In China, weed is divided into two categories: industrial hemp and marijuana, a kind of narcotic drugs.
Article 2 of the Regulations on the License for the Cultivation and Processing of Industrisal Hemp in Yunnan Province issued and implemented by Yunnan Provincial Government (“Regulations”) clearly classifies and defines industrial hemp and drug marijuana, which states that “Industrial Hemp” as mentioned in this Regulations means the original plants of the genus cannabinoids and their extract products containing less than 0.3% of tetrahydrocannabinol (percentage of dry matter by weight), and where the content of tetrahydrocannabinol is higher than 0.3%, it will apply narcotic drug control laws and regulations.” Currently, according to the “Regulations” and the Regulations on Narcotic Drug Control of Yunnan Province, only units or individuals who meet the conditions required by competent authorities will be allowed to apply to the public security organs above the county level in Yunnan province the licenses on cultivation and processing of the industrial hemp according to specific requirements of the Regulations. Industrial hemp is used widely, including at least in the fields of textile, paper, food, medicine, hygiene, daily chemicals, leather, automobile, architecture, decoration and packaging, and it is the classic material for production.
Drugs Prohibition Law of the People’s Republic of China defines the narcotic drug as below:
“For the purposes of this Law, narcotic drugs include opium, heroin, methylaniline (ice), morphine, marijuana, cocaine and other narcotic and psychotropic substances that are addictive and are kept under control according to State regulations.” For referencing the narcotic drugs, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the Opinions on Several Issues concerning the Standardization of Narcotic Drugs Name Descriptions, and it provides that “narcotic drugs containing tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabinol and other natural cannabinoids shall be respectively described according to the characteristics of their outer appearances as marijuana leaf, hashish, marijuana oil, marijuana smoke, etc.”
In the Administration Regulations on Prohibited Items for Delivery issued by the State Post Office, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Security jointly, marijuana, as a kind of narcotic drugs, is clearly listed in the guide list of prohibited items for delivery. In the list of Prohibited Items for Exiting and/or Entering into the People’s Republic of China issued by the General Administration of Customs of China, marijuana is explicitly listed as prohibited from entering and exiting the country, and even transit passengers are not allowed to carry it.
Marijuana is also explicitly listed as a prohibited substance in the physical or medical examination on some of the persons with special status. For example, the State General Administration of Sports has issued the Interim Regulations on the Prohibition of the Use of Stimulants in Sports and combined with the List of Banned Drugs and Methods stipulated by the International Olympic Committee, athletes are prohibited from using stimulants containing marijuana in China. One of the body check standards for civil aviation personnel issued by the Ministry of Transport is the absence of medical history or clinical diagnosis on mental illness which will affect the safe performance of duties due to the use of or dependence on marijuana.
China further prohibits the carrying, possession, transportation, trading, smoking, injection, storage or any other actions of narcotic drugs. Different narcotic drug related illegal acts will be regulated and punished by different laws and regulations according to their nature and degree of violation.
The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Penalties for the Violation of Public Security Administration stipulates following penalties for different narcotic drug related acts:
“Article 71 A person who commits any of the following acts shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days and may, in addition, be fined not more than CNY3,000; and if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be detained for not more than five days or be fined not more than CNY500:
1. Illegally cultivating opium poppies of less than 500 plants or a small number of mother plants of other narcotic drugs;
2. Illegally buying, selling, transporting, carrying or possessing a small quantity of the seeds or seedlings of the mother plants of narcotic drugs, such as the opium poppy, which have not been inactivated; or
3. Illegally transporting, buying, selling, storing or using a small quantity of opium poppy shells.
A person who commits the act specified in Subparagraph (1) of the preceding paragraph uproots the plants, of his own accord, before they are ripe shall not be penalized.
Article 72 A person who commits any of the following acts shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days and may, in addition, be fined not more than CNY2,000; and if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be detained for not more than five days or be fined not more than CNY500:
1. Illegally possessing opium of less than 200 grams, heroin or methamphetamine of less than 10 grams or a small amount of other narcotic drugs;
2. Providing another person with narcotic drugs;
3. Ingesting or injecting narcotic drugs; or
4. Coercing a medical worker to prescribe narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or cheating the worker into doing the same
Article 73 A person who instigates, lures or cheats another person to or into drug ingestion or injection shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days and shall, in addition, be fined not less than CNY500 but not more than CNY2,000.”
Acts more serious than the above mentioned may be classified as narcotic drug related crimes. The Criminal Law of the people’s Republic of China (“Criminal Law”) also defines narcotic drugs and defines marijuana as a kind of narcotic drugs.
Article 357 The term “narcotic drugs” as used in this Law means opium, heroin, methylaniline (ice), morphine, marijuana, cocaine and other narcotic and psychotropic substances that can make people addicted to their use and are controlled under State regulations.
The quantity of narcotic drugs smuggled, trafficked in, transported, manufactured or illegally possessed shall be calculated on the basis of the verified amount and shall not be converted according to its purity.
Besides, special section in the Criminal Law is set for the crimes of smuggling, trafficking, transporting and manufacturing narcotic drugs, and according to the 3rd bunch of Provisions issued by the Supreme people’s Procuratorate on the standards for the Ministry of Public Security to File Criminal Cases (the “Criminal Case Filing Standards” also the “Standards”), following provisions clearly define the criminal case filing standards for narcotic drug related crimes involving marijuana:
In accordance with Article 2 of the Criminal Case Filing Standards, knowing a material is a kind of narcotic drug and violates the laws of the State and the provisions of the competent State authorities, possessing, carrying, hiding or otherwise possessing more than 1,000 grams of marijuana oil and more than 2,000 grams of marijuana resin or the marijuana leaf and more than 30 kilograms of marijuana smoke, it constitutes the standard for filing the criminal case under the crime of illegal possession of narcotic drugs as stipulated in Article 348 of the Criminal Law;
According to Article 7 of the Criminal Case Filing Standards, the criminal case filing standard for the crime of illicit cultivation of narcotic drugs as stipulated in Article 351 of the Criminal Law shall be constituted by the illegal cultivation of marijuana for more than 5,000 plants;
Article 8 of the Criminal Case Filing Standards stipulates that the illegal sale, transport, carriage, and possession of marijuana seeds for more than 50, 000 grams, or marijuana seedlings for more than 50, 000 plants will reach the case filing standard for the crime of illegal sale, transportation, and carrying of narcotic drugs as stipulated in Article 352 of the Criminal Law.
Section 7 of Chapter VI of the Criminal Law clearly stipulates that different narcotic drug related crimes will be subject to different fine penalties, different types of freedom punishments and even the death penalty.
To sum up, Chinese law has strict control over both industrial hemp and narcotic drug marijuana, and special attention should be paid by units or individuals that are engaged in or wish to engage in marijuana business activities.