Is 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

7-hydroxymitragynine is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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 schedule prints «ميرتاجينين و-7 هيدروكسي ميرتاجينين», mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. The metabolite is named in the same entry as the parent alkaloid rather than left to be inferred from it, which is the difference between a placement that survives argument and one that does not. Category E is the Kingdom's own domestic list, so the placement does not depend on the substance appearing in any international table. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.

Consequences if caught

Article 37(I) is available against a Schedule II Category E substance, and it states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in the article: 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 it 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 kratom plant is separately a prohibited plant under Schedule IV, so plant material and isolated alkaloid are reached by different entries and both are reached.

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. 7-hydroxymitragynine sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it. A supplement bought lawfully elsewhere is not a medicine for this purpose and carries no permit with it.

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 E placement for 7-hydroxymitragynine 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.