Is Cathinone legal in Jordan?

Legal status

Cathinone is a psychotropic substance under Law No. 23 of 2016, the Jordanian narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances law, and that is a defined term rather than a description. Article 2 provides «المؤثرات العقلية: كل مادة طبيعية أو تركيبية من المواد المدرجة في الجداول ذوات الارقام (5) و(6) و(7) و(8) و(9) الملحقة بهذا القانون.», psychotropic substances being every natural or synthetic substance listed in Schedules 5 to 9 attached to this Law. Cathinone is expressly listed at Schedule 5, printed «الجدول رقم (5): كاثينون», and it is the natural alkaloid of the khat leaf rather than a laboratory product. It should not be collapsed into the broader chemistry of the synthetic cathinones: mephedrone, 3-MMC, methylone and MDPV are each separately and individually listed at Schedule 6, and the parent compound's entry is not what carries them. Cathine, the related alkaloid that also occurs in khat, sits at Schedule 7 again. Schedules are not frozen in the enacted text. Article 37 provides «لمجلس الوزراء بناء على تنسيب الوزير إجراء تعديل على أي من الجداول الملحقة بهذا القانون بحذف أي مادة منه أو إضافة أي مادة أخرى اليه أو تعديل النسب أو المواصفات أو الشروط الخاصة والمتعلقة بأي منها على ان يتم نشر ذلك في الجريدة الرسمية.», which is how new members of this rapidly growing family are added.

Consequences if caught

Cathinone's Schedule 5 placement makes it a psychotropic substance for this Law, which puts it inside articles 19 and 20 and up to the death penalty article 20 states in the words «يعاقب بالإعدام». Three articles stack. Article 19(a) is the trafficking provision and its opening words are «يعاقب بالأشغال الشاقة المؤقتة مدة لا تقل عن خمس عشرة سنة وبغرامة لا تقل عن عشرة آلاف دينار ولا تزيد على عشرين ألف دينار كل من أقدم على أي فعل من الافعال التالية بقصد الاتجار», temporary hard labour of not less than fifteen years and a fine of ten thousand to twenty thousand Jordanian dinars for the listed dealing conduct committed with intent to traffic. Article 19(b) then provides «تكون العقوبة الأشغال الشاقة المؤبدة», and the indicative verb makes life imprisonment mandatory once a listed aggravator is proved: repeat offending, the status of a specified drug control or supervisory official, or committing the offence with or through a minor. Death under article 20 is mandatory in the same way, but only where an article 19 offence carries the specified international drug gang connection or the listed international criminal activity circumstances. Quantity is not the trigger anywhere in this structure, since neither article states a weight threshold. Because the alkaloid occurs naturally in khat leaf, this entry is also one of the two constituent routes by which that plant is reached.

If prescribed or medical

There is no prescribing route for cathinone in Jordan to describe. It is controlled as a psychotropic substance at Schedule 5 of Law No. 23 of 2016 and has no dispensed medical use there. The structural point is that the trafficking offence at article 19(a) is defined by the words «بقصد الاتجار», with intent to traffic, so that particular offence requires that intent to be proved. What Law No. 23 of 2016 fixes is the control status, and what it does not fix is the prescribing and dispensing conditions; Jordan's separate medicines and pharmacy regimes were not audited for this table, so a route there is treated as unread rather than as absent.

Documentation

There is no document that makes cathinone lawful to carry, and none that a traveller could produce for it. Plant material containing the alkaloid raises the same entry and meets agricultural inspection besides. No traveller permit scheme, declaration form or carriage allowance appears anywhere in the text of Law No. 23 of 2016 as read for this row, and an absence in what was read is not proof that no scheme exists; Jordan does furnish the International Narcotics Control Board a traveller regulation sheet, so the regulator settles a question about a licensed substance, in writing and before travel. The Schedule 5 placement was read on 17 September 2026.

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