The Law for Combatting Drugs Approved 1988, as Amended on 8 November 1997 by the Expediency Council
Note: the following is a translation provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in an undated report (https://www.unodc.org/pdf/iran/drug_crime_situation/rule_of_law/CrimeandJusticeLaws.pdf) and based on the Law as amended by the Expendiency Council on November 8, 1987. Multiple articles have been omitted. The full text of the law with recent amenmdnets through 2017, is available here in the ABC library.)
Article 1: The following acts are considered as crimes and the perpetrator shall be sentenced to the punishments prescribed in this law.
1- Cultivating poppies are absolutely banned and cannabis cannot be cultivated for the purpose of production of narcotics.
2- Importing, exporting and producing of any kind of narcotics.
3- Keeping, carrying, purchasing, distributing, hiding, transiting and selling narcotic drugs.
4- Setting up or running places for the use of drugs.
5- Using drugs in any form or manner except for cases provided by law.
6- Production, manufacturing, purchasing, selling, preserving equipments and facilities related to the production and use of Narcotics.
7- Causing to escape or giving protection to drug offenders and perpetrators who are under prosecution or have been arrested.
8- Destroying or concealing evidence of offender's crimes.
9- Placing Narcotics or the equipments and tools of using Narcotics in a place to condemn somebody else.
Note: Narcotics in this law refers to all substances which have been identified in the Executive By-law on the list of Narcotics approved in 1338 (1959) and its amendments or have been identified and announced by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education.
Article 2: Anybody who cultivates poppies or cannabis for the purpose of producing narcotic drugs shall be sentenced, in addition to his crop being destroyed, to the following punishments for each time according to the amount of his cultivation:
1- The first time, a fine from ten to hundred million Rials in cash.
2- Second time, a fine from fifty to five hundred million Rials in cash, plus 30 to 70 lashes.
3- Third time, a fine from hundred million to one billion Rials in cash, plus 1 to 70 lashes together with two to five years of imprisonment.
4- Fourth time, death penalty.
Note: In case it is proved that the cultivation of poppy or cannabis has taken place under the instruction of the landlord(s) or the tenant or their legal deputies, the instructor who was the cause (of the crime), if he is in a higher position than the agent, shall be sentenced to the punishments prescribed in this article, and the agent who took the charge of cultivation shall be condemned to a fine in the amount of ten to thirty million Rials in cash and fifteen to forty lashes.
Article 3: Anybody who stores, conceals, carries the seeds or capsules of poppy or flowering or fruiting top of cannabis shall be sentenced to a fine in the amount of one million to thirty million Rials cash as well as to one to seventy lashes. In the case of flowering or fruiting top of cannabis, the intention of producing narcotics from them must be established.
Article 4: Anybody who smuggles in or out, produces, distributes, deals in or puts on sale bhang, Indian hemp juice, opium and opium juice or opium residue (shireh) shall be sentenced to the following punishments, taking into account the quantity of said materials:
1- Up to 50 grams, a fine up to four million Rials in cash, plus up to fifty lashes.
2- More than fifty grams up to five hundred grams, a fine from four million to fifty million Rials in cash, plus twenty to seventy four lashes and three years of imprisonment if the court considers appropriate.
3- More than five hundred grams to five kilograms, a fine from fifty million to two hundred million Rials in cash, plus fifty to seventy four lashes and three to fifteen years of imprisonment.
4- More than five kilograms, death penalty and confiscation of property, excepting the provision of the normal living costs for the family of the convicted.
Note: If it is established that the perpetrator of the crime under paragraph 4 of this article has committed the crime for the first time and has not succeeded in distributing or selling narcotic drugs and also the amount is twenty kilos or less than that, the court while compiling the related conditions, will sentence him to life imprisonment plus seventy four lashes and confiscation of property, excepting the provision of the normal living cost for his family.
Article 5:Anyone who keeps, conceals, carries opium and other drugs mentioned in article 4 shall be sentenced to the following punishments, taking into consideration the quantity of the drugs.
1- Up to fifty grams, a fine up to three million Rials in cash, plus up to fifty lashes.
2- More than fifty grams up to five hundred grams, a fine up to five to fifteen million Rials in cash, plus ten to seventy four lashes.
3- More than five hundred grams up to five kilograms, a fine from fifteen million to sixty million Rials in cash plus forty to seventy four lashes and two to five years of imprisonment.
4- More than five kilograms up to twenty kilograms, a fine from sixty million to two hundred million Rials in cash, plus fifty to seventy four lashes and five to ten years of imprisonment, and in the event of recidivism for the second time, in addition to the above punishments and instead of the fine, the confiscation of property excepting the provision of the normal living cost for his family and for the third time, death sentence and confiscation of property excepting the provision of the normal living cost for his family.
5- More than twenty kilograms up to one hundred kilograms, in addition to the punishments mentioned in article 4, instead of each kilogram two million Rials fine in cash will be added and in case of recidivism, death sentence and confiscation of property excepting the provision of the normal living cost for his family.
6- More than one hundred kilograms, in addition to the fine payment in cash and lashes mentioned in articles 4 and 5, life imprisonment and in case of recidivism, death sentence with the exception of the provision of the normal living cost for his family.
Note: If the perpetrators of the above crimes have acted in chains and the substances are meant to be used inside the country, then they will be under the punishments mentioned in article 4. and in case that one of the above conditions does not exist, then they will be sentenced to the punishments of this article.
Article 6:The punishment of the perpetrator of the crimes mentioned in paragraphs 1,2 and 3 of the articles 4 and 5 shall be increased for the second time to one and a half of the punishments set forth in each paragraph, and for the third time to twice as much as the punishments prescribed in each paragraph and in subsequent instances two and a half, three and a half … times as much as the punishments provided for in each paragraph.
The punishment of whipping for the second time onwards shall be seventy-four lashes at the maximum.
In the instances mentioned above, if as a consequence of recidivism of the crime the total of the narcotic drugs amounts to more than five kilograms, the perpetrator of the crime will be sentenced to death penalty and confiscation of property and in case of recidivism from the crimes mentioned in articles 4 and 5 or the paragraphs in article 5, the amount exceeds five kilograms, will be sentenced to the punishments of paragraph 4 of article 5.
Article 7:In case the perpetrator of the crimes mentioned in article 4 and 5 is an employee of the government, governmental companies, or government affiliated agencies, organizations and companies, and he is not, according to employment laws, subject to dismissal from government services, he shall be sentenced, for the first time to six months, for the second time to one year of dismissal from government services, and for the third time to permanent expulsion.
Article 8:Anyone who imports, produces, distributes, exports, deals in, puts on sale, keeps or stores, conceals and carries (or transports) heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone and other chemical derivatives of morphine, cocaine and also chemical extract of hashish or hashish oil, shall be sentenced to the following punishments, taking into account the amount of said drugs:
1- Up to five centigrams, a fine from five hundred thousand Rials to one million Rials in chase and twenty to fifty lashes.
2- More than five centigrams up to one gram, a fine in the amount of two million to six million Rials cash, plus thirty to seventy lashes.
3- More than one gram up to four grams, a fine in the amount of eight million to twenty million Rials in cash and two to five years of imprisonment and thirty to seventy lashes.
4- More than four grams up to fifteen grams, a fine in the amount of twenty to forty million Rials in cash, plus five to eight years of imprisonment, and thirty to seventy four lashes.
5- More than fifteen up to thirty grams, a fine in the amount of forty million to sixty million Rials fine in cash and ten to fifty years of imprisonment and thirty and seventy four lashes.
6- More than thirty grams, death penalty and confiscation of property, excepting the provision of the normal living cost for the family of the convicted.
Note 1: If it is established that the perpetrator of the crime under paragraph 6 of this article has committed it for the first time and has not succeeded in distributing or selling the drugs and in case the amount does not exceed one hundred grams, with the compilation of conditions or the non-establishment of the fact that he meant to distribute or sell it inside the country considering the quality and the transiting route, the court will sentence him to life imprisonment and confiscation of the property with the provision of the normal living cost for his family.
.Note 2: In all the above cases, if the accused is an employee of the government or governmental companies or government-affiliated companies and establishments, he shall be sentenced, in addition to the punishments mentioned in this article, to permanent dismissal from government services.
Article 9:The punishment of the perpetrator of the crimes set forth at paragraphs 1 to 5 of the article 8, shall be for the second time one and a half of and for the third time twice as much as the punishment mentioned in each paragraph.
The punishment of whipping for the second time onwards shall be seventy four lashes at the maximum.
In the fourth time if the total of the narcotics as a result of repetition reaches thirty grams, the offender is considered as corrupter on earth and shall be sentenced to death penalty.
The death sentence, if deemed appropriate, shall be carried out on the premises of his residence and public.
In case the total of the narcotics in the fourth time as a result of recidivism does not reach thirty grams, the offender shall be condemned to a fine of forty to sixty million Rials in cash, with ten to fifteen years of imprisonment, plus thirty to seventy four lashes.
Article 10:(Omitted)
Article 11:The punishment of armed smuggling of narcotic drugs, subject matter of this act, shall be death penalty, and the death sentence, if deemed appropriate, shall be carried out on the premises of the offender and in public.
Article 12:Anyone who smuggles narcotic drugs into prisons, barracks, or rehabilitation centres for addicts, he shall be sentenced, as the case may be, to the maximum punishments mentioned in articles 4 to 9, and in case the offender is a government employee, he shall also be condemned to permanent expulsion from government services. In the event that as a consequence of negligence or omission of the persons in charge, narcotic drugs are smuggled into such centers, the failing officers shall be sentenced, as the case may be, to the punishment of:
a) Demotion;
b) Temporary dismissal;
c) Permanent dismissal.
Article 13: Anybody who uses his industrial, commercial service and residential units for storing, producing and distributing narcotic drugs or make them available to others for such purposes, and also when the proprietor's representative commits such acts on his permission or knowledge, the respective permit for and approval in principle concerning the operation of industrial units or the business license of the services and commercial unit shall be cancelled, and the unit(s) mentioned in this article shall be confiscated in favour of the government.
Article 14:Anybody who establishes or runs a place for the use of narcotic drugs, he shall be sentenced to a fine of five million to ten million Rials in cash, plus one to four years of imprisonment together with permanent expulsion from government services. The punishment for recidivism of this offence shall be two to four times as much as the first one.
Note: If the place mentioned in this article is producing commercial or service units, in addition to the punishment provided in this article, the approval in principle concerning and the permit for operation of the producing unit and also the business license of the service and commercial unit shall be suspended for the period of one year, and in case of recidivism of the crime the unit shall be confiscated in favour of the government.
Article 15: Addiction is a crime but all the addicts are permitted to refer to centres authorized by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education to undergo treatment and rehabilitation.
Note 1: the above addicts are exempted from penalties during the period of treatment and rehabilitation.
Note 2: the expenses for treatment, medication and rehabilitation will be paid by the addicts according to the tariffs approved and the expenses of poor addicts will be provided by the government on annual basis.
Note 3: the government is entitled to take necessary action to revive and create addiction rehabilitation camps.
Article 16:Addicts having addiction to the substances mentioned in articles 4 and 8 will be fined from one million to five million Rials in cash and a maximum of thirty lashes. In case of recidivism and for each time, seventy four lashes will be considered.
If the accused is an employee of the government or governmental companies or government-affiliated companies and establishments, he shall be sentenced, in addition to the cash fines and lashes, will be expulsed from the government services permanently.
Article 17:(Omitted)
Article 18:(Omitted)
Article 19:Non-addicts who use the narcotic drugs shall be punished considering the type of drugs.
The use of drugs mentioned in article 4 will be sentenced to twenty to seventy four lashes and one million to five million Rials fine payment in cash.
The use of drugs mentioned in article 8 will be sentenced to fifty to seventy four lashes and two million to ten million Rials fine payment in cash.
Article 20:Anybody who imports equipment and instrument for the use or production of narcotic drugs or purchases and sells them, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of one million to five million Rials and ten to fifty lashes and also the confiscation of the equipment and instruments.
The instruments of those perpetrators keeping, hiding or carrying the instruments and equipments using Narcotics, will be confiscated and for each instrument an amount from hundred to five hundred thousand Rials fine should be paid or five to twenty lashes should be given. The antiques are exempted from this article.
Article 21:Anybody who protects or causes the escape of an offender subject of this act, who is under prosecution or cooperates in securing protection for him or in causing him to escape, shall be sentenced to one-fifth to one half of the punishment of the crime, the perpetrator of which he has caused to escape or to whom he has given protection.
In case of life imprisonment four to ten years of imprisonment and in case of death penalty, ten to fifteen years of imprisonment and thirty to seventy four lashes will be considered.
Note 1: In case the offender is among the first degree relatives of the convict, it will not be more than one tenth of the punishment of the first convict.
Note 2: In case the perpetrator is one of the disciplinary forces or the prison authorities and the authorities of the judicial officials, in addiction to the above penalties, they will be expulsed from the government services.
Article 22:Anybody who extends protection or causes to escape an offender under this act, in the process of arrest or after having been arrested, or gives protection to or causes to escape an offender subject of this act or cooperates in this, shall be sentenced to one half of the punishment of the convicted or that of the principal offender.
In case of life imprisonment and death penalty, the perpetrator will be sentenced to ten to twenty years of imprisonment together with thirty to seventy four lashes.
Note 1: If the perpetrator of the offence is a member of the disciplinary or security forces or a prison guards or a member of the judiciary, he shall be sentenced to the punishment of the convicted or that of the principal offender as well as to permanent dismissal from government functions, except for the death penalty, in case the punishment shall be consisted of twenty five years of prison and permanent dismissal from government services.
Note 2: If the perpetrator of the crimes subject of this Law, who is not yet under prosecution, escapes or is given protection, the provider of protection or the person or the person who has caused the offender to escape shall be condemned to between one tenth to one fifth of the punishment of the principal offender. In case of life imprisonment and death penalty, the offender shall be sentenced to two to four years and four to eight years of imprisonment respectively.
Article 23:Anybody who intentionally destroys or conceals evidence of narcotic crimes shall be sentenced to one fifth to one half of the punishment of the principal offender. In case of life imprisonment the perpetrator of the crime shall be condemned to four to ten years’ imprisonment, and in case of death penalty, he shall have to face eight to twenty years of imprisonment.
Article 24:Any member of village Islamic Councils has as his duty, as soon as he learns of cultivation of poppies or cannabis in the rural area, to notify the matter in writing to the alderman and the closest gendarmerie outpost or the Islamic Revolution Committee Corps.
The heads of the outpost or of the committee are required to report, immediately and simultaneously, to their higher authorities in the country, province and state, and to be present, together with the alderman, district officer or the representative of the village Islamic Council, at the premises of the cultivation and destroy it and to draw up a process-verbal to be forwarded, along with the accused, to competent judicial authorities.
Note: If the cultivation of poppies or cannabis is discovered in urban areas, the members of the municipality, the police, the committee or the Bassij members are required, as soon as they learn of the matter, to report it to the nearest Police station, the Committee or the Bassij outpost, and the concerned authorities shall take action together with the public prosecutor's representative, in accordance with the provisions of this article.
Article 25: If the persons referred to in article 24 and the note thereto refuse or fail, without any justifiable cause, to fulfil their duties, they shall be condemned for the first time to six months to one year of expulsion from government functions, and for the second time, to permanent dismissal from Government services.
Members of Islamic Councils also shall be, for the first time, for a period of six months up to one year, and for the second time, permanently divested of their membership of the Islamic Councils.
Article 26:Whoever places, in an attempt of accuse another person, narcotic drugs and the tools and equipment of their use in a locality, shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment attaching to the same offence.
Article 27:Anybody who, in an attempt to prosecute before judicial authorities intentionally, accuses another person, of any of the offences subject of this act, shall be sentenced to twenty to seventy four lashes.
Article 28:Any property earned through drug trafficking and the property belonging to escaping suspects, in case there are sufficient evidence justifying the confiscation, shall be confiscated by the Government. The said property shall not be subject to Principle 53 of the Constitution relating to public property.
Note: The vehicles which are confiscated from the smugglers during the armed conflicts, will be confiscated in the favour of the acting organization by the court.
Article 29: (amended on 17 Nov. 2001);The fines and other funds received through the enforcement of this act shall be imbrued into a centralized account that will be opened with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.
In order to provide the goals of the Anti-Narcotics campaign, the government considers some budget for the implementation programmes approved by the Drug Control Headquarters in the bill of budget annually.
Note: the approved budgets for each organization will be allocated by the organization of Programming and Management after drafting the description of projects and activities and also the approval of DCHQ and the agreements will be exchanged.
Article 30:Any vehicle transporting narcotic drugs shall be confiscated in favour of the government, and will be handed over to the organization in action with the approval of Drug Control Headquarters.
If the transportation of Narcotics has been done without the knowledge or permission of the owner of the vehicle, then the vehicle will be given back to the owner.
Note: All those who try to place and hide the Narcotics in the vehicles, will be considered as a Deputy in the crime and if no crime has happened, they will be sentenced to three to six months imprisonment and ten million to fifty million fine payment in cash.
Article 31:The accused who are not in a position to pay the entire or part of the cash fine under a sentence, shall have to be detained, in exchange of ten thousand Rials for each day in half-covered or uncovered prisons in occupational training centers. If during their stay in such centers, the behaviour of the convicted is satisfactory, at the discretion of the center's authorities the amount will be increased to twenty five thousand Rials daily.
Note 1: the instalment of fine payment after the imprisonment period by the authority responsible for enforcing of awards, is dependant on receiving bails of the same amount and also a guarantee by a third party for not more than three years.
Note 2: The imprisonment period other than the fine payment will not be more than ten years anyhow.
Article 32:The death sentences issued by virtue of this act shall be final and enforceable after the endorsement of the chairman of the Supreme Court or the prosecutor general.
In other cases, should the sentence be deemed probable, by the chairman of the supreme court or the prosecutor general, to contravene the law or the religious canon, or that the judge who pronounced the sentence is not competent, the chairman of the supreme court or the prosecutor general will be entitled to revise or quash the sentence however the existence of such entitlement shall not bar the sentence from being final and enforceable.
Article 33:In order to prevent addiction and campaign against Narcotics of any kind, and their production, trafficking and use, as well as other instances mentioned in the present act, a headquarters, presided over by the president, shall be established, where all the related executive and juridical operations shall be centred. The members of this headquarters shall be consisted of the following:
Note 1: The President can appoint a Representative to participate in the meetings of The Drug Control Headquarters.
Note 2: In order to prevent drug related crimes, the Government is entitled to allocate a budget and announce this budget to all the implementing organizations.
Article 34:Drug Control Headquarters is authorized to draft and compile executive by-laws in case of necessity.
Article 35:(omitted)
Article 36:In this law, wherever the properties of the perpetrator is confiscated except for the minimum for the living of his family, the court is obliged to mention the detailed specifications of all the properties along with the detailed list of all those which are considered as exception in the sentence or the amended sentence. Any violation of this article subject to disciplinary action and conviction of degree 4 and above.
Note: the courts are obliged to forward a copy of all such sentences to the Drug Control Headquarters.
Article 37: The period of temporary confinement shall not last more than four months. If during this period, the sentence is not given, then the authority which has issued the arrest warrant must cancel the arrest warrant unless there are legal grounds and other strong evidence to sustain the arrest warrant. In this case, the reasons and evidence for continuation of the warrant should be mentioned.
Article 38: In case there are mitigating circumstances, the court can decrease the punishment to half of the minimum original penalty. If there is no minimum penalty, then the same punishment will be reduced to half. The decreasing rate for life sentences will be fifteen years and for the death penalty, the Amnesty and Mitigation of Penalties Commission will be requested to approve nullification of death sentence.
Note: If the convicted offenders cooperate with the Police or the relevant agency acting in that specific case, and their cooperation results in discovering [trafficking] networks, the court that has issued the sentence may agree with the request of the Police or the relevant acting agency based on related evidence and documents, to reduce the penalty to half of what has already been issued.
Article 39 (added):In cases of aggravation of punishment resulting from recidivism, previous convictions or criminal records enforced according to the 1988 Anti-Narcotics Law shall also be taken into account.
Article 40 (added):If a person knowingly for the purpose of production or manufacture of narcotic drugs, produces, purchases, sells, preserves, transits, imports, exports or supplies Industrial and chemical substances such as Anhydride Acid, Antratylic Acid, Phenyl Acetic Acid, Acetyl Chloral, and other substances mentioned in the tables 1 and 2 annexed to article 12 of United Nations Convention against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Convention of 1988, with later amendments, and also be involved in the import, purchase, produce, use and keeping of Codeine and Methadone, he/she will be convicted to the penalties prescribed in Article 5 of Anti-Narcotics Law, taking into account and in proportion to the amount of substances in question.
Article 41: Production, purchase, sale, dispatch and keeping, importing, exporting, using and transporting of the prohibited substances are exceptionally authorized for medical and industrial purposes upon permission of Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education.
Article 42:The Judiciary is authorized to keep some of the drug related inmates in specific camps (under regular or hard conditions) instead of keeping them in the prisons.
Within one year [after entry into force of this Law], the Government should provide necessary funds and facilities and approve the required regulations to provide and supervise these camps.
Note1: The supervision of these camps will be with the Judiciary.
Note 2: The courts can specify confinement in the camps as the penalty instead of imprisonment.