Is Codeine legal in Kuwait?

Legal status

Controlled narcotic, and in the table that article 52 singles out for a reduced penalty. Codeine is listed at Group 1, table 3, serial N3-2.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Possession, purchase, import and sale of Codeine are all offences under Decree Law 159 of 2025, but article 52 may cap them. None on the wording of the statute itself. Article 52 of Decree Law 159 of 2025 provides that where the object of the offences in articles 42/1 and 2, 43, 48 and 49 is a substance listed in table 3 of Group 1, the penalty is الحبس مدة لا تجاوز سنة وبغرامة لا تجاوز ألفي دينار, imprisonment not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding two thousand dinars, or one of the two. That displaces the capital articles for this substance, and it reaches trafficking itself, not only personal use. Articles 44 and 45, which make death mandatory, operate only on article 42 and 43 offences, so they cannot attach either. There is no quantity threshold in article 52; the table placement alone decides it.

If prescribed or medical

Codeine sits in table 3 of Group 1, the table article 52 singles out. A licensed doctor may prescribe preparations of Group 1 tables 1, 2 and 3 under article 20, for no more than two weeks at a time, and article 26 lets an arriving patient bring in table 1 narcotic preparations sufficient for fifteen days. Carry a certified prescription and a medical report.

Documentation

The governing instrument is Decree Law 159 of 2025 on combating narcotics and psychotropic substances and regulating their use and trade, eighty four articles in thirteen chapters, gazetted in Kuwait Al-Youm on 1 December 2025 and in force from 15 December 2025. Article 83 repealed Law 74 of 1983 and Decree Law 48 of 1987 and merged them. The schedules do not sit in the law. Article 40 reads يجوز بقرار من الوزير تعديل الجداول أو المجموعات المرفقة بهذا المرسوم بقانون، بالحذف، أو بالإضافة, so the Minister of Health amends them by decision. The last such amendment read for this cell is Decision 165 of 2026, made on 24 May 2026 and gazetted in Kuwait Al-Youm issue 1793 on 31 May 2026, whose article five annexes the complete updated schedules. The schedules are arranged as Group 1, narcotic substances, tables 1 to 6, Group 2, psychotropic substances, tables 1 to 4, Group 3, chemical precursors, and a Group 4 list of the substances article 52 names. Group 3 was not reprinted in the annex and was not read for this cell. Foreign nationals are liable to deportation after sentence. Kuwait retains and imposes the death penalty for drug trafficking. Placement for Codeine: Group 1, table 3, serial N3-2. The schedule row was read directly in the scanned gazette annex, in both of the two optical character recognition passes.

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