National Narcotics Control Bureau

Legal Aspects

Drug control legislation and legal framework The principal legislative act of Maldives dealing with narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is law number 17/77 as amended in 1995 and 2001. The 2001 amendments facilitated confidential interviewing with drug users for the purpose of research. Alcohol is not included in the law on drugs. It is controlled under the law of Islamic Shari’ah.

The amended law of 1995 (Section 2 of the law) awards life imprisonment for offences of trafficking of prohibited drugs by either, cultivation, manufacture, exportation, importation, selling, buying, giving or possession for sale of one gram or more of a banned substance. Under section 4 of the law, using or possessing for personal use of less than one gram of a banned substance attracts a penalty of imprisonment, banishment or house arrest for a period between 5 and 12 years, or referral to rehabilitation with the possibility of a suspended legal sentence.

For first-time drug offenders, the sentence may be suspended for three years while they undergo rehabilitation under the supervision of NNCB. If an offender undergoes satisfactory rehabilitation and remains within the law for the 3-year period, the suspended sentence is deemed to be fully served and he/she is set free. If on the other hand, the offender is unable to complete this period of rehabilitation successfully, he/she is handed over to the Department of Penitentiary for enforcing the sentence.

The Law also allows a drug addict to make a self-submission to the rehabilitation assessment committee of NCB and request for treatment. This opportunity is available for those with no other offences or cases pending against them.

The Challenge

Illicit drugs are a global impediment to the social and economic development of nations. The impact of the drug scourge has been particularly severe on the Maldives, threatening her prosperity, good health, and indeed her whole future.

In the past decade we have intensified our efforts to stop the drug menace. But we, as a nation, need to do even more to ensure that criminals, who put their own interests before those of the nation, do not take our common heritage away from us.

The lesson we learn from other countries is that drug abuse is a hydra-like multifaceted issue. It requires a balanced well-coordinated multi-sectoral approach, encompassing measures to stop illicit drugs from entering the country and to reduce the demand for them. Both these aspects are equally important and need to be given the same, high priority.

We, therefore, call upon all Maldivians, as indeed the international community, to support fully our efforts to eliminate the scourge of illicit drugs from the Maldives and beyond our borders. This is the challenge and we must commit ourselves to this challenge.