Legality
Khat legal status by country
Also known as: qat, miraa, quaadka
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.
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...
- AngolaControlled. Catina is in table II-B of Lei n.º 3/99. Trafficking carries 8 to 12 years. Personal use is a...
- Antigua and BarbudaNot listed, neither the plant nor its alkaloids. This is a positive finding of absence and not a deferral....
- ArgentinaControlled through a named constituent or member, not as a label. The row itself is not an entry. The...
- AustraliaControlled through its constituents and as a named plant import. The leaf of Catha edulis is named in the...
- AustriaControlled as a Suchtgift, placed there by regulation rather than by the statute itself. The plant has no...
- BahamasControlled through its alkaloids rather than as a plant, and the plant itself is named nowhere. Searched case...
- BahrainControlled. Khat is placed in Group I Schedule 5 of the annex to the Law, the table of plants which are not...
- BangladeshKhat is covered by the Act, named as the Act's own worked example in Class 'kha' serial 2. That serial covers...
- BarbadosNot a controlled drug within section 3 as plant material, though both of its principal alkaloids are named in...
- BelgiumKhat is a controlled substance in Belgium because it is listed. The Royal Decree of 6 September 2017 prints...
- Bermuda (UK)Controlled under Bermuda's own Misuse of Drugs Act 1972. Khat is named in Schedule 2 Part I, the list of...
- BoliviaResolved through its constituents rather than through an entry of its own. Of the two khat alkaloids, Lista...
- BruneiClass A controlled drug. It sits in the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 27 of the Laws of...
- BulgariaControlled through a named constituent. Khat is not itself a named entry of any of the three списъци, and...
- 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...
- Cayman Islands (UK)Controlled under the Cayman Islands' own Misuse of Drugs Act (2026 Revision). Khat is named in Part 3 of...
- ChileControlled. Decreto 867 artículo 1, the lista of substances capable of grave toxic effects or considerable...
- ChinaControlled, BOTH named. The PLANT khat (恰特草 / Catha edulis) was added to the controlled non-medical...
- ColombiaControlled. Anexo Técnico 1 of Resolución 116 de 2026, the Ministry of Health resolution of 27 January 2026...
- Costa RicaControlled through named members rather than through one entry, so the exposure turns on which member is in...
- CroatiaControlled in Croatia through a bounded entry rather than under its own name. Khat is not named in the Popis...
- CzechiaControlled through its two named alkaloids rather than as a plant. „Kathinon“ is printed in seznam č. 4 with...
- DenmarkControlled under the Danish euphoriants legislation. Named on liste A of bekendtgoerelse nr. 405 af 26. marts...
- Dominican RepublicNot listed. Neither the plant nor either of the two alkaloids it carries is named in the Categorías. Ley...
- EgyptControlled in Egypt as a plant whose cultivation is prohibited. «الجدول رقم (٥) - النباتات الممنوع زراعتها»,...
- El SalvadorControlled under the Ley Reguladora de las Actividades Relativas a las Drogas, Decreto Legislativo 153 of 2...
- EstoniaKhat is a controlled substance in Estonia. The national schedule is Annex 1 to Minister of Social Affairs...
- EthiopiaKhat (chat) is lawful in Ethiopia and is not a prohibited substance under the Criminal Code (Proclamation No....
- Faroe Islands (Denmark)Controlled in the Faroe Islands. Khat is named on liste A nr. 1 of bekendtgørelse nr. 495 af 26. maj 2026 for...
- FinlandControlled. Khat is a narcotic in Finland by name. Section 1 of valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina...
- FranceKhat is classified as a narcotic in France. The consolidated order of 22 February 1990 fixing the list of...
- GermanyKhat is caught to the extent that the leaf carries the listed alkaloid cathinone, which is in Anlage I of the...
- GhanaControlled under the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019). The entry relied on for khat is...
- GreeceControlled through the two alkaloids it contains. Khat is not named in the tables in its own right. What is...
- GrenadaControlled through its constituent. The leaf is not named, but its two active alkaloids are listed at Part II...
- GuatemalaIllegal through its active principle under the Ley contra la Narcoactividad (Decreto 48-92), articles 38 and...
- HondurasControlled. Khat is reached through the substances it contains, and the entries read were PC 010 CATHINONE in...
- Hong KongA dangerous drug in Hong Kong where it contains its controlled constituent. The plant is not named in Part I...
- HungaryControlled. The leaf is not itself an entry, and it is not named in any of the six jegyzékek. The forms...
- IcelandControlled in Iceland. It is printed in Fylgiskjal I as "Khat", with "Catha edulis, Allir hlutar plöntunnar"...
- IndiaControlled in India. The matched entry reads «110X Catha Edulis (Dry Chatt or Mira leaves Dry Chat Edulis)»,...
- IndonesiaNarkotika Golongan I under Indonesia's Undang-Undang Nomor 35 Tahun 2009 tentang Narkotika: Narkotika...
- IranControlled through its constituent cathinone and cathine, which is placed at entry 2 of Schedule 1 of the...
- IraqProhibited. Statement 197 of 2021 placed KHAT in Schedule One at serial 111 and again in Schedule Four at...
- IrelandKhat is a controlled drug in Ireland. The placement recorded for this row is: Schedule 1; S.I. 210/2022, Sch....
- 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,...
- IsraelExpressly excluded in its natural leaf form; the two alkaloid entries both carve khat leaves out
- ItalyControlled. The Ministry of Health compilation of the DPR 309/1990 tables carries «Catha edulis» as an...
- JapanKhat is not itself listed in Japan, and the alkaloid it is taken for is a 麻薬, a narcotic: cathinone is...
- JordanKhat is resolved through its scheduled constituents together with the Law's plant limb, rather than through a...
- KazakhstanKhat is a plant and Kazakhstan's Resolution works on substances, so the answer on this row is split. The...
- KenyaControlled in part under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, Cap. 245: both of...
- KuwaitControlled substance under Decree Law 159 of 2025. Khat is listed at Group 1, table 5, serial N5-5, which...
- KyrgyzstanControlled in Kyrgyzstan. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 152 of 26 March 2025 names khat in its...
- LatviaKhat is controlled in Latvia. The controlling instrument is Annex 2 to the law on the entry into force and...
- LebanonControlled. Khat is a leaf and the plant is not named in the four tables annexed to Law 673 of 16 March 1998,...
- LibyaIllegal/controlled, the alkaloids are caught by Libya's 1971-party narcotics law under strict prohibition;...
- LithuaniaKhat is controlled in Lithuania. Order No. 5 names khat. The entry relied on reads «Arabinio dusūno (Catha...
- MalaysiaKhat is not named as a plant in either Act, and Catha edulis appears nowhere. Its two alkaloids are named, in...
- MaltaKhat is governed by the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance, Chapter 31, and not by the Dangerous Drugs...
- MexicoControlled only through the alkaloids the Act names. The leaf is not named in article 234 or in any of the...
- NetherlandsControlled as a soft drug. Khat is named in lijst II of the Opiumwet and not in lijst I, and the row prints...
- New ZealandNot a controlled drug on the text cited, and the absence was tested rather than assumed. Khat, the...
- NicaraguaControlled in Nicaragua. The entry relied on is «Catinona», printed among the lists and tables annexed to Ley...
- NigeriaNot separately listed. Khat, Catha edulis is not named in the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap....
- NorwayControlled in Norway. Khat is named in the narkotikaliste, the list made under section 4 of the Forskrift 14...
- OmanControlled. Khat is named in Group I, Table 5, serial 4 of the annex to the Law on Combating Narcotics and...
- PakistanSplit answer, and the split is in the schedules rather than in my reading. The alkaloid that khat is taken...
- PanamaControlled. Khat is reached by the Panamanian criminal definition of a drug, not by a national chemical...
- PeruThis substance is carried by Peru's controlling schedule through the list of nuevas sustancias psicoactivas...
- PhilippinesControlled through its constituents. Khat is not named as a plant in the Dangerous Drugs Board's Updated...
- PolandControlled. Poland names the plant itself in its own national list. «CATHA EDULIS» is entry lp. 43 in group...
- PortugalKhat (Catha edulis), controlled (grey zone for the leaf). PLANT reported as NOT specifically listed in the...
- QatarControlled in Qatar at Table 4 item 5 of Law No. 9 of 1987. Table 4 item 5 reads «القات بجميع أصنافه...
- RomaniaKhat is controlled in Romania. The entry relied on reads «Cathinone = (-)-alpha-aminopropiophenone; Cathine =...
- RussiaControlled through its cathinone content. The dossier's explanation for this row reads: “Plant product is...
- Saint LuciaNot a named entry in Schedule 2 to the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act, Cap. 3.02, in any of Part I, Part II...
- SamoaControlled as a Class C narcotic. Third Schedule item 1 of the Narcotics Act 1967 (official version as at 31...
- Saudi ArabiaKhat is expressly a prohibited plant in Saudi Arabia, listed in Schedule IV of the schedules attached to the...
- SlovakiaKhat is controlled in Slovakia. Annex 1 to Act No. 139/1998 does not name khat as such. The entry relied on...
- SloveniaControlled in Slovenia. The annex to the Uredba o razvrstitvi prepovedanih drog names khat, Catha edulis,...
- South AfricaControlled as an undesirable dependence-producing substance under Schedule 2 Part III of the Drugs and Drug...
- South KoreaControlled, ALKALOIDS ONLY NAMED. Cathinone and cathine are controlled as psychotropic substances under the...
- Sri LankaDangerous drug under Sri Lanka's Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Chapter 218): Third Schedule,...
- State of PalestineControlled/illegal, cathinone/cathine are caught by the narcotics law (the PA aligns with Israeli control,...
- SurinameControlled through its constituents, and the two constituents are on different lists. The leaf is not named:...
- SwedenControlled. Catha edulis is named in Förteckning I of the Swedish narkotikaförteckningar, which are...
- SwitzerlandControlled. The federal schedule ordinance BetmVV-EDI carries khat in list d, where the entry reads „Catha...
- SyriaIllegal/controlled, the alkaloids are caught by Syria's 1971-party psychotropics law; khat is not...
- TaiwanCategory 2 narcotic (第二級毒品) under Taiwan's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), named at...
- TajikistanControlled in Tajikistan. Row 4 of Перечень 4 of Annex 1 to the Criminal Code, plants containing narcotic...
- TanzaniaControlled by name. The First Schedule of the Drug Control and Enforcement Act Cap 95 R.E. 2023 carries the...
- ThailandKhat is not named in Thailand's criminal drug schedules. A substance specific sweep, run in Thai and by...
- Timor-LesteKhat, the plant Catha edulis, is not named by that name anywhere in Lei n.º 2/2017's tables, and a direct...
- TongaNAMED. Schedule 1 (page 23), under the heading «OTHER ILLICIT DRUGS», lists: «Ketamine / Khat /...
- Trinidad and TobagoKhat is not named in any instrument read, and searches for khat, catha, cathine, qat and miraa found nothing....
- U.S. Virgin Islands (US)Khat is controlled federally through its alkaloids. The plant is not listed by name. Cathinone and cathine,...
- UgandaKhat (catha edulis) is named and scheduled under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control)...
- UkraineControlled in Ukraine through cathinone and the list's plant note, not by a named plant entry. The list...
- United Arab EmiratesKhat is placed at Schedule 4, Section I, item 5 of Decision No. 158 of 2025, the entry being «القات؛ أوراق...
- United KingdomControlled as a Class C drug. Part III of Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 names it at paragraph...
- United StatesControlled. Schedule IV under the Controlled Substances Act, at 21 CFR 1308.14(f)(1). The plant is not...
- UruguayThe plant is not named and resolves only through its proved constituents. The national list is the Anexo I...
- UzbekistanControlled in Uzbekistan. Khat is named in its own row of the quantity annexes to Cabinet of Ministers...
- VenezuelaControlled. Ley Orgánica de Drogas article 3 identifies estupefacientes as the substances figuring in lista I...
- VietnamControlled. Khat is printed in List IB of the danh mục annexed to Nghị định 28/2026/NĐ-CP, in force 19...
- YemenNot named in Law No. 3 of 1993 on Combating Illicit Trafficking in and Use of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic...
- ZambiaControlled, PLANT NAMED. 'catha edulis commonly referred to as khat or miraa' is expressly named in s.18(3)...
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Not individually verified
For these 115 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.
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa (US)
- Andorra
- Anguilla (UK)
- Armenia
- Aruba (Netherlands)
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- British Virgin Islands (UK)
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cameroon
- Caribbean Netherlands (BES)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Cuba
- Curaçao (Netherlands)
- Cyprus
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- DR Congo
- Ecuador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Falkland Islands (UK)
- Fiji
- French Polynesia (France)
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Gibraltar (UK)
- Guam (US)
- Guernsey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Holy See
- Jamaica
- Jersey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Laos
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Montserrat (UK)
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Caledonia (France)
- Niger
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Northern Mariana Islands (US)
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Puerto Rico (US)
- Rwanda
- Saint Helena (UK)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Zimbabwe