from state or federal criminal law. California's statewide patient exemption follows in 1996.
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine International โ
Ukraine joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Ukraine ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 August 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ญ Marshall Islands International โ
The Marshall Islands joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
The Marshall Islands acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 9 August 1991. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ณ๐ต Nepal International โ
Nepal joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Nepal acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 24 July 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ช Sweden International โ
Sweden joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Sweden ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 22 July 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ท Brazil International โ
Brazil joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Brazil ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 17 July 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ป๐ช Venezuela International โ
Venezuela joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Venezuela ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 16 July 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐จ Saint Lucia International โ
Saint Lucia joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Saint Lucia deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 5 July 1991. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom International โ
The United Kingdom joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
The United Kingdom ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 June 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ซ๐ฒ Micronesia Other law โ Article
Pohnpei establishes a distinct state controlled-substances framework
The Pohnpei Code attributes its controlled-substances framework to State Law 2L-198-91, dated 27 June 1991. Its possession provision allows up to one month, $100 or both for an ounce or less, including small unpaid transfers treated as possession. It also provides a once-only conditional-discharge and expungement route for qualifying first offenders. These state provisions differ from the national codeโs $50 fine; the 2012 edition is not proof of every subsequent amendment or typical sentencing.
๐ฒ๐ฒ Myanmar International โ
Myanmar joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Myanmar acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 June 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐ฐ Sri Lanka International โ
Sri Lanka joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Sri Lanka acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 6 June 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ซ๐ฒ Micronesia International โ
The Micronesia joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
The Micronesia acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 29 April 1991. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฒ๐จ Monaco International โ
Monaco joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Monaco ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 23 April 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐ช Peru Easing โ Article
Peru exempts possession for personal use
Article 299 of the new Penal Code made possession for one's own immediate use not punishable. The limit was later fixed at 8 g of cannabis.
1120+9 points
๐ด๐ฒ Oman International โ
Oman joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Oman acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 15 March 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ช๐ฌ Egypt International โ
Egypt joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Egypt ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 15 March 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar International โ
Madagascar joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Madagascar acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 12 March 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ป El Salvador Tightening โ
El Salvador's drug law sets three to six years for possession
Decree 728, in force from this day, regulated growing, production, use, possession and trafficking. Possession brought three to six years in prison, growing five to ten. It was replaced in 2003 by a law that lowered the term for less than two grams to one to three years and raised the one for growing to ten to fifteen.
๐ฌ๐น Guatemala International โ
Guatemala joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Guatemala ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 28 February 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ท Costa Rica International โ
Costa Rica joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Costa Rica ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 8 February 1991. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ International International โ
The UN moves THC as a medicine to a less strict schedule
At the request of the United States government, the WHO Expert Committee reviewed dronabinol, the pharmaceutical form of THC, and in 1989 recommended moving it from Schedule I to Schedule II of the 1971 convention. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs rejected this in March 1990, fearing more abuse; the committee repeated its advice in September with evidence of therapeutic usefulness, and in 1991 the Commission adopted it. It was the first formal acknowledgement at UN level that the main active compound of cannabis has medical use.
๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine Easing โ Article
Ukraine removes penalties for drug use itself
A decree issued on 28 January 1991 removed drug use without a prescription from both the administrative offence and the repeat-offence crime introduced in 1987. It also narrowed compulsory treatment, set ordinary stays at six months to one year and ordered the release of people already confined for more than a year. People serving longer treatment orders were to have them shortened to one year, while courts could still extend confinement for specified misconduct up to a total of two years. Possession remained separately punishable, and parliament introduced a specific public-use crime in 1995.
1013+3 points
๐ฒ๐ด Macau Easing โ Article
Macau gives personal possession a fine-only alternative to prison
Macauโs 1991 replacement drug law punished personal acquisition or possession with up to three months in prison or a 500โ10,000 pataca fine, replacing the old six-month prison term accompanied by a fine. Possession for therapeutic purposes had a separate fine-only penalty, and people dependent on drugs could receive treatment-related measures. The law listed cannabis, resin and oil; its personal-use approach continued in the 2009 replacement before penalties rose in 2017.
911+2 points
๐ช๐ท Eritrea Other law โ Article
Eritrea retains an older criminal code during its legal transition
Eritrea amended and retained earlier criminal law as its Transitional Penal Code in 1991. The underlying 1957 code punished unauthorised production, acquisition, storage and distribution of narcotic substances, and also covered knowingly providing premises for drug use. The transitional code remained the working law identified by Eritreaโs government in November 2024, despite publication of a proposed replacement in 2015.
๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania Culture & science โ
Cannabis plantations appear in southern Albania
After the fall of communism, criminal groups from Greece began setting up plantations near the border. By 1995 gunfights between farmers and police were reported to be common, and in the middle of the 2000s 77% of the cannabis found in Italy was said to come from Albania.
199049 entries7 score changes
๐ฎ๐น Italy International โ
Italy joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Italy approved the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 31 December 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ซ๐ท France International โ
France joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
France approved the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 31 December 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ณ China Tightening โ Article
China names cannabis as a drug and punishes using it
A decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee defined drugs as opium, heroin, morphine, cannabis, cocaine and other controlled substances. Using drugs brought up to 15 days' detention and a fine of up to 2,000 yuan, with compulsory treatment for addicts and re-education through labour for those who relapsed. Poppy, cannabis and other drug plants were to be uprooted without exception, and a small plot meant up to 15 days' detention.
1610โ6 points
๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea International โ
Guinea joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Guinea acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 27 December 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ท๐บ Russia International โ
Russia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Russia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 17 December 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ฉ Grenada International โ
Grenada joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Grenada acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 10 December 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐พ Belarus International โ
Belarus joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Belarus ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 15 October 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh International โ
Bangladesh joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Bangladesh ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 October 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ณ Tunisia International โ
Tunisia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Tunisia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 20 September 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ช๐จ Ecuador Tightening โ
Ecuador passes Law 108
Written under pressure from the United States, the drug law set prison terms of ten years and more and made little distinction between users, couriers and traffickers.
๐ง๐น Bhutan International โ
Bhutan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Bhutan acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 27 August 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ต๐พ Paraguay International โ
Paraguay joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Paraguay ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 23 August 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐บ๐ฌ Uganda International โ
Uganda joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Uganda acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 20 August 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ด Bolivia International โ
Bolivia joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Bolivia ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 20 August 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ช๐ธ Spain International โ
Spain joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Spain ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 13 August 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐น๐ฌ Togo International โ
Togo joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Togo ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 1 August 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ท Brazil Tightening โ
Brazil applies the Heinous Crimes Law's strict regime to drug trafficking
Law 8,072 applied special restrictions to illicit drug trafficking alongside heinous crimes, torture and terrorism. Its original Article 2 barred bail, provisional release, amnesty, grace and pardon, and required the whole sentence to be served in a closed regime. This concerned trafficking, not every drug offence or simple possession. The closed-regime provision was later held unconstitutional in HC 82,959 in February 2006.
๐จ๐ฆ Canada International โ
Canada joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Canada ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 5 July 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia Easing โ Article
Czechoslovakia's decriminalisation covers Slovakia
After the fall of the communist government, an amendment to the criminal code removed possession of drugs for one's own use as an offence.
1225+13 points
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia Easing โ Article
Czechoslovakia stops punishing possession for personal use
After the fall of the communist government, an amendment to the criminal code removed possession of drugs for one's own use as an offence. It stayed that way until 1999.
1225+13 points
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand International โ
New Zealand joins the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention
New Zealand ratified the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs on 7 June 1990. The Protocol, adopted in Geneva on 25 March 1972 and in force from 8 August 1975, strengthened the international control board and, among other changes, lets parties provide treatment, education, after-care and rehabilitation for people who use drugs, as an alternative to conviction or punishment or in addition to it.
๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic Tightening โ
The Dominican Republic tightens Law 50-88
Law 35-90 amended the drug law of 1988. A court's habeas corpus ruling in a drug case was suspended while under appeal, so a person ordered released stayed in custody. Controlled substances could enter the country only through the ports of Haina and Santo Domingo and the Las Amรฉricas airport, a list of precursor chemicals was added, and the head of the drug directorate could assign firearms to its members.
๐จ๐พ Cyprus International โ
Cyprus joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Cyprus ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 25 May 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde International โ
Cabo Verde joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Cabo Verde acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 24 May 1990. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐น๐ท Tรผrkiye Tightening โ
Turkey makes all hemp growing subject to a permit
Law 3652 rewrote Article 23 of the 1933 narcotics law. Growing hemp without permission is prohibited whatever the purpose, and hemp grown without a permit is destroyed by the police on the order of the highest local administrator, after a report by an agricultural engineer or technician of the agriculture ministry.
๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar International โ
Qatar joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Qatar acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 4 May 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ณ๐ฎ Nicaragua International โ
Nicaragua joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Nicaragua ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 4 May 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฏ๐ด Jordan International โ
Jordan joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Jordan ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 16 April 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates International โ
The United Arab Emirates joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
The United Arab Emirates acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 12 April 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico International โ
Mexico joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Mexico ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 11 April 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana International โ
Ghana joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Ghana ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 10 April 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ธ๐ท Suriname International โ
Suriname joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Suriname deposited its succession to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 on 29 March 1990. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐ฎ๐ณ India International โ
India joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
India acceded to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 27 March 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ช๐จ Ecuador International โ
Ecuador joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Ecuador ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 23 March 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon Debate โ
Lebanon plans to wean Bekaa farmers off hashish
The Hrawi cabinet approved 6 million dollars for a "green plan" of irrigation and fertiliser to help farmers in the Bekaa grow fruit and vegetables instead. The agriculture minister, Mohsen Dalloul, said 20 per cent of farmers grew hashish; a US drug official put Lebanon's share of the world hashish market at 20 per cent, 12 to 15 tonnes a year.
๐จ๐ฑ Chile International โ
Chile joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
Chile ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 13 March 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ฒ๐น Malta International โ
Malta joins the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
Malta acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 22 February 1990. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes.
๐บ๐ธ United States International โ
The United States joins the 1988 UN convention against drug trafficking
The United States ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 on 20 February 1990. Article 3 of the convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ง๐ญ Bahrain International โ
Bahrain joins two UN drug conventions on one day
Bahrain acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol on 7 February 1990. The convention lists cannabis and cannabis resin among its controlled drugs and obliges its parties to limit their production, trade, possession and use to medical and scientific purposes. On the same day it ratified the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Article 3 of the 1988 convention requires each party, subject to its constitutional principles, to make the possession, purchase and cultivation of drugs for personal consumption a criminal offence.
๐ป๐ณ Vietnam Death penalty โ Article
Vietnam introduces the death penalty for drug crimes
The amendment adopted on 28 December 1989 added Article 96a to the 1985 Penal Code, combining unlawful manufacture, possession, sale and transport of drugs in one provision. Its basic penalty was two to seven years; particularly serious cases attracted twelve to twenty years, life imprisonment or death. This introduced a dedicated capital drug offence. The reproduced law's legislative metadata records commencement on 2 January 1990; the stable event ID retains the adoption year.
86โ2 points
๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh Death penalty โ Article
Bangladesh sets prison terms for ganja and death for cannabis resin
From 2 January 1990, ganja or any herbal cannabis drew six months to three years in prison up to 5 kilograms, and three to fifteen years above that. A cannabis plant of any species drew six months to three years for up to 25 plants, and three to fifteen years above that. Cannabis resin, in the same band as opium, drew two to ten years up to 2 kilograms and death or life imprisonment above that, and tetrahydrocannabinol drew death or life above 10 grams. The act, dated 1 February 1990, also banned cultivating, trading, keeping and using a narcotic other than alcohol, and it repealed the excise and dangerous-drugs laws carried over from colonial rule.
๐ท๐บ Russia Easing โ
A Soviet constitutional body rejects criminal liability for drug use
The Committee for Constitutional Supervision of the USSR declared that criminal liability for the illicit use of drugs was unconstitutional, three years after a decree had introduced it. Possession stayed a crime: in Russia from 1996 to 2004 even very small amounts of a drug such as heroin could bring years in prison.
๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore Death penalty โ
Singapore adds capital thresholds for cannabis
Amendments introduced in 1990 brought in the mandatory death penalty for trafficking in cannabis and opium, according to a study published in the Home Team Journal. The capital threshold for cannabis was 500 g.
๐ธ๐จ Seychelles Tightening โ
Seychelles passes its first Misuse of Drugs Act
The 1990 Act governed cannabis until the Misuse of Drugs Act of 2016 replaced it.
๐ฑ๐พ Libya Death penalty โ
Libya passes its narcotics law
Law 7 of 1990 on drugs and psychotropic substances, amended in 1996, is the basis of Libya's drug control and allows the death penalty for trafficking.
42โ2 points
๐ฎ๐น Italy Tightening โ Article
Italy makes personal use punishable
A new drug law ended the earlier rule that a modest quantity for personal use was not punishable. Holding more than a fixed "average daily dose" became a crime, and smaller amounts brought administrative sanctions.
2111โ10 points
๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana Tightening โ Article
Ghana's military government passes a drug law with ten-year minimums
The Narcotic Drugs (Control, Enforcement and Sanctions) Law, PNDCL 236, criminalised every drug-related activity, including use, possession, trade and production. Possession and production each carried a minimum of ten years in prison, and use and supply at least five. It stayed in force for thirty years. In June 2015 the Narcotics Control Board counted more than 11,000 people in prison for drug offences, 8,600 of them on remand awaiting trial for drug use.
92โ7 points
๐ฉ๐ช Germany Enforcement โ Article
East Berlin police establish a narcotics working group
After the Berlin Wall opened, East Berlin's People's Police established a narcotics working group led by Gรผnter Kowalschek. Ned Richardson-Little describes it as the GDR's first such law-enforcement division. Its head linked the new availability of drugs to free movement and access to hard currency, and identified West German visitors carrying small quantities as importers. This regional event does not move Germany's national score.
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