Is Khat legal in Egypt?

Also known as: qat, miraa, quaadka

Legal status

Controlled in Egypt as a plant whose cultivation is prohibited. «الجدول رقم (٥) - النباتات الممنوع زراعتها», Table 5, the plants whose cultivation is prohibited, item 5 is «قات (Khat) بجميع أصنافه ومسمياته» (PDF page 33, gazette page 34). Named as a plant. Its alkaloids are listed separately: «Cathinone» at Table 1 Section 2 item 109 and «Cathine» at Table 3 Section 3 item 31. The earlier citation of Law 182/1960 for cathinone and cathine is superseded, because Decision 44 replaced every table. This is the position under Ministry of Health and Population Decision 44 of 2026, which replaced every table annexed to Law 182/1960, published in Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya issue 39 (continued, c) on 17 February 2026 and in force from publication, as amended by Decision 242 of 2026, in Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya issue 179 of 17 August 2026 and in force the next day, replaced item 12 of Table 1 Section 1(b), the phenethylamine group, and added items 57 to 61 to Table 3 Section 3, four alkyl nitrites and «Cannabidiol (CBD)». Decision 44's preamble cites the Supreme Constitutional Court's judgment of 16 February 2026 in case 33 of judicial year 47, read on the court's own server on 3 October 2026, which held «بعدم دستورية قرار رئيس هيئة الدواء المصرية رقم 600 لسنة 2023 باستبدال الجداول الملحقة بقرار رئيس الجمهورية بالقانون رقم 182 لسنة 1960 في شأن مكافحة المخدرات وتنظيم استعمالها والاتجار فيها», striking Egyptian Drug Authority chairman's Decision 600 of 2023, and «بسقوط قرارات رئيس هيئة الدواء المصرية السابقة واللاحقة على القرار المقضي بعدم دستوريته، الصادرة في شأن تعديل الجداول الملحقة بقرار رئيس الجمهورية بالقانون المشار إليه», so that every earlier and later decision of the Authority's chairman amending the tables fell with it. Decision 44 and Decision 242 are decisions of the Minister of Health and Population, as their own first pages state, not of the Authority's chairman, so the judgment does not reach them. The Egyptian Drug Authority laws index read on 3 October 2026 lists no amendment to the tables later than Decision 242, which does not rule out one made since.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: death for cultivating or trading the plant. Khat is a Table 5 plant, so the earlier statement that the leaf draws imprisonment and not execution is not borne out. Article 33(c) punishes cultivating any Table 5 plant, or exporting, importing, possessing, acquiring, buying, selling, delivering or transporting it at any stage of growth, or its seeds, with intent to trade, by death and a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 pounds. Article 37 punishes cultivating, possessing or buying a Table 5 plant for personal use by a term of hard labour and a fine of 10,000 to 50,000 pounds, and Article 38(1) punishes it without intent to trade or to use by a term of hard labour and a fine of 50,000 to 200,000 pounds. Article 42 orders confiscation of the plants, their seeds and land the offender owns. Article 37 sets the personal use tier for a Table 5 plant. Each of these articles reaches anyone who commits the act and makes no exception for a foreign national, and none of Articles 33 to 39 states a minimum quantity. Law 19/2020 bars conditional release for a conviction under Law 182/1960 other than the Article 37 felony. Law 95/2003, Article 2, abolished hard labour «أينما وردت», wherever it appears, in the Penal Code or any other law, putting «السجن المؤبد», life imprisonment, in place of life hard labour and «السجن المشدد», aggravated imprisonment, in place of hard labour for a term; Article 3 of the same Law replaced Penal Code Article 14, under which aggravated imprisonment runs from three to fifteen years unless the law provides otherwise. The penalties above are named as they stand after that Law, although Law 122/1989 wrote them as hard labour.

If prescribed or medical

Khat is traditional plant material with no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route.

Documentation

No lawful personal-import route; leaf caught via its scheduled cathinone content and seized at the border.

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