Is Ephedrine legal in Kazakhstan?

Legal status

Ephedrine is controlled in Kazakhstan as a precursor rather than as a narcotic drug or a psychotropic substance. The Список approved by Government Resolution No. 470 of 3 July 2019 carries the entry Эфедрин in Перечень I of Таблица IV of the Список, the precursor schedule, Перечень I being the tighter of its two lists. The Сводная таблица carries a matching row, Эфедрин, which bites at ten per cent or more, printed in the instrument as 10 % и более, and sets небольшой размер at 1,0-10,0 grams, крупный размер at 10,0-50,0 grams and особо крупный размер above 50,0 grams. The concentration column is the feature that makes the precursor table work differently from the other two: a preparation below the stated strength is outside the row even though the substance is listed. The Сводная таблица reaches ephedrine only at a concentration of ten per cent or more, which is a threshold the narcotic and psychotropic tables do not use at all. Pseudoephedrine, norephedrine and N-methylephedrine are separate entries on the same figures. The plant is listed too: Трава эфедры, ephedra herb, is in Перечень I, the Сводная таблица gives Эфедра its own sizes split dried against undried at 200-2000 and 250-2500 grams for the small band, and the cultivation table sets one plant as the large size. Anchoring matters on this name, because an unanchored search on the Russian for ephedrine also returns Катин, printed with норпсевдоэфедрин as its synonym, which is cathine and a different substance in a different schedule. The copy read carries the amendment of 24 February 2026 made by Government Resolution No. 111, and the Сводная таблица is wholly in that redaction, so every size quoted here is the 24 February 2026 text, not an earlier one. [Certain] on the placement, the concentration and the figures, all re-derived from the instrument in this pass.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Kazakhstan has abolished the death penalty. No capital punishment remains available anywhere in its Criminal Code, because the law of 29 December 2021 numbered 89-VII on abolition replaced the words carrying it in Article 11 with life imprisonment, and Article 46 now names life imprisonment as the heaviest penalty the Code holds. The penalty ladder is read off those sizes. Possession without intent to supply sits in Criminal Code Article 296, which is non-custodial at parts 2 and 3, a fine of up to 160 or up to 200 monthly calculation indices or arrest of up to 40 or 50 days, and becomes custodial only at part 4, three to seven years, once the seizure is особо крупный. Consumption in a public place is part 1 of the same article. Supply runs under Article 297 at five to eight years with confiscation for the bare offence and fifteen to twenty years for its heaviest part, and manufacture or processing for supply under Article 297-1, added on 2 January 2025 by law No. 150-VIII, carries life imprisonment at part 4. For Ephedrine the bands come from the precursor table and bite at ten per cent or more, so the custodial rung under Article 296 opens above 50,0 grams of qualifying material. Article 303 of the same Code deals separately with breaches of the rules for handling precursors, which is the offence a licensed handler is more likely to meet than Article 296. Article 296 also carries a note releasing from liability under that article a person who voluntarily hands the substance over, seeks medical help or actively assists in uncovering a related offence. [Likely] The Criminal Code articles and their year ranges in this cell were read from secondary consolidations rather than from an official publisher in this pass. Two independent consolidations agree on them, and the Code's own article text was not reached: the state portal served only its contents list. The abolition of the death penalty, by contrast, was confirmed against the Code itself and is tagged [Certain] where it appears. [Likely] Carried from the entry published before this batch and not re-derived in this pass: the two middle rungs of that ladder are six to ten years for part 2 and seven to twelve years for part 3. [Certain] Re-derived in this pass: the analogue closer appears six times and closes sections А and В of Таблицы I, II and III only. Таблица IV, the precursor schedule in which this row sits, carries no analogue clause.

If prescribed or medical

Таблица IV is the precursor schedule and it governs chemical and industrial handling rather than prescribing. A precursor listing is not by itself a statement that Ephedrine has or lacks a medical route in Kazakhstan, and this Resolution does not supply one either way. The same Resolution also approves a short Список of veterinary medicines containing controlled substances, and Эфедрин appears on it.

Documentation

Provenance. The precursor entry, its concentration threshold and its grams were read from the consolidated text of Government Resolution of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 470 of 3 July 2019 approving the Список наркотических средств, психотропных веществ и прекурсоров, подлежащих контролю в Республике Казахстан and the Сводная таблица of small, large and particularly large sizes at https://zakon.uchet.kz/rus/docs/P1900000470 on 2026-09-21, with the six column precursor table parsed by column position so that the concentration column is not mistaken for a size. The copy read carries the amendment of 24 February 2026 made by Government Resolution No. 111, and the Сводная таблица is wholly in that redaction, so every size quoted here is the 24 February 2026 text. Russian names are quoted as the instrument prints them.

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