Legal status in Kuwait

Per-substance legal status for Kuwait, from sourced statutes where available. Legal information, not legal advice — drug laws change; confirm with the destination’s embassy or drug authority before you travel.

Last updated: 2026-07-14

1P-LSD

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

2-FDCK

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

25I-NBOMe

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

2C-B

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

2C-E

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

2C-I

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

2C-T-7

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

3-MMC

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

4-AcO-DMT

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

4-HO-MET

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

5-MeO-DMT (Bufo / Toad)

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

6-APB

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH)

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Adderall

Legal status: Adderall (mixed amphetamine salts) has no separate legal identity — it is regulated AS amphetamine: scheduled psychotropic under Amiri Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 (schedules 2–4).
Consequences if caught: Use/possession: imprisonment + fine. Import/smuggle/produce with intent to traffic is DEATH-PENALTY or life eligible (with four aggravated death categories). Amphetamine carries capital exposure at the trafficking tier.
If prescribed / medical: Prescription stimulant via strictly controlled medical channels; carrying it without a local permit/prescription risks arrest.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Alcohol

Legal status: Prohibited — alcohol (ethanol) is under a total national ban (since 1965); production, import, sale, possession and consumption are all criminal offences.
Consequences if caught: Violations bring imprisonment, heavy fines and deportation for foreigners; there are no licensed outlets of any kind.
If prescribed / medical: n/a — a beverage, not a medicine (medicinal/industrial ethanol tightly controlled).
Documentation: No legal sale anywhere; alcohol may not be imported and is confiscated at the border. Even airline transit passengers must not carry it into the country.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Amanita muscaria

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Amphetamine

Legal status: Scheduled psychotropic under Amiri Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 (schedules 2–4).
Consequences if caught: Use/possession: imprisonment + fine. Import/smuggle/produce with intent to traffic is DEATH-PENALTY or life eligible (with four aggravated death categories). Amphetamine carries capital exposure at the trafficking tier.
If prescribed / medical: Prescription stimulant via strictly controlled medical channels; carrying it without a local permit/prescription risks arrest.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Amyl Nitrite

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Ayahuasca

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Barbiturates

Legal status: Barbiturates are controlled psychotropic substances under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), implementing 1971 Convention Schedules II–IV (phenobarbital Schedule IV, secobarbital Schedule II, amobarbital/pentobarbital Schedule III). As a lower medicinal-tier substance it sits below the drugs to which capital sentences are applied in practice; the statutory capital reach (Article 44) to this tier, and any quantity threshold, are left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Phenobarbital and other barbiturate medicines are prescribable in Kuwait only under controlled-medicine rules; a traveller or patient importing them needs Kuwait Ministry of Health prior authorization — advance clearance of a certified medical report or prescription before arrival (regime under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025, in force December 2025), with supply capped at roughly one month of treatment.
Documentation: Bring an official prescription and a physician's medical report pre-certified by a Kuwaiti embassy or consulate and cleared with the Kuwait Ministry of Health before travel; uncertified papers are held by Customs pending airport-clinic certification within 24 hours. Non-nationals risk arrest for any scheduled substance carried without this clearance.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Benzodiazepines

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Buprenorphine

Legal status: Buprenorphine is a controlled narcotic under Kuwait's narcotics law (Law No. 74 of 1983, as amended) — a lighter tier than methadone; capital punishment is reserved for aggravated trafficking, not prescribed use.
Consequences if caught: Drug trafficking is death-eligible and actively enforced (a drug execution was carried out in 2023), but that reaches aggravated trafficking of narcotic-table substances — prescribed/personal buprenorphine is non-capital.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed as a controlled prescription medicine with prior Ministry of Health authorisation.
Documentation: Advance clearance/authorisation to import controlled medicine is required; carry a certified prescription.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Caffeine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Cannabis / THC

Legal status: Fully prohibited under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law — no medical or recreational use; DEATH or life for trafficking (Arts 42–43)
Consequences if caught: Cannabis is fully prohibited with zero medical or recreational provision. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: No medical or recreational cannabis exists; cannabis is fully prohibited.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Cathinone

Legal status: Illegal — cathinone (khat's natural principal alkaloid) is a 1971 Convention SCHEDULE I psychotropic and is controlled under Kuwait's narcotics law (Decree-Law 159/2025 replacing Law 74/1983) via the GCC-unified narcotics list. Mechanism: 1971 Sch-I transposition (GCC unified list), named. As the parent compound it is DISTINCT from the khat PLANT (Catha edulis, separately prohibited) and from the synthetic cathinones (mephedrone etc.) that derive from it; cathinone is the named Sch-I alkaloid, cathine the milder metabolite (1971 Schedule III). Capital is reachable at judicial discretion — trafficking carries death or life under the 2025 law, with no substance-specific threshold.
Consequences if caught: Zero-tolerance controlled substance: trafficking of the alkaloid can be capital at judicial discretion (no fixed threshold). Extreme risk.
If prescribed / medical: 1971 Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use and no lawful prescription route for the isolated alkaloid.
Documentation: No personal-carry or import route; trafficking of the alkaloid carries death exposure.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

CBD

Legal status: CBD (cannabidiol) is controlled as cannabis — narcotics legislation prohibits cannabis and its derivatives with no hemp/CBD carve-out or THC threshold, and no CBD product is registered; the statute-line treatment of CBD is left to confirmation while the zero-tolerance prohibition is settled.
Consequences if caught: Couriered CBD oils, gummies and vapes are routinely intercepted by Customs under strict-liability treatment; possession/personal use can mean about 2 years plus fines, with the death penalty available in the most serious cases (CBD-specific capital exposure left to confirmation).
If prescribed / medical: No CBD prescription route is registered.
Documentation: No documentation legalises CBD — controlled as cannabis; a foreign prescription does not permit entry.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Clonazepam

Legal status: Clonazepam is a Schedule 4 psychotropic substance under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987, which carry the UN Convention schedules), implementing 1971 Convention Schedule IV. As a lower medicinal-tier substance it sits below the drugs to which capital sentences are applied in practice; the statutory capital reach (Article 44) to this tier, and any quantity threshold, are left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Clonazepam is prescribable in Kuwait only under controlled-medicine rules; a traveller or patient importing it needs Kuwait Ministry of Health prior authorization — advance clearance of a certified medical report or prescription before arrival (regime under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025, in force December 2025), with supply capped at roughly one month of treatment.
Documentation: Bring an official prescription and a physician's medical report pre-certified by a Kuwaiti embassy or consulate and cleared with the Kuwait Ministry of Health before travel; uncertified papers are held by Customs pending airport-clinic certification within 24 hours. Non-nationals risk arrest for any scheduled substance carried without this clearance.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Cocaine

Legal status: Prohibited under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law — DEATH or life for trafficking (Arts 42–43), mandatory death in aggravated cases (Art 44); no medical or recreational use
Consequences if caught: Cocaine is a prohibited controlled drug under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine; a prohibited controlled drug.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Codeine

Legal status: Codeine is a controlled narcotic under Law No. 74 of 1983 (as amended); low-dose codeine is below the capital tier absent trafficking intent. Kuwait carries out drug executions (its first in a decade in April 2023; at least 12 drug death sentences in 2023), but capital exposure attaches to aggravated narcotic trafficking, not therapeutic codeine.
Consequences if caught: Aggravated narcotic trafficking is death-eligible; unauthorised possession or supply of codeine draws imprisonment, while prescribed use is lawful.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed as a controlled prescription medicine.
Documentation: Ministry of Health prior authorisation is required to import controlled medicines - carry prescription documentation.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Crack Cocaine

Legal status: Crack is the freebase (base) form of cocaine and has no separate legal identity in Kuwait: it is controlled AS cocaine under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (replacing Law No. 74 of 1983), whose schedule covers cocaine, its salts and preparations and thus reaches the base/freebase form. The capital trafficking regime carries over to crack whether powder or base.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking crack (as cocaine) carries the death penalty or life imprisonment (Arts 42-43), with mandatory death in aggravated cases (Art 44); possession/use draws imprisonment.
If prescribed / medical: Cocaine has no recognised therapeutic use in Kuwait; the crack/freebase base has no medicinal preparation and cannot be prescribed.
Documentation: No prescription documentation exists for crack/freebase cocaine.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Delta-8-THC

Legal status: Controlled — delta-8-THC (Δ8-THC) is caught as a tetrahydrocannabinol under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law, which schedules cannabis and THC; delta-8 is controlled as an isomer of THC. Distinct from cannabis, fully prohibited (death or life for trafficking, Arts. 42–43). The capital reach of a pure delta-8 isomer is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Zero tolerance; possession and trafficking are serious offences; trafficking carries death or life.
If prescribed / medical: No recognised medical use; delta-8-THC is not a prescribable medicine.
Documentation: No lawful personal import of a controlled tetrahydrocannabinol.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Diazepam

Legal status: Diazepam is a Schedule 4 psychotropic substance under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987, which carry the UN Convention schedules), implementing 1971 Convention Schedule IV. As a lower medicinal-tier substance it sits below the drugs to which capital sentences are applied in practice; the statutory capital reach (Article 44) to this tier, and any quantity threshold, are left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Diazepam is prescribable in Kuwait only under controlled-medicine rules; a traveller or patient importing it needs Kuwait Ministry of Health prior authorization — advance clearance of a certified medical report or prescription before arrival (regime under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025, in force December 2025), with supply capped at roughly one month of treatment.
Documentation: Bring an official prescription and a physician's medical report pre-certified by a Kuwaiti embassy or consulate and cleared with the Kuwait Ministry of Health before travel; uncertified papers are held by Customs pending airport-clinic certification within 24 hours. Non-nationals risk arrest for any scheduled substance carried without this clearance.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

DMT

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

DOM

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

DXM

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Ephedrine

Legal status: Regulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I — a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a scheduled narcotic; a precursor (Table I) / restricted medicine under the unified Amiri Decree-Law No. 59 of 2025 (which defines 'chemical precursors').
Consequences if caught: No confirmed capital exposure — the death/life tier is for commercial-purpose trafficking of scheduled narcotic/psychotropic substances; precursors are a distinct category. Precursor diversion / unlicensed medicine: imprisonment + fines.
If prescribed / medical: Also a pharmacy/prescription decongestant-bronchodilator medicine subject to sales limits; carry documentation for a personal supply.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Etizolam

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Fentanyl

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Gabapentin

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

GBL

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

GHB

Legal status: GHB is a Schedule 2 psychotropic substance under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987, which carry the UN Convention schedules), implementing 1971 Convention Schedule II. Capital exposure attaches to aggravated trafficking, importation or production under Article 44; the drug-specific quantity threshold is left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Kuwait recognizes no legitimate medical or prescription use for GHB; the controlled-medicine import-permit route does not extend to it, and any quantity is treated as illicit.
Documentation: No lawful import route exists for this substance in Kuwait; it is not a prescribable medicine, the controlled-medicine clearance procedure does not extend to it, and Customs treats any quantity as a narcotics offence.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Heroin

Legal status: Prohibited under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law — DEATH or life for trafficking (Arts 42–43), mandatory death in aggravated cases (Art 44); no medical or recreational use
Consequences if caught: Heroin is a prohibited controlled drug under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine; a prohibited controlled drug.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

HHC

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Hydrocodone

Legal status: Hydrocodone is a controlled narcotic scheduled under Law No. 74 of 1983 (as amended); it is not marketed in Kuwait. Drug trafficking is capital and actively enforced (drug executions resumed 2023), so aggravated hydrocodone trafficking is death-eligible (no published gram threshold).
Consequences if caught: Aggravated trafficking of narcotic-table opioids is death-eligible; prescribed personal use is not capital, but undocumented import is high-risk.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed only as a controlled narcotic under prescription.
Documentation: Traveller trap: Ministry of Health prior authorisation is required to import controlled medicines; carry a prescription and documentation.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Ketamine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Khat

Legal status: Illegal — alkaloids and plant controlled as a narcotic under Decree-Law No. 159/2025 (replacing Law 74/1983). Mechanism: NAMED/class (plant + alkaloid). Trafficking carries death or life under 159/2025, but personal khat sits in the sub-10-year possession band — below the realistic capital tier.
Consequences if caught: Treated as a controlled narcotic under the new 2025 law with harsh penalties, but personal-quantity khat is a possession-band offence, not capital.
If prescribed / medical: Khat is traditional plant material with no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route.
Documentation: No lawful personal-import route; leaf is a controlled narcotic under the 2025 law and seized at the border.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Kratom

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Lorazepam

Legal status: Lorazepam is a Schedule 4 psychotropic substance under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987, which carry the UN Convention schedules), implementing 1971 Convention Schedule IV. As a lower medicinal-tier substance it sits below the drugs to which capital sentences are applied in practice; the statutory capital reach (Article 44) to this tier, and any quantity threshold, are left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Lorazepam is prescribable in Kuwait only under controlled-medicine rules; a traveller or patient importing it needs Kuwait Ministry of Health prior authorization — advance clearance of a certified medical report or prescription before arrival (regime under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025, in force December 2025), with supply capped at roughly one month of treatment.
Documentation: Bring an official prescription and a physician's medical report pre-certified by a Kuwaiti embassy or consulate and cleared with the Kuwait Ministry of Health before travel; uncertified papers are held by Customs pending airport-clinic certification within 24 hours. Non-nationals risk arrest for any scheduled substance carried without this clearance.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

LSA (Morning Glory)

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

LSD

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

MDA

Legal status: Controlled — MDA is a scheduled narcotic under Law 74/1983. NAMED/scheduled mechanism. CAPITAL available (caught): trafficking of scheduled narcotics is death-eligible.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking death-eligible; severe penalties.
If prescribed / medical: Scheduled narcotic with no recognised medical use; no lawful prescription route.
Documentation: No lawful personal import; trafficking death-eligible in law.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

MDMA

Legal status: Prohibited under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law — DEATH or life for trafficking (Arts 42–43), mandatory death in aggravated cases (Art 44); no medical or recreational use
Consequences if caught: MDMA is a prohibited controlled drug under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine; a prohibited controlled drug.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

MDPV

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Memantine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Mephedrone (4-MMC)

Legal status: Controlled — TREATY-floor (via the GCC unified narcotics list). Mephedrone is captured by national incorporation of the 1971 Schedule II addition through the GCC unified narcotics list. Capital is reachable at judicial discretion — Kuwaiti drug law permits death for trafficking, with no substance-specific threshold.
Consequences if caught: Zero-tolerance controlled substance: trafficking can be capital at judicial discretion (no fixed threshold). Extreme risk.
If prescribed / medical: Controlled psychotropic with no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route.
Documentation: No personal-carry or import route; trafficking carries death exposure.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Mescaline

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Methadone

Legal status: Methadone is a controlled narcotic under Kuwait's narcotics law (Law No. 74 of 1983, as amended); as a narcotic-table opioid it is death-eligible for aggravated trafficking (a drug execution was carried out in April 2023) with no published gram threshold; prescribed use is non-capital.
Consequences if caught: Aggravated trafficking is capital and actively used; prescribed personal use is non-capital.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribed as a controlled narcotic (OST access limited).
Documentation: Ministry of Health prior authorisation is required to import controlled medicines; carry prescription documentation.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Methamphetamine

Legal status: Prohibited under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law — DEATH or life for trafficking (Arts 42–43), mandatory death in aggravated cases (Art 44); no medical or recreational use
Consequences if caught: Methamphetamine is a prohibited controlled drug under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: Not a prescribed traveller medicine; a prohibited controlled drug.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Methaqualone (Quaaludes)

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Methylone

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Methylphenidate

Legal status: Scheduled psychotropic under Amiri Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025; a controlled medicine (limited personal supply with a certified prescription).
Consequences if caught: Trafficking of a scheduled psychotropic is death/life eligible; methylphenidate is a licit medicine — carry a certified prescription/report and a permit.
If prescribed / medical: Prescription ADHD/narcolepsy medicine (e.g. Ritalin/Concerta) via controlled channels; carry the original prescription and any required import permit.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Mitragynine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Modafinil

Legal status: Prescription-only medicine (MoH Ministerial Decree 102/2020 names modafinil); limited personal supply allowed with a certified prescription/report.
Consequences if caught: Possession without a prescription / unpermitted import: fines, detention, deportation. No capital exposure (a POM, not a scheduled narcotic/psychotropic).
If prescribed / medical: Carry a certified prescription and medical report.
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Morphine

Legal status: Morphine is a scheduled narcotic under Kuwait's narcotics law (Law No. 74 of 1983, as amended) and is death-eligible: trafficking of narcotic-table opioids such as morphine is a capital offence and Kuwait has resumed drug-related executions; capital exposure is by aggravated-trafficking determination rather than a published gram threshold.
Consequences if caught: Unauthorised possession draws imprisonment; aggravated trafficking of narcotic-table opioids such as morphine is death-eligible and enforced.
If prescribed / medical: Available on prescription as a controlled narcotic for severe and cancer pain under strict records.
Documentation: TRAVELLER TRAP — Ministry of Health prior authorisation is required to import controlled narcotics; carry a prescription and documentation.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

MXE

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Nicotine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Nitrous Oxide

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Oxycodone

Legal status: Oxycodone is a controlled narcotic under Kuwait's narcotics law (Law No. 74 of 1983, as amended, and Decree-Law 159/2025) — a strong opioid; aggravated drug trafficking is a capital offence Kuwait has actively enforced (first drug execution in a decade in April 2023), so aggravated oxycodone trafficking is death-eligible (no published gram floor).
Consequences if caught: Unauthorised possession is prosecuted; aggravated narcotics trafficking is death-eligible and actively enforced — oxycodone as a narcotic-table strong opioid is within the capital trafficking tier by aggravated-trafficking determination.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed as a controlled narcotic on prescription.
Documentation: TRAVELLER TRAP: advance Ministry of Health clearance is required to import controlled medicines (roughly a 15-day supply) — carry a certified prescription/medical report.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

PCP

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Peyote

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Phenibut

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Pink Cocaine / Tusi

Legal status: Pink cocaine (tusi) is not scheduled as such; it is a variable mixture (typically ketamine + MDMA) prosecuted through its constituents — Kuwait prohibits MDMA under its 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983), which reaches any preparation containing a controlled substance. Because the blend varies batch to batch, exposure follows the most-severely-controlled component, so an MDMA-containing tusi sample carries capital exposure.
Consequences if caught: An MDMA-positive mixture is a prohibited-narcotic offence where trafficking is punishable by death or life (Arts 42–43) with mandatory death in aggravated cases (Art 44); possession and use are separately criminal.
If prescribed / medical: No lawful supply of the mixture; MDMA has no accepted medical or recreational use, and ketamine, where present, is a controlled medicine.
Documentation: Sold as a party powder of unknown makeup; because the blend varies batch to batch, buyers and travellers cannot know whether death-eligible MDMA is present, so capital-level legal exposure is unknowable at purchase.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Poppers

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Pregabalin

Legal status: Pregabalin is a controlled prescription medicine in Kuwait under the national narcotics/controlled-medicines framework, requiring advance clearance to import — an abuse-driven Gulf control stricter than ordinary prescription status; a pregabalin-specific capital tier is not established.
Consequences if caught: Importing without advance clearance leads to confiscation and possible prosecution; pregabalin is treated as a controlled medicine.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed as a controlled prescription medicine.
Documentation: Obtain advance written/electronic clearance before boarding and carry a certified prescription or medical report with a limited personal supply.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Psilocybin

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Quetiapine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Salvia divinorum

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Scopolamine (Devil's Breath)

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2 / Spice)

Legal status: Controlled. Synthetic cannabinoids fall under Kuwait's unified Anti-Drug Law (2025, replacing Law No. 74 of 1983), which schedules controlled substances and incorporates the synthetic cannabinoids added to Schedule II of the 1971 Convention. Capital exposure is via the general trafficking regime (death or life for trafficking); synthetic-cannabinoid-specific reach is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Illegal; trafficking is death- or life-eligible under the Anti-Drug Law. Do NOT carry.
If prescribed / medical: These synthetic cannabinoids have no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route in Kuwait.
Documentation: No lawful personal-import route for controlled synthetic cannabinoids; do not carry.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

THC-P

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Tobacco

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Tramadol

Legal status: Tramadol is a scheduled controlled narcotic in Kuwait under Decree-Law 159/2025 on Combating Narcotics (in force 15 December 2025) and its annexed schedules, requiring advance clearance to import; the 2025 law retains death for trafficking, though tramadol-specific capital exposure is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Importing without advance clearance leads to confiscation and possible prosecution; the tramadol-specific capital tier is left to confirmation.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed as a scheduled controlled narcotic on prescription.
Documentation: Obtain advance written/electronic clearance (via embassy/consulate) before boarding and carry a certified prescription/medical report; supply is limited to roughly 15 days.

Source · Updated 2026-07-13

Xanax (Alprazolam)

Legal status: Alprazolam is a Schedule 4 psychotropic substance under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987, which carry the UN Convention schedules), implementing 1971 Convention Schedule IV. As a lower medicinal-tier substance it sits below the drugs to which capital sentences are applied in practice; the statutory capital reach (Article 44) to this tier, and any quantity threshold, are left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Alprazolam is prescribable in Kuwait only under controlled-medicine rules; a traveller or patient importing it needs Kuwait Ministry of Health prior authorization — advance clearance of a certified medical report or prescription before arrival (regime under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025, in force December 2025), with supply capped at roughly one month of treatment.
Documentation: Bring an official prescription and a physician's medical report pre-certified by a Kuwaiti embassy or consulate and cleared with the Kuwait Ministry of Health before travel; uncertified papers are held by Customs pending airport-clinic certification within 24 hours. Non-nationals risk arrest for any scheduled substance carried without this clearance.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

Xylazine

Legal status: Not confirmed — status not individually verified; confirm with Kuwait's authorities (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) / your embassy
Consequences if caught: KUWAIT IS A DEATH-PENALTY COUNTRY for drug trafficking. This specific substance was not named in the reachable Kuwaiti sources (2025 unified Anti-Drug Law) — do NOT assume it is permitted; verify before travel. Kuwait retains the DEATH penalty. Under Kuwait's 2025 unified Anti-Drug Law (Amiri Decree-Law replacing Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987), import/smuggling/manufacture/cultivation with trafficking intent (Art 42) or possession/sale/purchase/promotion with trafficking intent (Art 43) can bring DEATH or life plus very large fines; Art 44 makes death MANDATORY in aggravating circumstances (recidivism, supplying or exploiting minors, abuse of official position). Personal-use (non-trafficking) possession carries up to 10 years plus a fine. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. The sources set NO specific per-drug gram threshold — confirm the exact quantity that distinguishes trafficking.
If prescribed / medical: If a controlled medicine, carry the prescription and confirm with your embassy (see documentation).
Documentation: Kuwait retains the death penalty for drug trafficking, with mandatory death in aggravating circumstances (Art 44: recidivism, supplying/exploiting minors, abuse of official position). There is zero medical or recreational cannabis. 2025 additions include random drug testing for military/civilian employees, mandatory testing for driver's-license and marriage applicants, immediate arrest powers, and compulsory hospitalization for addicts; addicts who voluntarily seek treatment are granted immunity. Foreigners are DEPORTED after sentence. NOTE: the exact 2025 decree number is reported as both 59/2025 and 159/2025 — verify. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.

Source · Updated 2026-06-26

Zolpidem

Legal status: Zolpidem is a Schedule 4 psychotropic substance under Kuwait's Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (in force December 2025, superseding Law No. 74 of 1983 and Law No. 48 of 1987, which carry the UN Convention schedules), implementing 1971 Convention Schedule IV. As a lower medicinal-tier substance it sits below the drugs to which capital sentences are applied in practice; the statutory capital reach (Article 44) to this tier, and any quantity threshold, are left to confirmation until the law's Executive Regulation is issued.
Consequences if caught: Trafficking, importation or production with intent under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025 carries the death penalty or life imprisonment plus fines up to KD 2 million (Article 44 aggravators include sale to minors, dealing near schools or places of worship, abuse of office, and international trafficking operations); simple possession or use draws imprisonment and fines, with deportation for non-nationals.
If prescribed / medical: Zolpidem is prescribable in Kuwait only under controlled-medicine rules; a traveller or patient importing it needs Kuwait Ministry of Health prior authorization — advance clearance of a certified medical report or prescription before arrival (regime under Decree-Law No. 159 of 2025, in force December 2025), with supply capped at roughly one month of treatment.
Documentation: Bring an official prescription and a physician's medical report pre-certified by a Kuwaiti embassy or consulate and cleared with the Kuwait Ministry of Health before travel; uncertified papers are held by Customs pending airport-clinic certification within 24 hours. Non-nationals risk arrest for any scheduled substance carried without this clearance.

Source · Updated 2026-07-14

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

Before you travel

Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authorityand your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.

If you’re detained or arrested abroad

Contact your own country’s embassy or consulatein the destination immediately — notthe destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →

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