Article 1 of Law on Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

In applying the provisions of this Decree-Law, the following words and expressions shall have the meanings indicated opposite each of them, unless the context requires another meaning: - Ministry Ministry of Health. - Minister: Minister of Health. - Licence: Permission issued by the Minister or his authorised delegate to grant a person or entity the right to deal in narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, or chemical precursors, for a specified purpose or purposes. Competent entity the entity concerned in the Ministry that monitors licences for narcotic and psychotropic substances and preparations, and chemical precursors. - Narcotic substances: Every natural substance or composition of substances, preparations or plants and their seeds listed in Schedules Nos. (1, 3, 4, 5) of the first group annexed to this Decree-Law, as well as the substances and preparations listed in Schedule No. (2) of the same group if the proportion of the narcotic substance therein exceeds the proportions specified in the latter Schedule. - Psychotropic substances: Every natural substance or composition of substances or preparations listed in Schedules Nos. (1, 2, 3, 4) of the second group annexed to this Decree-Law. - Chemical precursors: Every natural substance or composition that may be used to manufacture, prepare or produce narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, listed in Schedules Nos. (1, 2) of the third group annexed to this Decree-Law. - Preparation: Every substance, solution or mixture, whatever its physical or pharmaceutical form, containing one or more narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations and taken in the form of doses. - Production: Separating narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations from their raw material or plant origin. - Manufacture: All processes, other than production, by which narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations are obtained, including: purification, extraction synthesis mixing or converting a narcotic or psychotropic substance into any other form thereof. - Cultivation every act of sowing with the intention of germination, or of caring for the plant from the beginning of its growth until its maturity and harvesting, including dealing with its seeds or any part of the plant at any stage of its growth, through which one or more narcotic substances are obtained. - Import: Bringing narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, or chemical precursors, into the country through official entry points in accordance with the procedures stipulated in this Decree-Law. Law Index 394 Home Page Law on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 Concerning Combating Narcotics Psychotropic Substances and Regulating Their Use and Trade - Export: Taking narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, or chemical precursors, out of the country through official exit points in accordance with the procedures stipulated in this Decree-Law. - Transport: The movement and passage of narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations within the country, in accordance with the procedures stipulated in this Decree. - Bringing in: Bringing narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations into the country in circumstances other than those stipulated by law. - Smuggling: Taking narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations out of the country in circumstances other than those stipulated by law. - Promotion: Disseminating or distributing narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations without consideration to two or more persons for the purpose of consumption, without a medical prescription. - Barter: Exchanging narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations for any assets or property, without using money as a means of payment, or in return for providing any service or benefit whatsoever, or performing or refraining from an act. - Possession: A person's connection, for his own account or for another's account, with narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, directly or through an intermediary, and the extension of his authority over them in any manner, even if those substances are not under his physical control. - Addict: Anyone suffering from an urgent and recurring desire manifested in the compulsive and excessive use of narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, with withdrawal symptoms appearing upon cessation of taking those substances or preparations, and loss of self-control, in accordance with approved medical criteria. - User: Anyone who has taken narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations, even once, without a medical prescription. - Committal: Arresting an addict or user of narcotic or psychotropic substances or preparations and forcibly admitting him to a rehabilitation centre, in execution of a criminal judgment or a decision of the Public Prosecution. - Rehabilitation centre: A licensed medical and psychological centre specialising in the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts and users of narcotic or psychotropic preparations or substances. Persons committed thereto may not leave except in the circumstances and under the conditions specified in this Decree-Law. - Centre