Is Phenibut legal in Iraq?

Legal status

Not listed as at 22 September 2026. Phenibut appears nowhere in the ten schedules under any Latin or Arabic spelling searched. It is not named in any of the ten schedules annexed to Iraq's Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017, as those schedules stand after Statement 347 of 2025 of 17 November 2025, the Official Gazette having been checked to issue 4881 of 14 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Phenibut appears nowhere in the ten schedules under any Latin or Arabic spelling searched. Iraq's related entries are pregabalin, added to Schedule Eight by Statement 348 of 2024, and the barbiturates and benzodiazepines, and phenibut is none of these. Under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017, Article 27 punishes importing, bringing in or exporting, producing or manufacturing, and cultivating a producing plant, in each case with intent to trade, by death or life imprisonment. Trafficking possession carries life or a term of imprisonment under Article 28, First, for a Schedule One substance, and severe detention under Article 28, Sixth, for a substance on any of the other tables. The fine on the Article 28, First, offence runs from 10,000,000 to 30,000,000 Iraqi dinars, and the fine on the Article 28, Sixth, offence from 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 Iraqi dinars. Possession, purchase, import, production or cultivation for personal use carries one to three years under Article 32. The fine on personal use runs from 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 Iraqi dinars. Article 27 keys on the act rather than on a weight, and the law sets no gram threshold for it. Article 1 defines narcotics, psychotropics and precursors exclusively by the substances listed in the ten annexed schedules, and Article 49, Second, is the only route by which a substance is added, by a ministerial statement published in the Official Gazette. This row is placed outside that regime, so they are recorded as Iraq's published drug penalties and not as this substance's exposure. Iraq enforces the drug death penalty in practice: 144 drug-trafficking death sentences were issued in 2024, a figure carried forward here from the previous cell and not re-derived, on the authority of the US State Department and Iraqi court statements reported by 964media and The New Region.

If prescribed or medical

Phenibut is a prescription medicine in some states and a supplement in others. No Iraqi licensing position for it was established here.

Documentation

Nothing read here authorises carrying it, and an unlisted substance can be added by a ministerial statement at any time. Running or preparing a place for drug use is Article 28, Fourth, of this law; it is not a Penal Code Article 288 offence. Allowing another person to use drugs on premises of yours carries six months to two years under Article 33, First, with a fine of 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 Iraqi dinars. A doctor who writes a prescription for other than medical treatment faces not less than three months detention or a fine of 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 Iraqi dinars and a one year ban on practice under Article 31. Article 1 defines the ten schedules as the lists adopted by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 United Nations Convention against illicit traffic, each with its amendments, and Article 49, Second, is how Iraq amends them. Article 50 repeals Narcotics Law No. 68 of 1965, so the 1965 law is not the governing Act. Harm Reduction International reported 140 drug death sentences in Iraq between January and August 2024, a figure carried forward here and not re-derived. The US State Department has reported personal-use sentences of up to 15 years, which is longer than the Article 32 range and is carried forward here as that department reported it rather than re-derived from the statute. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with the Iraqi embassy before travel.

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