Is Codeine legal in United Arab Emirates?

Legal status

Codeine is placed in Schedule 2 of Decision No. 158 of 2025 at the printed entry «كودايين». Schedule 2 is the less restrictive of the two narcotic schedules, which is the ordinary expectation for a substance that appears in cough and analgesic preparations across most of the world. The fact that decides this row is that the lighter schedule does not produce a lighter trafficking route: Article 57 names Schedules 1, 2, Schedule 4 Section I and 5 together, so the Schedule 2 placement sits in the same article group as heroin's Schedule 1 placement. The dossier attaches Articles 10, 41 and 57 to the row and states the content of Article 57 only. Schedule 10 carries the quantity bands. The placement was read on 20 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Schedule 2 is one of the four schedule groups Article 57 names, and codeine's «كودايين» entry is in Schedule 2, so this row carries the capital route despite sitting in the softer narcotic schedule. The dossier records Article 57 as stating mandatory death for its trafficking or promotion trigger and as stating no quantity for it, and records that the Schedule 10 bands do not gate that route. A reader who has correctly noticed that codeine is treated more lightly than morphine at the scheduling stage will draw the wrong conclusion about the trafficking stage, because the article groups the two schedules rather than distinguishing them. Article 41 carries the personal use route for this branch, with no tariff stated in the dossier.

If prescribed or medical

The dossier records at the modafinil row that a 268 entry ministry travellers list was checked and expressly not used as a schedule, which is the country level handle it gives. Attached to this substance: codeine is in Schedule 2, and that placement reaches an ordinary pharmacy medicine, so the practical exposure here is a traveller carrying a codeine containing analgesic or cough preparation rather than a trafficking scenario. The dossier records no prescribing route, no strength based exemption and no permit procedure for it, so what a foreign prescription achieves at the border is exactly the question the dossier does not answer, and it is deferred rather than guessed.

Documentation

Carry the prescription and the original dispensing packaging for any codeine containing medicine, and expect the schedule and not the packaging to govern. The dossier records no Emirati permit procedure for this substance, so on this record those documents are evidence about a medicine that remains in Schedule 2 rather than an authorisation that removes it. Provenance: the Schedule 2 placement and the entry «كودايين» were read on 20 September 2026, with the capital analysis resting on Article 57 and not on the Schedule 10 bands. The question of whether an advance approval exists belongs with the health ministry before departure.

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