Is Ketamine legal in United Arab Emirates?

Also known as: ket, special k

Legal status

Ketamine is placed at Schedule 6, item 7 of Decision No. 158 of 2025, at the printed entry «كيتامين؛ كيتالار», which carries the substance name and the Ketalar trade name together, with the chemical name the dossier renders as 2-(2-Chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)cyclohexanone. Printing the trade name is unusual and useful: it means a product identified only by that brand is reached by the entry without having to establish the generic name first. The same schedule carries the fluoro analogue four items earlier at item 3, so the instrument is enumerating the arylcyclohexylamines individually rather than by description. The row runs through Articles 11, 43 and 58, with Schedule 10 group 3 carrying the quantity band. The placement was read on 20 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Article 58 reaches Schedules 3, 6, 7 and 8, and ketamine is at Schedule 6, item 7, so the article applies to a substance that is also a hospital anaesthetic on the essential medicines lists of most health systems. The dossier records Article 58 as providing death or life imprisonment as alternatives for its stated trafficking or promotion trigger, so death is discretionary rather than mandatory, and it records that the article states no quantity. The Schedule 10 group 3 band does not gate that route. The gap between the clinical standing of the drug and the severity of the article is the finding here, and it is not narrowed by the material being of pharmaceutical origin. Article 43 carries the personal use route, with its tariff unstated.

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. Attached to this substance: ketamine is at Schedule 6, item 7, and the entry expressly includes the Ketalar trade name, so a product carried under that brand is inside the placement. The dossier records no prescribing route, clinical exemption or permit procedure for the branch, so the question of how a lawful clinical supply is authorised is deferred rather than answered.

Documentation

If the substance is carried as a prescribed medicine, carry the prescription and the original dispensing packaging showing the active ingredient, and note that the schedule names the Ketalar brand explicitly so the brand does not put the product outside the entry. Provenance: the Schedule 6, item 7 placement and the entry «كيتامين؛ كيتالار» were read on 20 September 2026, with the capital analysis resting on Article 58 and its death or life alternative rather than on the Schedule 10 group 3 band. The permit question 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.