Is 25I-NBOMe legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

25I-NBOMe is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, in the version of those schedules issued on 4 September 2026. The entry as printed reads «ان بي او مي كومبوند», a transliteration of NBOMe compound, under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. That is worth stating precisely rather than tidying: the schedule names the NBOMe compound group at the entry rather than spelling 25I-NBOMe out, and the reading applied here is that 25I-NBOMe is within the entry the schedule prints. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are the provisions cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current, so the September 2026 attachment is the operative list.

Consequences if caught

A Schedule II Category A placement puts 25I-NBOMe inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it: the conduct it names is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, together with the repeat promotion histories the article sets out. Death under Article 37(I) is a statutory ta'zir penalty and it is not mandatory, because Article 37(II) gives the court the power to reduce it; where the court does reduce, the substitute is a prison term of not less than fifteen years with the lashes and the fine the article states. No express life imprisonment wording was found anywhere in M/39. Articles 38 to 41 are cited as the tiers below Article 37 for this placement. The identification point matters practically as well as legally, because NBOMe compounds are commonly sold as LSD and LSD is separately scheduled in the same Category A.

If prescribed or medical

The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. A controlled medicine may be brought in only under a clearance obtained from the SFDA before travel through its Controlled Drugs System, and that advance electronic clearance is required rather than optional. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance. 25I-NBOMe sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it, so the country level permit rule is the whole of the answer here and the Category A placement is what it attaches to. Nothing in this cell should be read as saying a clearance would issue for 25I-NBOMe.

Documentation

Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. The permit mechanics stated here are the SFDA traveller rules recorded on the current live cell and were not re-derived from the instrument in this pass. The Schedule II Category A placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Saudi Arabia’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.