Is Barbiturates legal in Yemen?
- Legal status
- Barbiturates are scheduled psychotropic prescription medicines under Yemen's narcotics and psychotropics law (regulated under the lower psychotropic provisions, Art. 45) — a class transposing the 1971 Convention.
- Consequences if caught
- Psychotropic trafficking draws imprisonment (Art. 45); possession/use is non-capital. Yemen's death penalty (Arts. 33–35) applies only to narcotic substances and Schedule-V plants — barbiturates sit in the lower psychotropic tier and are not death-eligible (enforcement is opaque amid the conflict).
- If prescribed or medical
- Phenobarbital is dispensed as a scheduled antiepileptic (a WHO Essential Medicine); the sedative-hypnotic barbiturates are tightly controlled.
- Documentation
- Carry a prescription and original packaging; confirm import rules where possible before travel.
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Yemen’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately — not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →