Is Pregabalin legal in United Arab Emirates?

Also known as: lyrica

Legal status

Pregabalin is placed at Schedule 9, item 18 of Decision No. 158 of 2025, at the printed entry «بريجابالين», where the instrument states 600 mg daily. The dossier's finding is precise and it is the whole of the row: pregabalin is in Schedule 9 and it is not placed in Schedules 1 through 8. Schedule 9 is where this instrument records quantities for controlled medicines, and it lies outside the schedules named by the two trafficking articles, so the substance is controlled without being inside either article's group. That makes this the only row in this table with a quantity attached to it and no capital route, which is the inverse of every scheduled row, where the capital route is quantity free. The placement was read on 20 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. This row is in Schedule 9, which is outside the schedules named by Articles 57 and 58, so neither article attaches. Its printed daily quantity of 600 mg is a control limit and not a death threshold, and reading it as one would be the exact error this instrument invites, because it is the one figure in the table that sits beside a substance with no capital route at all. The dossier states no other penalty for the row, so no term of years or fine is given here. Anyone comparing this row with the gabapentin and tramadol rows should note that those two carry Schedule 9 figures as well as Schedule 8 placements, and it is the Schedule 8 placement and not the figure that brings Article 58 into play for them.

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: pregabalin is at Schedule 9, item 18, with 600 mg daily printed against it, and that figure is the most directly medicine facing fact the dossier carries for this row. The dossier does not state what the figure governs, whether a prescribing limit, a dispensing limit or something else, nor what procedure attaches to it, so it is reported here as printed and not interpreted. The permit question is deferred.

Documentation

Carry the prescription and the original dispensing packaging naming pregabalin, and note the daily dose, since the instrument prints 600 mg daily against this substance at Schedule 9, item 18. Provenance: the Schedule 9, item 18 placement and the entry «بريجابالين» were read on 20 September 2026, and the dossier records no Schedules 1 to 8 placement for pregabalin. Ask the health ministry what the 600 mg figure governs rather than assuming it is an amount a traveller may bring.

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.