Are Barbiturates legal in Egypt?

Also known as: barbs

Legal status

Controlled in Egypt mostly in Table 3, with three barbiturates in Table 1. «الجدول رقم (٣) - المواد التي تخضع لبعض قيود الجواهر المخدرة», Table 3, the substances subject to some of the restrictions on narcotic substances, Section 3, «الجدول رقم (٣) - القسم الثالث». Items 3 «Barbital», 4 «Pentobarbital», 7 «Cyclobarbital», 10 «Phenobarbital» and 12 «Methylphenobarbital» (PDF page 23, gazette page 24) and 34 «Allobarbital» and 35 «Butobarbital» (PDF page 25, gazette page 26). This is a class row and Egypt lists members, not the class. Three barbiturates are in Table 1 Section 2 and are narcotic substances under Article 1: «Amobarbital» item 15 (PDF page 11, gazette page 12), «Butalbital» item 40 (PDF page 13, gazette page 14) and «Secobarbital» item 62 (PDF page 15, gazette page 16). The earlier statement that barbiturates sit outside the narcotic tables is not borne out for those three. A barbiturate printed in neither table is not answered by this row. The earlier citation of MoH Decree 301/1976 under Law 182/1960 as Schedule IV is superseded, because Decision 44 replaced every table. This is the position under Ministry of Health and Population Decision 44 of 2026, which replaced every table annexed to Law 182/1960, published in Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya issue 39 (continued, c) on 17 February 2026 and in force from publication, as amended by Decision 242 of 2026, in Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya issue 179 of 17 August 2026 and in force the next day, replaced item 12 of Table 1 Section 1(b), the phenethylamine group, and added items 57 to 61 to Table 3 Section 3, four alkyl nitrites and «Cannabidiol (CBD)». Decision 44's preamble cites the Supreme Constitutional Court's judgment of 16 February 2026 in case 33 of judicial year 47, read on the court's own server on 3 October 2026, which held «بعدم دستورية قرار رئيس هيئة الدواء المصرية رقم 600 لسنة 2023 باستبدال الجداول الملحقة بقرار رئيس الجمهورية بالقانون رقم 182 لسنة 1960 في شأن مكافحة المخدرات وتنظيم استعمالها والاتجار فيها», striking Egyptian Drug Authority chairman's Decision 600 of 2023, and «بسقوط قرارات رئيس هيئة الدواء المصرية السابقة واللاحقة على القرار المقضي بعدم دستوريته، الصادرة في شأن تعديل الجداول الملحقة بقرار رئيس الجمهورية بالقانون المشار إليه», so that every earlier and later decision of the Authority's chairman amending the tables fell with it. Decision 44 and Decision 242 are decisions of the Minister of Health and Population, as their own first pages state, not of the Authority's chairman, so the judgment does not reach them. The Egyptian Drug Authority laws index read on 3 October 2026 lists no amendment to the tables later than Decision 242, which does not rule out one made since. Decision 44's preamble cites the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances; the Convention itself was not read for this cell.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: death for amobarbital, butalbital and secobarbital, which are in Table 1; none for the barbiturates listed in Table 3, among them phenobarbital, which are in Table 3. Article 1 of the Anti-Narcotics Law, Law 182/1960, makes Table 1 the narcotic substances and excepts the Table 2 preparations: «تعتبر جواهر مخدرة فى تطبيق أحكام هذا القانون المواد المبينة فى الجدول رقم (١) الملحق به، ويستثنى منها المستحضرات المبينة بالجدول رقم (٢)». For the Table 3 members: Article 33 and Article 34, which carry the death penalty, and Articles 35, 37, 38(1) and 38(2), which carry the aggravated imprisonment terms, are written for narcotic substances, with Articles 33, 37 and 38 also reaching Table 5 plants, and Article 39, which carries imprisonment, is written for narcotic substances too; none of them reaches a Table 3 substance. Article 44, as replaced by Law 122/1989, reads «يعاقب بالحبس مدة لا تقل عن سنة ولا تجاوز خمس سنوات وبغرامة لا تقل عن ألفى جنيه ولا تجاوز خمسة آلاف جنيه» for anyone who produces, extracts, separates, manufactures, imports, exports or possesses with intent to trade any substance in Table 3 outside the cases the law authorises, so one to five years and a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 pounds, with the substance confiscated in every case. Article 45 punishes «أية مخالفة أخرى لأحكام هذا القانون أو القرارات المنفذة له» by imprisonment of at least three months and a fine of up to 2,000 pounds, or either. For the Table 1 members, in its second section: Under Articles 33 to 45 as replaced by Law 122/1989: Article 33 punishes unlicensed import or export, and production or manufacture for trade, by death and a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 pounds. Article 34 punishes possession, purchase, sale, delivery or transport with intent to trade by death or life imprisonment and the same fine. Each of them is in the second section, so the death only case of Article 34 that turns on the substance, cocaine, heroin and the first section, does not apply to it, though the paragraph's other cases still make the penalty death, among them using a person under 21 and offending near a school or place of worship. Article 38(1) punishes possession without intent to trade or to use by aggravated imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 to 200,000 pounds. Article 37 punishes possession for personal use by aggravated imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 50,000 pounds; for a person proven to be an addict the court may order treatment in a sanatorium instead, though not after an earlier sentence. Article 39 punishes knowing use in premises prepared for use by imprisonment of at least one year and a fine of 1,000 to 3,000 pounds. Each of these articles reaches anyone who commits the act and makes no exception for a foreign national, and none of Articles 33 to 39 states a minimum quantity. Law 19/2020 bars conditional release for a conviction under Law 182/1960 other than the Article 37 felony. Law 95/2003, Article 2, abolished hard labour «أينما وردت», wherever it appears, in the Penal Code or any other law, putting «السجن المؤبد», life imprisonment, in place of life hard labour and «السجن المشدد», aggravated imprisonment, in place of hard labour for a term; Article 3 of the same Law replaced Penal Code Article 14, under which aggravated imprisonment runs from three to fifteen years unless the law provides otherwise. The penalties above are named as they stand after that Law, although Law 122/1989 wrote them as hard labour.

If prescribed or medical

Phenobarbital is a Table 3 medicine and amobarbital, butalbital and secobarbital are Table 1 narcotic substances under Law 182/1960. The live cell's description of phenobarbital as a WHO Essential Medicine antiepileptic is carried, not re-read, and the dispensing rules were not read for this cell.

Documentation

Carry a prescription and keep medicines in original packaging; declare controlled medicines, undocumented psychotropics have led to arrests.

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