What are the countries in the world with the most repressive laws on cannabis? Where, for simple consumption, severe punishments are foreseen ranging from prison to the death sentence. Let's learn what they are in order to avoid disastrous situations to say the least.
5. Japan
Let's start from the land of the rising sun, Japan. According to the Cannabis Control Act, possession of marijuana, the cost of which in the country starts from 5000 yen (35 euros) per gram, is punishable up to five years' imprisonment, which immediately becomes seven if for drug dealing purposes and a fine of up to 17 thousand euros.
And again, cultivation, import and export are punished by seven to ten years in prison if for profit purposes and a potential fine of up to 25 thousand euros.
As we read above The Diplomat, Arrests for cannabis possession in Japan are on the rise, going from 3000 in 2017 to 3578 in 2018. Even the pop singer Junnosuke Taguchi and his girlfriend were arrested for just 2.2 grams of marijuana found in their apartment and then released on bail after paying 25 thousand euros in fines each.
4. Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, drug use is punished with long prison and corporal sentences, decided on a case-by-case basis by Islamic law, including violent public floggings. Illegal trafficking of drugs, including cannabis, is punishable by law death penalty by decapitation.
3. China
China was among the first nations to love and enjoy the infinite benefits of hemp, especially in the therapeutic field. However, today, anyone caught using marijuana is severely punished.
Although China has authorized the production of cannabis since 2017, its use remains absolutely prohibited. A market founded exclusively for the economic return that replenishes Chinese coffers, after companies in the sector export their products all over the world.
Current law provides that anyone caught using marijuana risks death imprisonment. Instead, anyone who possesses more than fifty grams of a controlled substance, therefore also cannabis in this case, can be sentenced to death penalty for drug dealing.
2. Iran
After the fight against drug trafficking was caused in 2013 more than 500 hangings in just one year, since October 2017 the country has approved a parliamentary bill that has raised the minimum quantities for which a crime is punishable by death.
The prosecutor Mohammad Baqer Olfat, had declared: "The truth is that the execution of drug traffickers had no deterrent effect."
Nowadays, the Islamic law that governs Iran vaguely mentions the consumption of cannabis making the situation unclear. The production and sale of marijuana, however, are considered much more serious crimes. Le sanctions expected are:
- Up to 50 grams: fine of up to 4 million rial (85 euros) and up to 50 lashes
- Between 50 and 500 grams: a fine of 4 to 50 million rials (85-1,062 euros), from 20 to 74 lashes and up to three years in prison
- Between 500 grams and 5 kilograms: a fine of 50 to 200 million rials (1,062 –4,256 euros), from 50 to 74 lashes and from three to 15 years in prison
- Over 5 kilograms is expected death penalty and confiscation of assets
1. United Arab Emirates
In 2018, Dubai, with more than 16 million visitors, has become the fourth most visited city in the world. Despite the tourist explosion, however, tolerance towards cannabis has not directly increased the number of people welcomed.
In the United Arab Emirates, even the mere presence of tracks in one's body dictated by previous consumption are considered as drug possession and punished as such. And the expected penalty is a 2500 euro fine or four years in prison.
The current situation of cannabis in Italy
While the European panorama is tinged with green, with EU countries choosing the regulatory path, such as Malta, Germany, Czech Republic and many others, in Italy regulatory attempts they are swept away by the bigotry that characterizes our political class and beyond.
Cannabis is a resource that, unlike other legal substances such as alcohol, tobacco and drugs that they claim millions of victims a year, you have never caused the direct death of an individual by overdose. Enough lies and misinformation, we want legalization.
