Tajikistan
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| Tajikistan | |
|---|---|
| Тоҷикистон (Tojikiston) | |
| |
| Iskanderkul | |
| Capital | Dushanbe |
| Continent | Asia |
| Subregion | Central Asia |
| Cannabis Status | |
| Legal Status | Illegal |
| Status Since | 1999 |
| Enforcement | Yearly Kuknor operation against wild and sown narcotic plants |
| Documentation | |
| Growing Regions | 0 |
| Growing Areas | 0 |
| Accessions | 1 |
Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia. Surveys by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 1998 and 1999 found 3.2 hectares of cannabis, 95 per cent of it in Leninabad, today's Sughd Region. The wild plants had very little THC and traffickers rarely gathered them; most cultivation was of a few plants for the grower's own use.[1] The national control list calls the plant бангдона (bangdona).[2]
In 2025 the Drug Control Agency counted 3 tonnes 811 kilograms of cannabis-group drugs among the 5 tonnes 280 kilograms of drugs seized, 72 per cent of the whole; 96 per cent of the cannabis group was hashish.[3]: 20 The agency coordinates a yearly operation against drug smuggling and illicit trade, Kuknor; in 2025 it ran from 1 June to 30 November and found and destroyed 566,538 wild narcotic plants.[3]: 27–28
Geography
In 2006 Tajikistan reported 30.95 hectares of wild cannabis and 1.24 hectares of illicit cultivation.[1] In the first stage of Kuknor-2021, wild bangdona was found and destroyed, 30,065 plants in all, on idle land in the Shughnon and Vanj districts of Gorno-Badakhshan; in Sughd it was found on farmland of the Unji community in the Bobojon Ghafurov district and at the village of Tabushin in the Mastchoh district.[4]: 32
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris holds a sheet that G. Capus gathered on 3 July 1881 at Marguib, in the "vallée du Jagnaou".[5] A sheet at the California Academy of Sciences, gathered by G. N. Nepli on 4 June 1967 near Samgar in the southern foothills of the Karamazar mountains, comes from an irrigated farming zone.[6] T. N. Ulyanova, of the herbarium of the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry, collected on 15 July 1969 in the Isfara district. Her sheet in Vienna, from the village of Gorky at 1,150 metres, is labelled Cannabis sativa var. spontanea;[7] one in Lund is labelled Chorkuh.[8]
John McPartland and Ernest Small place Tajikistan within the range of herbarium specimens of a wild-type phenotype, which they assign to Cannabis sativa subsp. indica var. asperrima. The range follows an arc of mountains through the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan.[9]
Agriculture
Ole Olufsen, describing Karategin, then a province of the Emirate of Bukhara, listed hemp among the crops of its irrigated land with millet, lucerne, tobacco, melons, turnips and cabbage.[10]: 129 A plant sampled in a phylogeographic study had been collected in a wheat field in Tajikistan in 1969.[11] The cultivation of narcotic plants is a state monopoly, open only to state organisations under licence and within a state quota.[12]
Cannabis in Tajikistan
The national list of 2020 names the plants of the bangdona kind (Cannabis) and four preparations: бангдона (bangdona), қатрони бангдона (cannabis resin), ҳашиш (hashish) and равғани бангдона (cannabis oil).[2] The Tajik names for Cannabis sativa in the Flora of the USSR (1936) are bang and anasha.[13] The agency's review of 2007 calls the cannabis found growing in plots бангдонаи ҳиндӣ (bangdonai hindī, Indian cannabis) and the wild plant бангдонаи худрӯй (bangdonai khudrūy).[14]: 15
History
Before 1929
Residues of cannabinol, a breakdown product of THC, on wooden braziers of 2,400 to 2,600 years ago show cannabis burned at the Jirzankal cemetery, on the Chinese side of the Pamirs in the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang.[15] McPartland and Small list herbarium specimens of the domesticated var. afghanica from the 19th and early 20th centuries from Turkestan, Tajikistan among its parts. They write that these plants were grown for sieved hashish (nasha, charas) and sometimes for seed oil.[9]
Soviet Tajikistan (1929–1991)
After Tajikistan became a union republic in 1929, the criminal code of the Uzbek SSR still applied there until 1935; its article 184 punished the illegal making, keeping and sale of narcotics for gain with up to three years' imprisonment.[16]: 19–20 After the Soviet decree of 25 April 1974 against drug addiction, article 240 of the Tajik SSR's code was rewritten to cover narcotics alone.[16]: 25 The sowing of hemp on citizens' household plots had been banned before 1987. That year a Soviet decree, followed by a decree of the republic's Presidium of 30 July 1987 amending its code, extended criminal liability to the keeping of small doses and to the illegal sowing of poppy and hemp.[16]: 28, 142
Independent Tajikistan (since 1991)
Tajikistan acceded to the 1988 convention against illicit traffic on 6 May 1996. It acceded to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended in 1972 and to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances on 26 March 1997.[17][18][19] The Criminal Code dates from 21 May 1998.[20] On 27 April 1999, in Vienna, the President of Tajikistan and the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations signed a protocol on a drug control agency, which a presidential decree, No. 1248, set up under the president.[21] The law on narcotic drugs followed on 10 December 1999.[22]
Cultivation
The International Narcotics Control Board reported increases in cannabis cultivation in Tajikistan in 2022.[23]: 115 In Kuknor-2007 the republic's law enforcement found 44 cases of the growing of Indian cannabis, 1,393 plants on 0.59 hectares in all. It destroyed 58,357 wild cannabis plants on 29.6 hectares.[14]: 15[24]: 92
In a phylogeographic study of herbarium and fresh material, the sample from a Tajik wheat field showed mixed ancestry without much outbreeding. Samples from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and north-western China blended an Iranian Plateau subgroup with one of Eurosiberia and western Mongolia.[11]
Preparations and consumption
Trade and commerce
The Drug Control Agency writes that Tajikistan stands in the front line against the smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan into Tajikistan and on to other states.[3]: 3 It linked a sharp rise in seizures of the cannabis group in 2010 to high production of cannabis drugs in Afghanistan. In 2013 those seizures reached 5,428.627 kilograms, 12.3 per cent more than in 2012; they made up 81.2 per cent of all drugs seized.[26]: 13
Tajik law enforcement seized 1,305.5 kilograms of cannabis in 2006, 86 per cent of it in Khatlon Region.[25]: 26 The figure was 3 tonnes 126 kilograms in 2017.[27] In 2021 Sughd Region seized 335.5 kilograms of drugs, 310 of them of the cannabis group.[4]: 57 Seizures of cannabis rose by 20.3 per cent in 2022.[23]: 115 In 2025 they were 4.9 per cent lower than in 2024.[3]: 20
Legal status
The law on narcotic drugs of 1999 includes among narcotic drugs the plants classified in the international conventions and the national list. It defines cultivation as the sowing and tending of such plants and makes it a state monopoly, carried out by state organisations under licence and within the state quota.[12] The national list approved on 27 February 2020 controls every kind of bangdona plant containing any isomer of tetrahydrocannabinol.[2]
Article 204 of the Criminal Code punishes the illegal cultivation of plants containing narcotics. Cultivation of a petty size carries a fine of 200 to 500 calculation indicators or up to two years' imprisonment; of a small size, two to five years.[20] Repeat, group or large-scale cultivation carries five to eight years; especially large or organised cultivation, eight to twelve years; the sizes are counted in plants.[28] Making or keeping drugs of a petty size without intent to sell carries a fine of 100 to 500 indicators or up to two years.[20] In the gravest cases, among them especially large amounts, trafficking with intent to sell carries 12 to 20 years with confiscation of property.[28]
Enforcement
The Drug Control Agency has organised and coordinated the Kuknor operation since 2000.[3]: 27 In 2021 it ran in two stages to 30 November; in the first, customs officers in Gorno-Badakhshan and Sughd found the wild plants of Shughnon, Vanj, Bobojon Ghafurov and Mastchoh.[4]: 32 In 2006 Tajikistan reported 32.19 hectares of cannabis eradicated, the whole area of wild growth and cultivation it had reported; the UNODC saw reason to doubt such success across the region.[25]: 24
Growing Regions
Landrace cannabis growing regions currently documented on the wiki: No growing regions documented yet.
Growing Areas
Landrace cannabis growing areas currently documented on the wiki: No growing areas documented yet.
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Priority | Collected | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCC-TJK-UNK-0120000001 | 2000 DCC Shirin Gol Reproduction |
Conservation status
Tajik herbarium sheets from 1881 to 1969 are held in Paris, San Francisco, Vienna and Lund.[5][6][7][8] McPartland and Small called the collection and conservation of germplasm of the indigenous landraces of Central and South Asia, in their centres of diversity, "urgently needed".[9] The Kuknor operations destroy wild plants.[3]: 28
Recent news
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See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for Central Asia (April 2008). Illicit drug trends in Central Asia (PDF) (Report). Paris Pact Initiative. p. 23.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Рӯйхати миллии воситаҳои нашъадор, моддаҳои психотропӣ ва прекурсорҳои онҳо(Қарори Ҳукумати Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон No. 121), 27 February 2020.Tajikistan.Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Агентии назорати маводи нашъаовари назди Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон (2026). Шарҳи вазъи маводи нашъаовар дар Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон дар соли 2025 (PDF) (Report) (in тоҷикӣ). Dushanbe. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Агентии назорати маводи нашъаовари назди Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон (2022). Шарҳи вазъи маводи нашъаовар дар Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон дар соли 2021 [Review of the drug situation in the Republic of Tajikistan in 2021] (PDF) (Report) (in тоҷикӣ and русский). Dushanbe. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Occurrence 731719498: Cannabis sativa L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Occurrence 6408968513: Cannabis L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Occurrence 1898923949: Cannabis sativa var. spontanea Vavilov". GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Occurrence 2012690265: Cannabis sativa L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 McPartland, J.M.; Small, E. (2020). "A classification of endangered high-THC cannabis (Cannabis sativa subsp. indica) domesticates and their wild relatives". PhytoKeys. 144: 81–112. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.144.46700.
- ↑ Olufsen, O. (1911). The Emir of Bokhara and his country: journeys and studies in Bokhara (with a chapter on my voyage on the Amu Darya to Khiva). Copenhagen: Gyldendal, Nordisk Forlag – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Balant, M.; Vitales, D.; Wang, Z.; Barina, Z.; et al. (20 October 2024). "Integrating target capture with whole genome sequencing of recent and natural history collections to explain the phylogeography of wild-growing and cultivated Cannabis". bioRxiv. doi:10.1101/2024.10.17.618884.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Дар бораи воситаҳои нашъадор, моддаҳои психотропӣ ва прекурсорҳо(Қонуни Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон No. 873), 10 December 1999, arts. 1 and 4, consolidated text with amendments to 20 June 2019.Tajikistan.Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ Komarov, V.L., ed. (1970) [1936]. Flora of the U.S.S.R. Vol. 5. Translated by N. Landau. Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations. pp. 302–304 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Агентии назорати маводи нашъаовари назди Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон (2008). Шарҳи вазъи маводи нашъаовар дар Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон дар соли 2007 (PDF) (Report) (in тоҷикӣ). Dushanbe. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ Ren, Meng; Tang, Zihua; Wu, Xinhua; Spengler, Robert; Jiang, Hongen; Yang, Yimin; Boivin, Nicole (2019). "The origins of cannabis smoking: chemical residue evidence from the first millennium BCE in the Pamirs". Science Advances. 5 (6) eaaw1391. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaw1391.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Yuldasheva, G.M. (2026). Уголовная ответственность за незаконный оборот наркотических средств и психотропных веществ по законодательству Республики Таджикистан (PDF) (Candidate of Legal Sciences thesis) (in русский). Dushanbe: Tajik National University.
- ↑ "United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances". United Nations Treaty Collection. Chapter VI, 19. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961: status". United Nations Treaty Collection. United Nations. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "Convention on Psychotropic Substances". United Nations Treaty Collection. Chapter VI, 16. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Уголовный кодекс Республики Таджикистан(No. 574), 21 May 1998, arts. 201 and 204, consolidated text with amendments to 6 October 2008.Tajikistan.Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ Agency on Drug Control under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan (12 December 2020). "Протокол байни Президенти Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон ва муовини Котиби генералии СММ дар бораи ташкили Агентии назорати маводи нашъаовар". akn.tj (in тоҷикӣ). Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ "Tajikistan: narcotic and psychotropic substances and precursors". Import Licensing. World Trade Organization. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 International Narcotics Control Board (2024). Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2023 (PDF) (Report). Vienna: United Nations. ISBN 978-92-1-003052-6. E/INCB/2023/1.
- ↑ Sharipov, A. (2009). "Наркотизация в современном Таджикистане". Россия и мусульманский мир (in русский) (7).
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for Central Asia (April 2008). Illicit drug trends in Central Asia (PDF) (Report). Paris Pact Initiative.
- ↑ Агентство по контролю за наркотиками при Президенте Республики Таджикистан (2014). Обзор наркоситуации в Республике Таджикистан в 2013 году (PDF) (Report) (in русский and тоҷикӣ). Dushanbe. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. "Four and a half tons of illicit drugs were seized in Tajikistan in 2017, reports Drug Control Agency". UNODC. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Уголовный кодекс Республики Таджикистан(No. 574), 21 May 1998, arts. 200, 201 and 204, with amendments to 17 June 2026.Tajikistan.Retrieved 13 October 2026.