Severe Sentences: The judicial program sends a strong concept by punishing offenders severely to prevent Other people from drug-similar crimes.
, justifying extreme penalties which includes flogging for possession and execution for trafficking to protect social buy and prevent youth involvement.[one] Saudi officials, including judicial authorities, preserve that zero-tolerance enforcement has lowered intake costs as compared to regional friends, citing data from the General Authority for Figures displaying cannabis like a minority material relative to amphetamines, Irrespective of persistent smuggling troubles.
Various variables can affect the severity of a sentence in marijuana-similar scenarios. The amount of marijuana involved is a Most important determinant, with much larger quantities leading to significantly harsher penalties, including probable Demise sentences for trafficking; the intent driving possession, whether or not for personal use or professional distribution, also performs a task in sentencing. Prior offenses can lead to improved punishment for repeat offenders, perhaps escalating on the Loss of life penalty for dealing.
Because of Islam’s anti-drug/anti-intoxication beliefs, legislative reform is not likely to happen before long, and Saudi Arabia will carry on its tricky stance towards weed crimes.
The government sights drug offenses as severe transgressions from both societal effectively-being and spiritual tenets, shaping the Kingdom’s in depth and stringent drug Handle insurance policies.
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International human rights corporations and United Nations authorities have frequently criticized Saudi Arabia's application of your Demise penalty to drug-relevant offenses, which includes These involving cannabis trafficking and possession of large portions, arguing that these kinds of punishments violate Worldwide standards versus funds punishment for non-violent crimes.[35][seventy four] In 2024, Saudi authorities executed at the least 122 folks for drug convictions, the highest recorded once-a-year whole, with several cases associated with smuggling operations that included cannabis together with other substances like captagon.
Saudi Arabia is probably the globe’s largest oil-manufacturing international locations, with about a single-fifth of the world’s regarded oil reserves. It performs a major job in weed in saudi analyzing OPEC coverage on oil production and pricing.
For locals and expats alike, the challenges related to cannabis use in Saudi Arabia considerably outweigh any possible Added benefits.
The penalty for possession of cannabis for private use could get paid imprisonment for as much as 6 months, most likely with whippings for first offenses.
Lebanese Bekaa Valley hashish enters by using middleman land routes through Syria and Jordan or concealed maritime shipments, as evidenced by a September 2025 Lebanese operation that dismantled an international network, confiscating 720 kilograms destined explicitly for Saudi Arabia along with amphetamines.[59] These approaches exploit regional instability and weak governance in transit states, with smugglers adapting to Saudi enforcement by diversifying entry factors and employing pilgrims or business website traffic for concealment, nevertheless cannabis volumes keep on being secondary to artificial drugs like amphetamines in reported seizures.
Internally, resistance to any reform of cannabis prohibitions stems from entrenched spiritual and authorized frameworks, in which Islamic jurisprudence deems all intoxicants haram
Human rights corporations have criticized Saudi Arabia's enforcement of anti-drug legal guidelines, especially the applying in the Dying penalty to non-violent offenses for example cannabis smuggling and possession with intent to distribute. Amnesty International claimed a surge in executions for drug-connected crimes, with 122 individuals executed in 2024—the very best recorded figure—and no less than 59 drug-similar executions in Saudi Arabia from January to May possibly 2025 alone, quite a few involving hashish trafficking by foreign nationals.[seventy one][72] These teams argue that these kinds of punishments violate international human legal rights requirements, as drug offenses never qualify as "most significant crimes" warranting capital punishment beneath treaties like the Global Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and deficiency because of system, like coerced confessions and inadequate lawful representation.
Saudi Arabia enforces an complete prohibition on cannabis, extending to all derivatives, with no useful exceptions for health care or industrial purposes. The Regulation of Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances classifies cannabis, cannabis resin, Indian hemp, and connected extracts as Plan I narcotics, subjecting them to the complete scope of prison penalties without carve-outs for therapeutic or non-intoxicating utilizes.
Amendments to the regulation, licensed throughout the Minister of Interior and Ministry of Health, allow for updates to compound schedules and quantities, but cannabis remains firmly categorized to be a Agenda I narcotic equivalent, without provisions for decriminalization or damage reduction approaches.