Is Mephedrone (4-MMC) legal in Tajikistan?

Legal status

Controlled in Tajikistan. Item 232 of Перечень 2, psychotropic substances, of the National List approved by Government Resolution No. 121 of 27 February 2020 is «Мефедрон, 4-метилметкатинон, 4-ММС», described as «2-(метиламино)-1-(4-метилфенил)пропан-1-он». Annex 1 to the Criminal Code carries the same entry at row 232 of its Перечень 2 with its sizes. The 2020 text is the National List as approved. The Drug Control Agency's consolidation names two amending resolutions, No. 507 of 25 November 2021 and No. 87 of 2 March 2023, and zakon.kz, which shares its publisher with prg.kz, gives 2 March 2023 as the last amendment. The text of No. 507 was not read, No. 87 was read only in its opening, and the Agency's consolidation is headed «Проект», so this placement is stated as at the 2020 text and the 2026 annex, and a later amendment is not ruled out.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Article 59(1) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan reserves the death penalty for «убийство (часть вторая статьи 104), изнасилование (часть третья статьи 138), терроризм (часть третья статьи 179), геноцид (статья 398), биоцид (статья 399)», that is murder, rape, terrorism, genocide and biocide, and names no drug offence. Article 58(1), the article on life imprisonment, provides that a life term «назначается только как альтернатива смертной казни», only as an alternative to the death penalty, so no drug offence carries a life term either. Conduct distinction. Article 200 covers production, manufacture, processing, acquisition, storage, transport or sending with intent to sell, and sale itself: up to five years for a «мелком» (smallest) size, five to eight years for a «небольшом» (small) size, eight to twelve years for a «крупных» (large) size or a repeat or group offence or one committed in a school or at a place for public events, and twelve to twenty years for an «особо крупных» (especially large) size or an organised group. Article 201 covers the same conduct without intent to sell, which is where possession for one's own use falls: a fine of one hundred to five hundred calculation indicators or up to two years for the smallest size, two to five years for the small size, five to eight years for the large size or a repeat or group offence, and eight to twelve years for the especially large size. In the 2026 text confiscation of property is mandatory under article 200(4), «с конфискацией имущества», and optional under articles 200(2), 200(3), 201(3) and 201(4). Moving a narcotic or psychotropic substance across the customs border is article 289(3), eight to twelve years, when it is done «помимо или с сокрытием от таможенного контроля, либо использование документов или средств таможенной идентификации обманным путем, либо сопряжено с недекларированием или недостоверным декларированием», that is outside or hidden from customs control, with deceptive documents, or undeclared or falsely declared; that part states no size threshold. The sizes come from Annex 1 to the Code, under note 2 to article 200. The texts read do not say what applies below the smallest size, so nothing is stated for it. Sizes. Annex 1, Перечень 2, row 232, «Мефедрон, 4-метилметкатинон, 4-ММС», sets the smallest size at «0,02-0,05гр», the small size at «0,05-10гр», the large size at «10-20гр», and the especially large size at over «20гр».

If prescribed or medical

Article 15 of Law No. 873 of 10 December 1999 on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors provides «В Республике Таджикистан потребление наркотических средств и психотропных веществ без назначения врача запрещается», so consumption without a doctor's prescription is prohibited, and it leaves prescribing to a procedure set by the Ministry of Health, which was not read. The note to the 2020 National List puts items 1 to 268 of Перечень 2, which include item 232, among «психотропные вещества представляющие особую опасность и не представляющие интерес для использования в медицинских целях», psychotropic substances of particular danger and of no interest for medical use. The texts read set out no route by which a foreign prescription makes carrying mephedrone into Tajikistan lawful, so none is stated.

Documentation

Article 10 of Law No. 873 requires, for each crossing of the customs border to bring in or take out a narcotic drug, psychotropic substance or precursor, «разрешение и сертификат международного образца», a permit and an international format certificate issued under a procedure set by the Government, and provides that what is brought in or taken out without a licence and permit «подлежат конфискации», is liable to confiscation. That Government procedure was not read, and Law No. 873 as read sets out no personal allowance for a traveller. The earlier version of this cell rested on a dossier that named Government Resolution No. 121 of 27 February 2020 and Criminal Code arts 200 to 204 with the quantity list in Criminal Code Appendix 1, Table 1; this version reads those instruments directly. The previous version of this cell left this substance not confirmed because its dossier retained no entry for it; the entry quoted in this cell is what settles it. prg.kz is a commercial legal database run from Kazakhstan, not an official Tajik publisher; the official ncz.tj page records Annex 1 as replaced by Law No. 1984 of 13 November 2023 but did not serve the table, and the ncz.tj file of the Code answered HTTP 503 twice on 3 October 2026.

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