Is Ayahuasca legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

Ayahuasca is reached in Saudi Arabia through its actual components rather than through the name of the brew. Banisteriopsis caapi, the vine, is expressly named in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule attached to the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, in the version issued on 4 September 2026, printed as «نبات (Banisteriopsis Caapi)». Its harmala alkaloid constituent harmine sits at Schedule II Category E, under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Where the preparation also contains DMT, and a traditional brew ordinarily does, DMT is separately scheduled at Schedule II Category A. Three entries, three routes, and the brew does not need its own listing for any of them to apply. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.

Consequences if caught

Article 37(I) is available through any of the three entries, and the article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it: the conduct named 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, and both cultivation of the vine and extraction from it are limbs of that article. 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. A brew that a laboratory reports as DMT positive engages the Category A entry as well as the plant one.

If prescribed or medical

The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule. 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. Ayahuasca's components sit inside the narcotics law at Schedule IV and at Schedule II Categories A and E, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing them was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue. Religious or ceremonial use is not a recorded exemption in these schedules and none was found.

Documentation

There is nothing to carry for this preparation, because no lawful import route was established for it. Dried vine, cut root bark and a bottled brew are all reached by the entries above, and a customs declaration does not convert a prohibited plant into a permitted one. For any controlled medicine, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling, carry the clearance and not the prescription alone, bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, 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 IV and Schedule II entries were 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.