Is Methaqualone (Quaaludes) legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

Methaqualone is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, in the version of those schedules issued on 4 September 2026, and the schedules restrict it specially to research. The entry prints «ميثاكوالون» under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. Methaqualone was withdrawn as a medicine decades ago in most of the world, so the research restriction is doing real work rather than describing a theoretical position: there is no ordinary prescribing route for it to sit behind. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.

Consequences if caught

A Schedule II Category B placement brings methaqualone inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it: the conduct named is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, together with the repeat promotion histories the article sets out. Death under Article 37(I) is a statutory ta'zir penalty and it is not mandatory, because Article 37(II) gives the court the power to reduce it; where the court does reduce, the substitute is a prison term of not less than fifteen years with the lashes and the fine the article states. No express life imprisonment wording was found anywhere in M/39. Articles 38 to 41 are cited as the tiers below Article 37 for this placement. The research restriction limits who may lawfully hold the substance at all; it does not create a lighter penalty for anyone outside that permission.

If prescribed or medical

The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and on this row there is no prescription to speak of. A controlled medicine may be brought in only under a clearance obtained from the SFDA before travel through its Controlled Drugs System, and that advance electronic clearance is required rather than optional. Methaqualone sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance specially restricted to research, so lawful holding runs through a research authorisation rather than through a traveller permit, and no Saudi dispensing route for a methaqualone medicine was recorded.

Documentation

There is no traveller route for this substance. A research holder relies on the authorisation the schedules contemplate, which belongs to the institution rather than to an individual crossing a border. For any controlled medicine, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling, carry the clearance and not the prescription alone, bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. The permit mechanics stated here are the SFDA traveller rules recorded on the current live cell and were not re-derived from the instrument in this pass. The Schedule II Category B placement and the research restriction were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

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