Is MXE legal in United Arab Emirates?

Legal status

Methoxetamine is listed at Schedule 6, item 10 of Decision No. 158 of 2025, at the printed entry «ميثوكسيتامين؛ MXE», and the dossier renders the chemical name as (RS)2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(ethylamino)cyclohexanone. The dossier records that the substance commonly abbreviated MXE is the one this entry lists, so the abbreviation and the systematic name are tied together in the schedule rather than left to be matched afterwards. The item number places it in the same Schedule 6 sequence as the ketamine entry at item 7 and the fluoro analogue at item 3, three arylcyclohexylamines enumerated individually within ten items of one another. The row runs through Articles 11, 43 and 58, with Schedule 10 group 3 carrying the quantity band. The placement was read on 20 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Article 58 reaches Schedules 3, 6, 7 and 8, and this substance is at Schedule 6, item 10, so the article applies. The dossier records Article 58 as providing death or life imprisonment as alternatives for its stated trafficking or promotion trigger, so death is discretionary rather than mandatory, and it records that the article states no quantity. The Schedule 10 group 3 band does not gate that route. This compound was marketed specifically as a legal substitute for the item 7 anaesthetic, and the enumeration is the answer to that marketing: it has its own item number, so the substitution argument has nowhere to run. Article 43 carries the personal use route for this branch, with its tariff unstated.

If prescribed or medical

The dossier records at the modafinil row that a 268 entry ministry travellers list was checked and expressly not used as a schedule. Attached to this substance: the placement at Schedule 6, item 10, with no medicinal product recorded behind it, unlike the ketamine entry three items earlier in the same schedule. No prescribing route or permit procedure is recorded, so the medical question is deferred rather than borrowed from the neighbouring entry.

Documentation

No documentation route is recorded for methoxetamine. Provenance: the entry «ميثوكسيتامين؛ MXE» at Schedule 6, item 10 was read on 20 September 2026, with the capital analysis resting on Article 58 and its death or life alternative rather than on the Schedule 10 group 3 band. The point worth carrying is that a vendor describing this compound as a lawful alternative to a scheduled anaesthetic is describing a substance that is itself scheduled at its own item number.

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