Khat legal status by country

Countries where the legal status of Khat has been confirmed against a primary source. Legal information, not legal advice; drug laws change, so confirm with the destination’s embassy or drug authority before you travel.

47 confirmed countries177 not individually verifiedLatest source July 14, 2026

Confirmed legal status

Each row links to the full detail for Khat in that country, including consequences and the primary source.

Aceh (Indonesia)Controlled — identical to Indonesia. Narcotics fall under NATIONAL Law 35/2009, under which cathinone...
AustraliaProhibited — ALKALOIDS NAMED, leaf caught de facto. Cathinone and cathine are named in the Customs...
BahrainIllegal — ALKALOIDS controlled under Bahrain's 1971-Convention narcotics obligations, and khat is prohibited...
BrazilControlled — ALKALOIDS NAMED, plant not named. Cathinone and cathine are on List F2 (proscribed...
BruneiControlled. ALKALOID NAMED: cathinone is a Class A drug in the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act...
CambodiaControlled (inferred) — ALKALOIDS via UN-mirrored tables. The Law on Drug Control classifies...
CanadaControlled — BOTH plant and alkaloids NAMED. Catha edulis Forsk (plant, its preparations, derivatives and...
ChinaControlled — BOTH named. The PLANT khat (恰特草 / Catha edulis) was added to the controlled non-medical...
CubaControlled — cathinone/cathine are scheduled as a 1971-party obligation, though khat has no local tradition...
EgyptIllegal — controlled; cathinone/cathine are scheduled and khat is treated as a prohibited narcotic import...
EthiopiaKhat (chat) is lawful in Ethiopia and is not a prohibited substance under the Criminal Code (Proclamation No....
FranceBanned. PLANT NAMED: Catha edulis is listed by name as a stupéfiant on the consolidated French narcotics list...
GermanyControlled. PLANT NOT named — control attaches to the ALKALOIDS: cathinone in Anlage I and cathine in Anlage...
GreeceBanned/controlled. Khat is classified as an illegal narcotic under Law 3459/2006 (Code of Laws on Narcotics),...
IndiaControlled — PLANT NAMED. Catha edulis (khat dry leaves) was added to the list of psychotropic substances...
IndonesiaControlled. ALKALOID NAMED: cathinone (katinona) is a Golongan I narcotic under Law 35/2009; the Catha edulis...
IranIllegal — cathinone controlled and khat ('gat') prohibited (plant status left to confirmation). Mechanism:...
IraqIllegal/controlled — the alkaloids cathinone/cathine are caught by Iraq's 1971-party narcotics law; khat is...
IrelandControlled. PLANT NAMED: leaves of Catha edulis are brought under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 by the...
Isle of Man (UK Crown Dependency)Khat is a Class C controlled drug under the Isle of Man's Misuse of Drugs Act (Schedule 2) — possession,...
ItalyBanned. PLANT NAMED: 'Catha edulis (pianta)' is listed together with cathinone and cathine in Tabella I of...
JapanControlled — ALKALOIDS ONLY NAMED. Cathinone is scheduled as a narcotic (mayaku) and cathine is controlled as...
JordanIllegal — BOTH controlled; the law bans plants/seeds usable for narcotics and prohibits khat sale, purchase,...
KenyaLEGAL — the 2022 amendment exempts cathinone/cathine when contained in khat (miraa/muguka); a scheduled cash...
KuwaitIllegal — alkaloids and plant controlled as a narcotic under Decree-Law No. 159/2025 (replacing Law 74/1983)....
LibyaIllegal/controlled — the alkaloids are caught by Libya's 1971-party narcotics law under strict prohibition;...
MexicoControlled — ALKALOID NAMED. Cathinone is listed in the Group I psychotropics of the Ley General de Salud...
NetherlandsBanned. PLANT NAMED: fresh Catha edulis (khat) was added to List II of the Opium Act (Opiumwet), ban in force...
PolandBanned. PLANT NAMED: live plants, dried material, seeds, extracts and derivatives of khat (Catha edulis /...
PortugalKhat (Catha edulis) — controlled (grey zone for the leaf). PLANT reported as NOT specifically listed in the...
QatarIllegal — BOTH controlled; khat and its alkaloids are controlled under Law No. 9 of 1987 (NDDPS), with...
Saudi ArabiaIllegal — BOTH plant and alkaloids controlled; khat is treated by the GDNC as a named 'narcotic plant' under...
SingaporeControlled — BOTH named. Cathinone is a Class A controlled drug in the Misuse of Drugs Act First Schedule,...
South KoreaControlled — ALKALOIDS ONLY NAMED. Cathinone and cathine are controlled as psychotropic substances under the...
SpainKhat (Catha edulis) — controlled (grey zone for the leaf). PLANT NOT specifically scheduled by name; control...
State of PalestineControlled/illegal — cathinone/cathine are caught by the narcotics law (the PA aligns with Israeli control,...
SwedenBanned. PLANT NAMED: Catha edulis was classified as a narcotic by the Riksdag in 1989 on the national...
SyriaIllegal/controlled — the alkaloids are caught by Syria's 1971-party psychotropics law; khat is not...
TaiwanControlled — ALKALOID NAMED. Cathinone is a Category 2 (第二級) controlled drug under the Narcotics Hazard...
ThailandControlled — ALKALOIDS ONLY NAMED. Cathinone is a Category 1 psychotropic substance and cathine a Category 2...
TurkeyControlled. PLANT NAMED: Catha edulis (khat) was placed on the controlled-narcotics list alongside cathinone...
UgandaKhat (catha edulis) is named and scheduled under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control)...
United Arab EmiratesIllegal — BOTH controlled; Catha edulis is named on the narcotic schedule under Federal Law No. 14 of 1995,...
United KingdomControlled. PLANT NAMED: khat (the leaves, stems and shoots of Catha edulis) is individually scheduled as a...
VietnamControlled. ALKALOID controlled: cathinone is on the national narcotics list; the Catha edulis plant is not...
YemenLEGAL — khat is a licit, mainstream, culturally central commodity, cultivated openly and government-taxed...
ZambiaControlled — PLANT NAMED. 'catha edulis commonly referred to as khat or miraa' is expressly named in s.18(3)...

Not individually verified

For these 177 countries the governing national drug law is known and cited, but we have not verified that Khat specifically is scheduled under it. These are not legal answers and are deliberately not published as their own pages. Confirm with the country’s drug authority or your embassy.

← All legality Khat drug profile How we source