Are Benzodiazepines legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

Benzodiazepines are a class and not a molecule, and in Saudi Arabia the class resolves member by member rather than in one line. The schedules 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, name the members individually, printing «ألبرازولام؛ كلونازيبام؛ ديازيبام؛ لورازيبام؛ نيميتازيبام», alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam and nimetazepam, under «فئة (د):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category D psychotropic substances. Unlike the barbiturate row in this table, this class can be answered, because each of those members has its own row here and each of them landed in the same place: Schedule II Category D. Etizolam, which is a thienodiazepine rather than a true benzodiazepine but is used as one, is separately scheduled at Schedule II Category D on its own row in this table although it is not among the five names printed in the entry quoted above. So every member of this class that this table covers is a Category D psychotropic, and that convergence is measured across six rows rather than assumed from the class name.

Consequences if caught

Every member of this class that this table resolves is a Schedule II Category D substance, so Article 37(I) is available against each of them, and the article states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter, so a prescribed anxiolytic and a Category A narcotic enter the same provision: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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. A benzodiazepine not named above should still be checked on its own name before this answer is relied on for it.

If prescribed or medical

The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and this class is where the distinction catches the largest number of ordinary travellers. 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 prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival. Each of these members sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category D substance, so the clearance question governs, and it should be applied for on the name of the specific active ingredient rather than on the class.

Documentation

Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, naming the specific benzodiazepine as the active ingredient, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the 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 D placements for alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam, nimetazepam and etizolam 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.