Is Khat legal in France?

Also known as: qat, miraa, quaadka

Legal status

Khat is classified as a narcotic in France. The consolidated order of 22 February 1990 fixing the list of substances classified as narcotics carries the entry « khat / Catha edulis », and that printed entry is the operative text rather than any chemical resemblance to it. The entry prints two designations, khat and Catha edulis, separated by a slash, so either designation reaches the same listed item. Within that set the designation khat is the one matching the common name used here, and the others widen the entry rather than replace it. The order's express clauses carry the entry across the salts, stereoisomers and preparations it names, and those textual bridges were applied while family resemblance without an applicable clause was not. France works from closed enumerated lists given effect by the Code de la santé publique, so the position for khat rests on the list reaching it and not on the substance belonging to a group the list is silent about. The consolidated Légifrance version carries the amendment history and later amending orders are folded into it, so this placement is the one standing on 18 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. France abolished the death penalty and no French drug provision carries one. The ceiling that does run on this row is life imprisonment under Penal Code article 222-34, which reaches the person who directs or organises a group whose object is illicit narcotics activity, and it is available because the consolidated order of 22 February 1990 carries khat among the narcotics at the entry « khat / Catha edulis ». The entry prints two designations, khat and Catha edulis, separated by a slash, and within that set khat is the designation matching the common name used here, the others widening the entry rather than replacing it. Conduct short of that is charged elsewhere: article L. 3421-1 of the Code de la santé publique addresses illicit use and stands apart from organised trafficking. The dossier settles the ceiling and the article carrying it without printing the intermediate trafficking tariffs, so no figure between personal use and article 222-34 is stated here.

If prescribed or medical

The country level rule in France is that a Schengen traveller certificate or a medicines carriage list is evidential and administrative, not the criminal schedule, so producing one changes what a traveller can show and not where a substance sits. Attached to this substance: khat is on the narcotics side of the 22 February 1990 pair of orders at the entry « khat / Catha edulis », which means the certificate can evidence a lawful medical carriage while the narcotics classification continues to govern the conduct. The dossier records no per substance prescribing route for khat and none is invented here.

Documentation

A Schengen traveller certificate is a route for khat only if khat is necessary for the traveller's medical treatment and a competent authority of their state of residence issues or authenticates the certificate: Article 75 of the Schengen Convention lets a traveller carry the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances «that are necessary for their medical treatment» on «a certificate issued or authenticated by a competent authority of their State of residence». It never alters where khat sits in the French schedules. Provenance: the placement relied on is the entry « khat / Catha edulis » in the Arrêté du 22 février 1990 fixant la liste des substances classées comme stupéfiants, read on Légifrance at https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000533085 and checked on 18 September 2026. Both consolidated orders were followed through their terminal annex material and their amendment links, so what is quoted is the consolidated entry and not the 1990 original wording.

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