Is Codeine legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

Codeine is a controlled narcotic drug in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule I Category B of the schedules attached to the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, in the version of those schedules issued on 4 September 2026, printed as «كوديين» under «الجدول الأول... فئة (ب)», Schedule I Category B. There is a carve out and it is the part of this row that decides most real cases. The 2026 general rules take tablets and capsules containing 8 mg or less of the component out of M/39 altogether and place those products under the ordinary prescription medicine rules instead. So a low dose combination tablet and a codeine linctus can sit on opposite sides of the Law, and the strength printed on the box is what determines which. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.

Consequences if caught

Where the product is not within the 8 mg carve out, Article 37(I) is available against a Schedule I Category B substance, and the article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it: 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. 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. The carve out is a threshold about product strength rather than about how much a person is carrying, and it does not become a quantity defence for a scheduled preparation.

If prescribed or medical

The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and codeine is the row where a traveller most often holds a product that may be outside the permit regime altogether. 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. Codeine sits at Schedule I Category B, so the clearance question governs it, except where the product is a tablet or capsule containing 8 mg or less of the component, which the general rules move to ordinary prescription medicine treatment. Read the strength on the packaging and treat anything above that as controlled. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance.

Documentation

Check the milligram strength per unit before anything else, because that single figure decides whether a clearance is needed. For a controlled codeine preparation, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, 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 I Category B placement and the 8 mg exception 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.