Is Nicotine legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

Nicotine is not a controlled substance under the Saudi narcotics law. The schedules attached to the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, in the version issued on 4 September 2026, were searched and the record reads «بحث الجداول عن نيكوتين: لا يوجد قيد مطابق في الجداول من الأول إلى الرابع.», the schedule search for nicotine, there is no matching entry in the schedules from the first to the fourth. Nicotine products are governed instead by the Anti-Smoking Law, Royal Decree M/56 of 1436 AH, and the product rules made under it, which is a separate statute with its own scope and its own enforcement. That is the finding: not that nicotine is unregulated, but that the instrument regulating it is not the one the rest of this table runs on, and its restrictions on sale, advertising, packaging and where a product may be used are not narcotics restrictions.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Nicotine is not in the narcotics schedules, so Article 37 does not reach it, its capital route is not engaged and no drug quantity threshold applies. The Anti-Smoking Law and its product rules are the instruments that do apply, and they work through restrictions and administrative penalties on sale, advertising, packaging and place of use rather than through the narcotics penalty articles. The dossier's columns identify that statute for this row but do not carry its penalty provisions, so no fine or term is stated here. Vaping and heated tobacco products are within the reach of that regime as nicotine products rather than outside it, and import quantities are a customs matter in any event.

If prescribed or medical

The SFDA controlled medicine clearance regime described elsewhere in this table does not reach nicotine, because nicotine is not in the schedules that regime is built on. Nicotine replacement therapy, patches, gum and lozenges, is treated as a medicine or a consumer product under the SFDA's ordinary rules rather than as a controlled substance. The dossier does not carry the detail of those rules for this row, so the position of a particular nicotine product at the border is deferred rather than stated, and declaring an unusual quantity is the sensible course.

Documentation

No narcotics clearance is needed for nicotine itself. Carry nicotine replacement therapy in its original packaging, and expect vaping and heated tobacco products to be assessed under the Anti-Smoking Law regime and the customs rules rather than waved through as ordinary goods. The failed narcotics schedule search for nicotine was run against 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.