Is Opium legal in Saudi Arabia?

Legal status

Opium is a controlled narcotic drug in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule I Category A 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, printed as «الأفيون» under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A. The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is separately listed in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, so the plant and the prepared latex are each reached by their own entry rather than one being inferred from the other. Morphine, codeine and heroin are all separately listed as well, which means the poppy, the crude preparation and each of the derived alkaloids has its own place in the schedules. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.

Consequences if caught

Schedule I Category A with a Schedule IV plant listing places opium 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, and cultivation of the poppy is a named limb of the capital article rather than an agricultural offence dealt with elsewhere. 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.

If prescribed or medical

The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule. 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. Opium sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug with its plant in Schedule IV, and no Saudi dispensing route and no traveller importable opium preparation was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Opium containing traditional remedies bought abroad are within the entry rather than outside it.

Documentation

There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful personal import route was established for it, and that covers poppy heads, seeds sold for decoration and traditional preparations as well as the latex itself. 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 I Category A and Schedule IV entries 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.