Is 4-HO-MET legal in United Arab Emirates?

Legal status

4-HO-MET is named in the tryptamines block of Schedule 5 of Decision No. 158 of 2025, at item 35, subitem 12. The entry is «4-HO-MET؛ 4-هيدروكسي-N-ميثيل-N-إيثيل تريبتامين», and the dossier records that the schedule carries both the abbreviation and the 4-Hydroxy MET form, rendering the chemical name as 3-{2-[Ethyl(methyl)amino]ethyl}-1H-indol-4-ol. Subitem 12 is two places along from subitem 7, which carries the acetate ester 4-AcO-DMT, so the block is enumerating individual hydroxy and acetoxy tryptamines rather than controlling a family by description. That is what makes the placement usable: it rests on a printed name and not on a structural argument about the 4-position. Schedule 5 puts the row in the Articles 10, 41 and 57 branch, with a Schedule 10 group 1 quantity band. The placement was read on 20 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Item 35, subitem 12 of Schedule 5 is inside one of the four schedule groups Article 57 names. The dossier records Article 57 as stating mandatory death for its trafficking or promotion trigger, and as stating no quantity, so the capital route on this row is not reached by crossing a weight. Schedule 10 gives the substance a group 1 band, and the dossier is explicit that the Schedule 10 bands do not gate the Article 57 route. Anyone reading a group 1 figure as the point at which death becomes available on this row has substituted a threshold rule for a schedule rule, and the article does not contain the threshold. Article 41 is the personal use route the dossier attaches to this branch, with no tariff stated.

If prescribed or medical

The single country level traveller fact the dossier carries is recorded at the modafinil row: a 268 entry ministry travellers list was checked and expressly not used as a schedule. Attached to this substance: 4-HO-MET is at Schedule 5, item 35, subitem 12, with no medicinal product, prescribing route or import permit recorded against it. The medical carriage question is deferred rather than inferred from the Schedule 5 branch.

Documentation

Nothing in the dossier documents a lawful route for 4-HO-MET, so no paperwork is set out for this row. What is recorded is the placement itself, which is the fact that governs. Provenance: the entry «4-HO-MET؛ 4-هيدروكسي-N-ميثيل-N-إيثيل تريبتامين» at item 35, subitem 12 was read on 20 September 2026, and the capital analysis for the row rests on Article 57 and not on the group 1 band.

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