The criminalisation of people who use drugs compounds drug-related challenges and worsens health and welfare outcomes. Across the world, there is a growing number of jurisdictions where the possession of scheduled drugs for personal use has been decriminalised. In some countries and federal states, this has been extended to the cultivation of cannabis for personal use or the sharing of substances where there is no financial gain (also known as ‘social sharing’). In some legal systems criminal penalties are replaced by civil sanctions, while in other systems no penalties are applied – please see our glossary for more detailed definitions. Some form of decriminalisation has been adopted in 30 countries – with significant differences and levels of effectiveness. This interactive map provides an overview of these models, offering insights into decriminalisation laws, their implementation and impact.

Drug Decriminalisation Across the World

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ruled out decriminalising drugs despite a new report saying it would cut the state's record rate of incarceration and save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year. It is the centrepiece of 42 reforms proposed by the Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC), after its examination of the state's overcrowded prison system. The QPC found decriminalisation would improve the lives of drug addicts without increasing the rate of drug use. Its report estimated that if reforms were implemented immediately, "the prison population would be between 20 to 30 per cent lower in 2025". "This would save between $165 million and $270 million in annual prison costs and avoid $2.1 billion in prison investments," the report said.

As overdose deaths keep surging in Canada, the movement to decriminalize illicit drugs is gaining steam, with one of the country's largest mental health facilities joining national advocates and several major cities in putting pressure on the federal government to act. Earlier this summer, mayors from across B.C. signed a letter in support of Vancouver city officials who are seeking Health Canada's approval to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs. Toronto is gearing up to submit a similar request, a move which follows the city recently hitting its highest one-day opioid overdose count in late July. (See also: BC’s rate of drug toxicity deaths has overtaken Ohio and Pennsylvania)

A “draconian” drug law in Malta has forced a magistrate to jail a 39-year-old woman for six months for cultivating six small cannabis plants for her personal use – because “it fails to distinguish between who deserves an effective jail term”. Due to the wording of the law, the woman would have benefited from a legal provision that would spare her a jail term – had she cultivated one large plant instead of six small ones with a total leaf weight of five grams. Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras said that the Drug Dependence Act, enacted in 2014, was originally intended to ensure that those found guilty of simple possession of small quantities of drugs were not jailed but fined. (See also: Flawed drug law - woman appeals jail term)

Last month, Mexico’s Supreme Court handed down two decisions that effectively overturned Mexico’s longstanding ban on the personal use of marijuana. The Court affirmed the power of the individual—rather than the state—to decide what to do with their own body. More importantly, it struck down a form of prohibition and brought the “war on drugs” in Mexico closer its end than ever before. Both of us are plaintiffs in the two cases and, for the past decade, we have worked as drug policy reform advocates who have sought to decriminalize the use of cannabis in Mexico.

Many countries are changing the way they approach people who use drugs. The Irish government has just announced possible alternatives to criminalisation for possession of some drugs. Other countries, including Norway and Malaysia, are weighing options. But what can countries do if they don’t want to arrest or convict people because they use drugs? To inform the Irish government’s decision, we carried out a detailed review of approaches in various countries, including Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK and the US. We found three main approaches: depenalisation, diversion and decriminalisation. Given some models bring greater long-term gains, there is merit in arguing that governments ought to be bold.

The Federal Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs, Daniela Ludwig (CSU), advocates that in future the possession of cannabis up to a personal use limit of six grammes should be prosecuted nationwide as an administrative offence and no longer as a criminal offence. The amount of 15 grammes tolerated in Berlin, however, is "clearly" too high, Ludwig said. There, more young people smoke pot than anywhere else in Germany. Ludwig recommends that the CDU/CSU seek a compromise on the issue of cannabis with possible coalition partners after the federal elections. "It is clear that cannabis is not as dangerous as cocaine or heroin. It is also true that the issue must be about different, better sanctions and about relieving the police and the judiciary," she stressed.

Con la venia del presidente Alberto Fernández, la ministra de Seguridad, Sabina Frederic, y funcionarios de otros ministerios ya trabajan en un cambio drástico de la política del gobierno de Cambiemos en relación con la tenencia y el consumo de marihuana, una promesa de campaña que podría generar un fuerte debate parlamentario durante este año. Cerca de la ministra de Seguridad reconocieron que está "en estudio" el envío al Congreso de un proyecto de ley para despenalizar la tenencia para consumo personal y el autocultivo de la planta de cannabis, y que el objetivo es "dejar de penalizar a los perejiles, e ir por los narcos, que son el verdadero peligro", afirmaron. (Véase también: Cannabis para todxs: la era del autocultivo y el uso medicinal)

Los policías de la capital oaxaqueña tienen instrucciones para no molestar a los fumadores de marihuana si ellos no están molestando a nadie. Se les pide que no fumen en lugares infantiles, cerca de las escuelas y hospitales o donde haya espacios libres de humo o quien manifieste malestar por ese consumo. Pero ya no podrán efectuarse los clásicos arrestos por escándalo público ni las extorsiones por parte de los agentes del orden a las que estaban acostumbrados los defensores del cannabis. Y todo ello no es por una ley nueva, sino porque no había ley que dijera lo contrario. Además, en el Estado se ha otorgado una veintena de licencias para plantar cannabis de forma ordenada y ajustada a determinados usos.

A principios de marzo, la Audiencia de Barcelona condenó con un total de cuarenta y cuatro años de cárcel a nueve personas al probarse que se dedicaban al cultivo intenso y masivo de marihuana para su venta a terceros a través de la Asociación Barcelonesa Cannábica de Autoconsumo, pionera en el universo de las asociaciones de este tipo en Barcelona. Fundada en 2010 en el barrio de la Barceloneta, abrió una copiosa veda de más de doscientos clubes registrados, cada uno con una media de trescientos a cuatrocientos socios. El vacío en el que operan estas entidades encarna el agujero legal en el que se mueve el consumo de marihuana en todo el país.

La Ley para la Regulación de la Cannabis en México, cuyo anteproyecto propone la despenalización de la marihuana en su producción y uso, aumentando de 5 a 28 grados la cantidad mínima de posesión del estupefaciente. Las modificaciones al proyecto que ya existe estipulan una multa administrativa por la posesión sin licencia de marihuana de hasta 10,500 pesos en caso de portar cannabis sin la autorización legal pertinente. El avance del Senado con esta reforma de despenalización, de toda la cadena, derogaría la disposición que castiga la posesión de más de cinco gramos de estupefaciente con privación de la libertad del sujeto. (Véase también: Regulación de la cannabis no traerá paz, asegura senadora del PRI)

España es el país europeo que más multas pone relacionadas con el cannabis pese a ser solo el cuarto donde más se consume. Las diferentes policías del Estado impusieron un total de 300.276 sanciones por consumo o tenencia de cannabis en la calle en 2018, último año del que existen datos comparables europeos. El siguiente país en esta lista es Alemania, con 179.700 multas ese mismo año pese a tener casi el doble de población y una tasa de consumidores solo algo inferior a la española. Italia, que supera a España en habitantes globales y en usuarios de cannabis, pone una décima parte de sanciones y Francia, otro país europeo que tiene más consumidores, no dispone de datos recientes, pero en 2010, último año que los ofreció, estaba en la mitad que España.

Cannabis is the cutting-edge drug for reform, the only politically plausible candidate for major legal change, at least decriminalisation (removal of criminal penalties for possession) and perhaps even outright legalisation (permitting production and sale). Compared with other drugs, the harms, physiological or behavioural, are less severe and the drug is better integrated into the culture. Throughout Western Europe and in the Antipodes there is pressure for reductions in the punitiveness of the marijuana regime.

Download the paper (PDF)

Cannabis is the cutting-edge drug for reform, the only politically plausible candidate for major legal change, at least decriminalisation (removal of criminal penalties for possession) and perhaps even outright legalisation (permitting production and sale). Compared with other drugs, the harms, physiological or behavioural, are less severe and the drug is better integrated into the culture. Throughout Western Europe and in the Antipodes there is pressure for reductions in the punitiveness of the marijuana regime.

Download the paper (PDF)

Entrepreneurs eager to enter the marijuana business are calling on the Government of Trinidad & Tobago to bring legislation which will allow them to do so without fear of being arrested. The Cannabis Control Bill, aimed at legitimising marijuana retail businesses in Trinidad and Tobago, has been a topic of discussion since the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act in December 2019. The amendments allowed for the possession of up to 30 grammes of marijuana and growing four female plants for every adult in a home. The bill was sent to a joint select committee (JSC) led by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi in 2019, which was initially due to report to Parliament in February last year, but there have been some setbacks.

When the Cannabis Control Bill is passed in Trinidad & Tobago in January, a market for the licensing for marijuana merchants will be opening. Many activists and critics of the bill have raised concerns that the market will be saturated by local business giants and international merchants. Assuring that there will be a 30% local content stipulation as part of the Cannabis Control Bill, Attorney General, Faris Al Rawi says there’s no way to treat with that fear. “There is a very unfortunate drive in this country to label everything ‘1%’. How do you treat with that?” he questioned. (See also: Herbalist wants clarity, open market for local cannabis merchants |Cannabis Control JSC to look at licences)

A first opinion poll found that the prescription of heroin for addicts stands a good chance of passing on November 30. However, a proposal to decriminalise cannabis attracts neither a clear majority of supporters nor opponents six weeks before the ballot. The people's initiative foresees the legalisation for personal consumption, while the trade and cultivation of hemp would be subject to state control. Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin said decriminalising pot smoking could pose problems for Switzerland as a signatory state of international drug control conventions. In its campaign the government cautioned against rushing through legislation for which there was no majority in parliament four years ago.

"The war on drugs has failed," said a recent report compiled by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which comprised a former UN secretary-general, former presidents of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, a former US Secretary of State and a host of public intellectuals, human rights activists and politicians.

Federal lawyers are being asked to avoid prosecuting simple drug possession cases unless major public safety concerns are at play — a move that comes amid a push on the federal government to reconsider decriminalization. The directive, which was issued earlier this week, revises the Public Prosecution Service of Canada's (PPSC) approach to simple possession offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel is now asking her team of lawyers to focus on seeking charges only in "the most serious cases" and to otherwise ask for alternative measures, such as restorative justice and Indigenous approaches to divert simple possession cases away from the criminal justice system.

A 30 años de la sanción de la Ley de Estupefacientes (23.737) en Argentina, asociaciones cannábicas y organizaciones de derechos humanos, ciencias sociales, seguridad, educación y salud mental firmaron un acuerdo de cinco puntos para comenzar a diseñar una regulación legal del cannabis para uso adulto que esté basada en criterios de salud pública. El documento fija posiciones sobre la regulación , el consumo responsable, el mercado existente en torno al uso adulto o “recreativo”, la importancia del autocultivo y de los clubes sociales de cannabis y la no criminalización del uso de sustancias psicoactivas. (Véase también: "Una regulación integral para el cannabis de uso adulto")