The story · written by opus-5.5,
Qatar’s drug law is Law No. 9 of 1987, on the control and regulation of narcotic drugs and dangerous psychotropic substances. It is not the country’s first. Its Article 63 repeals a decree-law of 1966, which had been amended in 1972, 1983 and 1986. What it added was a scale of penalties that ends in death, and beside it a route out of prison for the user.
The scale
| Offence | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Importing, exporting, producing or growing for trade | 34 | 10 to 20 years, and a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 riyals |
| The same, on a repeat offence | 34 | death or life imprisonment |
| Possessing or selling for trade | 35 | 7 to 15 years, and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 riyals |
| Possessing or using for oneself | 37 | 2 to 5 years, and a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 riyals |
These are the figures of the copy read, which describes itself as unofficial. A Qatari newspaper has quoted Article 37 with a lower range, six months to three years, so the article has either been amended or is reported differently, and the profile records both.
Growing the plants listed in the law’s fourth schedule is prohibited by a separate article. The schedules are not reproduced in the copy, so the text does not itself show cannabis by name.
The way out
Three provisions deal with the user as a patient.
A court may, instead of the penalty, order a person proven to be addicted into a clinic for at least three months and at most a year.
No criminal case is brought against a user who comes forward for treatment of their own accord.
A spouse, or a relative to the second degree, may ask the public prosecution to have an addict committed, and the court decides in closed session.
What was built around it
The treatment route existed on paper long before there was anywhere to send people. A Social Rehabilitation Centre was created by law in 2006 and began taking referrals in 2009. A treatment centre under the health council followed in 2012, and in 2015 an Emiri decision established the Naufar Center and defined addiction as a disease.
Enforcement grew faster. A drug enforcement administration was set up under the interior ministry in 1991. The ministry’s figures show drug offences rising from 461 in 2011 to 4,175 in 2016.
Why the index moved
The 1987 law is the step that sets Qatar’s scores. The first prohibition is probably the decree-law of 1966 that this law repeals, but its text has not been read, so the timeline begins here. Possession and use each carry prison, growing for trade can end in death on a second conviction, and the scores sit near the bottom of the scale; the treatment provisions keep enforcement from the very lowest level.[1][2]
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%10 → 0−10
- Personal cultivation · 25%10 → 0−10
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%10 → 1−9
- Sharing & gifting · 10%10 → 0−10
- Consumption · 10%10 → 0−10
- Legal access · 10%10 → 0−10
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. The scores after the change are Qatar's current scores.
References
- Law No. 9 of 1987 on combating narcotic drugs and dangerous psychotropic substances, unofficial Arabic copy (Mohamah.net)archived
- Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy — Evolution of policy for the treatment of substance use disorders in Qatar (2022)archived
- UN — E/NL.1988/84, Qatar: Law No. 9 of 1987archived
- The Peninsula — report quoting Article 37 of Law No. 9 of 1987 (28 June 2021)archived
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.