Statutory Instrument 42 of 2025 brought the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2024 into force on 14 April 2025. The President had assented on 2 February 2024, and section 1 left the start to the internal affairs minister. From 14 April 2025, possession of a narcotic drug can bring up to twenty years in prison, with no lesser tier for a small amount; use can bring up to ten years; growing without a licence up to five; and trafficking, which the Act defines to include giving, up to life. The health minister may still license cultivation of a prohibited plant. The Constitutional Court had said in 2023 that annulling the previous Act did not legalise cannabis, so the score stays on the earlier ban until this commencement.[1][2]
Score by segment 0 to 10
- Possession · 25%1 → 0−1
- Personal cultivation · 25%1 → 1
- Punishment & enforcement · 20%1 → 1
- Sharing & gifting · 10%1 → 0−1
- Consumption · 10%1 → 1
- Legal access · 10%0 → 0
The bar shows the score after the change; the tick marks where it stood before. The scores after the change are Uganda's current scores.
References
- ULII — Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, Cap. 37 (Commencement) Instrument, 2025Statutory Instrument 42 of 2025, made 9 April 2025; commencement recorded as 14 April 2025archived
- ULII — Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 2024Assent 2 February 2024; section 1; commencement annotation 14 April 2025archived
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read. The score before the change is an editorial estimate.