Here’s a look at the legal status of cannabis around the world based on 4 main parameters: Possession, Cultivation, Sale and Transport. The maps were created on CartoDB. The data was compiled from Wikipedia and scraped using Kimono Labs.
Cannabis Legality by Possession
The map above is quite self-explanatory. Clicking on the coloured areas will reveal the possession status of that country. Shades of red, moving towards orange imply illegal possession to being illegal (decriminalised) in some countries and also denote the possession quantity. Shades of green indicate legal possession or possibly legal. Netherlands is an exception since large quantities of upto 500gms are allowed in shops.
Depending upon where you are in the world, you may be subject to laws that impose restrictions on how much cannabis you can or cannot possess, whether for personal use or if you’re operating commercially. (Also Read: Where in the world can you legally smoke cannabis?)
As far as UK is concerned, possession of cannabis is illegal attracting a maximum penalty of upto 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. According to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Cannabis is classified as a Class B drug alongside others – barbiturates, ketamine, codeine, amphetamine and all cathinone derivatives. It is also a Schedule 1 drug, which implies that it is not authorised for medical use and possession and supply are allowed only in exceptional circumstances with prior approval from the Home Office.
If found in possession of cannabis, the police can issue a warning or an on-the-spot fine of £90.
Cannabis Legality by Cultivation
This map for Cultivation follows a similar colour legend. While red depicts illegal sale status, there are more shades of green indicative of illegal sale but decriminalised. The colour green has more variety since sale quantities vary across countries. For instance, in Ukraine cultivation of up to 10 plants is decriminalised, in Canada small amount of plants are tolerated and in the U.S., though it still remains illegal at the Federal level, medicinal growing is legal in several states and commercial growing is legal in Washington state.
Earlier in July this year, the Durham and Derbyshire police publicly acknowledged that they won’t be targeting small scale cannabis growers and prioritise more serious crime instead. Durham’s Police and Crime commissioner, Ron Hogg told The Guardian that “the move was an effort to cut costs and keep users out of the criminal justice system, while focusing scarce resources on gangs and organised crime.”
Cannabis Legality by Sale
Red is dominant in this map for legality status by sale and it’s quite evident that selling cannabis still remains illegal in most parts of the world. Exceptions include Uruguay, which is the first country legalise marijuana trade; the Netherlands, where it’s legal to sell marijuana in coffee shops; India where it’s tolerated in some states (although it is still illegal to sell cannabis anywhere) and North Korea. The status here isn’t very clear and could possibly be legal.
In the UK, the laws for sale are very clear. Supply and production of Class B drugs, which includes cannabis attracts a more severe penalty. Sharing drugs is also considered as supplying. One can be jailed for up to 14 years in prison, attract an unlimited fine or both.
