Tajikistan adopts a drug law linking licensing, policing and treatment

Tajikistan adopted a general drug-control law on 10 December 1999 under President Emomali Rakhmonov. The statute linked control of lawful drug activities with policing, prevention and treatment. Its accompanying resolution provided for commencement after official publication.^[1]

Criminal penalties had a separate home

The law followed a replacement Criminal Code that had taken effect in September 1998. That code replaced the earlier Soviet-era criminal legislation and provided a separate place for defining offences and punishments.^[2]

The general drug law organised the controlled activities themselves. In the later consolidated version published by the Drug Control Agency, these included production, storage, distribution, import and export, as well as the scientific cultivation of drug-containing plants.^[1]

Scientific growers needed a licence

The consolidated statute reserved scientific cultivation and the development of new controlled drugs for licensed research institutions. Acquisition, manufacture, processing and production were tied to international obligations and state quotas. The health ministry and Drug Control Agency had roles in regulating equipment and lawful handling.^[1]

The law also defined supply broadly. Its amended definition included gifts, exchanges, debt payments and loans, alongside sales. That placed several ways of passing drugs to another person within the same general concept of supply.^[1]

Treatment and registration followed distinct rules

The statute prohibited drug use without a doctor’s prescription. Where there were sufficient grounds to suspect unlawful use, it provided for examination in a narcological institution, with medical professionals responsible for determining intoxication and dependence.^[1]

Its treatment section allowed people to seek care voluntarily. It also required registration after findings of unlawful drug use and follow-up observation after treatment for dependence, while referring compulsory treatment to the applicable legislation. People seeking voluntary care had specified rights, including protections concerning their home and employment during inpatient treatment.^[1]

Reviewers later challenged the balance

A 2010 review involving officials and civil society called for stronger patient privacy and less discrimination against people who use drugs. It examined the relationship between policing, health care and the consequences of being identified as a drug user.^[3]

The licensing statute continued to be amended. In February 2026, changes revised precursor licensing, import and export documentation and the police-law powers applied to Drug Control Agency staff.^[4]

The Tajikistan profile brings these controls together with the Criminal Code’s possession, cultivation and supply penalties.