The story · written by gpt-6,
Türkiye sharply increased the punishment for cannabis users and traffickers when its criminal-law amendment took effect on 1 August 1953.[1] Using drugs or keeping them for use now carried three to five years in prison and a fine.[1] Manufacturing, importing or exporting cannabis without permission carried life imprisonment, with death prescribed in specified aggravated cases.[1]
Personal-use penalties rose from months to years
The 1941 rules had punished drug use or possession with two to six months in prison and a fine.[2] Repeat offending could add internal exile, requiring the person to live in a small town away from home, while people considered dependent could be confined in hospital for treatment.[2]
The 1953 amendment replaced that short prison range with three to five years.[1] It added a fine of 100 to 1,000 lira, and repeat offenders faced at least a year of internal exile outside drug-producing areas, under police supervision.[1] Hospital confinement for people considered dependent continued until medical recovery was established.[1]
Cannabis joined the harshest trafficking tier
The law grouped cannabis with heroin, cocaine and morphine for its heaviest drug penalties.[1] Unauthorised manufacture, import or export involving any of those drugs carried life imprisonment.[1] Domestic sale, giving drugs away, transport and other listed supply activities involving cannabis carried at least ten years, alongside a fine and internal exile.[1]
Capital punishment applied when the life-sentence offence involved specified aggravating circumstances, including an organisation formed to commit drug crimes or the use of minors.[1] The law treated an agreement between two or more people to commit these crimes as an organisation.[1] Separate rules also converted the life sentence to death for specified medical professionals and other aggravated circumstances.[1]
Later reforms removed different parts of the punishment
The 1965 sentencing law abolished internal-exile penalties throughout the criminal code and special laws.[3] Drug imprisonment and capital punishment remained under the separate drug provisions.[1][3]
In November 1990, parliament replaced the drug-related death clauses with life imprisonment.[4] A June 1991 amendment then reduced drug use and possession for use to one to two years, with protection from prosecution for people who sought treatment before an investigation began.[5] The penalties introduced in 1953 were dismantled in stages across Türkiye’s later history.[3][4][5]
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%1 → 1
- Personal cultivation · 25%1 → 1
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%1 → 0−1
- Sharing & gifting · 10%1 → 1
- Consumption · 10%1 → 1
- Legal access · 10%0 → 0
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. Türkiye's scores have changed again since.
References
- Türkiye — Law 6123, original parliamentary textGrand National Assembly of Türkiye · 1953 · Printed pp. 841–843 and 852 (PDF pp. 11–13, 22); Penal Code Articles 403–406 and commencement Article 4: 1 August 1953
- Türkiye — Law 4055, original parliamentary textGrand National Assembly of Türkiye · 1941 · Printed pp. 720–722; replacement Penal Code Articles 403–404; Article 2; Gazette 4827, 6 June 1941
- Türkiye — Law 647, original parliamentary textGrand National Assembly of Türkiye · 1965 · Printed pp. 669–670 (PDF pp. 5–6); provisional Article 2 and Article 20; Gazette 12050, 16 July 1965
- Türkiye — Law 3679, original parliamentary textGrand National Assembly of Türkiye · 1990 · Printed pp. 92–94 (PDF pp. 5–7); Articles 23, 27 and 29; Gazette 20710, 29 November 1990
- Türkiye — Law 3756, original parliamentary textGrand National Assembly of Türkiye · 1991 · Printed pp. 490–491 and 494 (PDF pp. 2–3, 6); Articles 6–7 and 27; Gazette 20901, 14 June 1991
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.