Is Peyote legal in Kazakhstan?

Legal status

Peyote is a plant and Kazakhstan's Resolution works on substances, so the answer on this row is split. The cactus is named nowhere in the Resolution, neither under a Russian name nor under Lophophora, and the cultivation table in Таблица IV of the Сводная таблица names only the coca bush, khat, the opium poppy and ephedra. Its alkaloid is listed: Мескалин is item 17 of Таблица I section В, among the psychotropic substances whose medical use is prohibited, with sizes of 0-0,3 grams, 0,3-5,0 grams and above 5,0 grams. So dried cactus is not a listed article by its own name while the mescaline in it is a listed psychotropic substance, and a preparation sold by mescaline content falls inside the entry. The copy read carries the amendment of 24 February 2026 made by Government Resolution No. 111, and the Сводная таблица is wholly in that redaction, so every size quoted here is the 24 February 2026 text, and a later amendment is not ruled out. [Certain] on every entry and figure quoted, all re-derived from the instrument in this pass.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Kazakhstan has abolished the death penalty. No capital punishment remains available anywhere in its Criminal Code, because the law of 29 December 2021 numbered 89-VII on abolition replaced the words carrying it in Article 11 with life imprisonment, and Article 46 now names life imprisonment as the heaviest penalty the Code holds. The penalty ladder is read off those sizes. Possession without intent to supply sits in Criminal Code Article 296, which is non-custodial at parts 2 and 3, a fine of up to 160 or up to 200 monthly calculation indices or arrest of up to 40 or 50 days, and becomes custodial only at part 4, three to seven years, once the seizure is особо крупный. Consumption in a public place is part 1 of the same article. Supply runs under Article 297 at five to eight years with confiscation for the bare offence and fifteen to twenty years for its heaviest part, and manufacture or processing for supply under Article 297-1, added on 2 January 2025 by law No. 150-VIII, carries life imprisonment at part 4. Which of those bands applies to a seizure of peyote depends on what the material is measured as, because the Resolution sets grams for the listed substances and not for the raw plant, except where the cultivation table sets a number of plants instead. Article 296 also carries a note releasing from liability under that article a person who voluntarily hands the substance over, seeks medical help or actively assists in uncovering a related offence. [Likely] The Criminal Code articles and their year ranges in this cell were read from secondary consolidations rather than from an official publisher in this pass. Two independent consolidations agree on them, and the Code's own article text was not reached: the state portal served only its contents list. The abolition of the death penalty, by contrast, was confirmed against the Code itself and is tagged [Certain] where it appears. [Likely] Carried from the entry published before this batch and not re-derived in this pass: the two middle rungs of that ladder are six to ten years for part 2 and seven to twelve years for part 3.

If prescribed or medical

The Resolution answers the prescribing question for the listed substances and not for the plant. Nothing in it creates a medical route for Peyote as plant material, and a foreign prescription would not supply one. Where the listed alkaloid sits in Таблица I of the Список, medical use of that alkaloid is prohibited outright, so no prescribing route exists on that side either.

Documentation

Provenance. The entries, the cultivation table and the grams quoted here were read from the consolidated text of Government Resolution of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 470 of 3 July 2019 approving the Список наркотических средств, психотропных веществ и прекурсоров, подлежащих контролю в Республике Казахстан and the Сводная таблица of small, large and particularly large sizes at https://zakon.uchet.kz/rus/docs/P1900000470 on 2026-09-21. The cultivation table is a separate table at the end of the Сводная таблица and is easy to miss, which is why it was read in full rather than searched. The copy read carries the amendment of 24 February 2026 made by Government Resolution No. 111, and the Сводная таблица is wholly in that redaction, so every size quoted here is the 24 February 2026 text. This cell asserts that the plant itself is not named, so it names the version it read and does not rule out a later one.

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