Legal status in Saudi Arabia

Per-substance legal status for Saudi Arabia, from sourced statutes where available. Legal information, not legal advice; drug laws change, so confirm with the destination’s embassy or drug authority before you travel.

72 confirmed substances16 not individually verifiedLast updated October 8, 2026

Confirmed legal status

2-FDCK

Legal status: 2-FDCK is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «-2 فلورودسكلوركيتامين», 2-fluorodeschloroketamine, under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. The entry is for the fluorinated compound by its own name, so the placement does not run through the separate ketamine entry and does not depend on treating 2-FDCK as a ketamine analogue; ketamine is listed elsewhere, at Schedule II Category E, and the two rows stand on their own feet. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are the provisions cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current, which is why the September 2026 attachment rather than the original print is the operative list.
Consequences if caught: Because 2-FDCK sits in Schedule II Category B, Article 37(I) is available against it, and the article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it: the conduct it names 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. 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, so life is not the statutory alternative to death here whatever a secondary source says. Articles 38 to 41 are cited as the tiers below Article 37 for this placement.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one at the border. 2-FDCK sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it, so the country level permit rule is the whole of the answer here and the Category B placement is what it attaches to. Nothing in this cell should be read as saying a clearance would issue for 2-FDCK.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category B placement for 2-fluorodeschloroketamine was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with 2-fluorodeschloroketamine placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

2-FDCK in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

25I-NBOMe

Legal status: 25I-NBOMe is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The entry as printed reads «ان بي او مي كومبوند», a transliteration of NBOMe compound, under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. That is worth stating precisely rather than tidying: the schedule names the NBOMe compound group at the entry rather than spelling 25I-NBOMe out, and the reading applied here is that 25I-NBOMe is within the entry the schedule prints. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are the provisions cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current, so the September 2026 attachment is the operative list.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts 25I-NBOMe inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it: the conduct it names 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. 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 for this placement. The identification point matters practically as well as legally, because NBOMe compounds are commonly sold as LSD and LSD is separately scheduled in the same Category A.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance. 25I-NBOMe sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it, so the country level permit rule is the whole of the answer here and the Category A placement is what it attaches to. Nothing in this cell should be read as saying a clearance would issue for 25I-NBOMe.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category A placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with the NBOMe compound entry at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

25I-NBOMe in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

2C-B

Legal status: 2C-B is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «2C-B» and the category heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. The placement rests on the express entry and on nothing else: no analogue clause, no chemical family clause and no argument from resemblance to another phenethylamine was used to reach it, and this row would have been left unresolved if the name were absent. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are the provisions cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current, which is why the operative list is the September 2026 attachment rather than the schedules as they stood when the Decree issued.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) reaches a Schedule II Category B substance, and it reaches it at no stated quantity at all. There is no weight threshold anywhere in the article: the conduct it names 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, so a gram and a kilogram enter through the same door. 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, so a reader told that the alternative to death here is life has been told something the statute does not say. Articles 38 to 41 are cited as the tiers below Article 37 for this placement.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one at the border or at a pharmacy counter. 2C-B sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it, so the country level permit rule is the whole of the answer here and the Category B placement is what it attaches to. Nothing in this cell should be read as saying a clearance would issue for 2C-B.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs, where inspection is thorough; 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 II Category B placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with 2C-B placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

2C-B in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

3-MMC

Legal status: 3-MMC (3-methylmethcathinone) is controlled in Saudi Arabia via the GCC unified controlled-substances list and the 1971 Convention Schedule II obligation, with cathinone/amphetamine-derivative catch-all reach; the exact 3-MMC-specific entry is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia does retain the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote. What this cell cannot establish is whether that provision reaches this substance: the source read here does not enumerate it and does not supply the entry that would place it. No quantity is stated here because none is established, and a figure carried over from another substance would be an invention. Treat the absence of a stated exposure as an open question rather than as a finding that none exists, and settle it against the current instrument before travelling.
If prescribed / medical: No recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route.
Documentation: No lawful personal-import route; zero-tolerance, EXTREME enforcement risk.

euda.europa.eu · Updated September 20, 2026

3-MMC in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

5-MeO-DMT (Bufo / Toad)

Legal status: 5-MeO-DMT is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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. The schedule prints «-5 ميثوكسي- داي ميثيل تربتامين», 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine, under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Category E is the Kingdom's own domestic list rather than a transcription of an international schedule, which is why a substance can sit there without appearing in the treaty tables, and it is the reason this row could be resolved at all. The placement is by the express entry: DMT is separately scheduled at Schedule II Category A, and 5-MeO-DMT is not reached through that entry or through any analogue argument. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category E placement is a placement in the schedules, so Article 37(I) is available, and it states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in the article: the conduct it names is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, together with the repeat promotion histories it sets out. 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 for this placement. Nothing about the locally controlled label softens the penalty articles, which do not sort by category letter.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one at the border. 5-MeO-DMT sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it, so the country level permit rule is the whole of the answer here. Nothing in this cell should be read as saying a clearance would issue for 5-MeO-DMT.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category E placement for 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine placed at Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

5-MeO-DMT (Bufo / Toad) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH)

Legal status: 7-hydroxymitragynine is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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. The schedule prints «ميرتاجينين و-7 هيدروكسي ميرتاجينين», mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. The metabolite is named in the same entry as the parent alkaloid rather than left to be inferred from it, which is the difference between a placement that survives argument and one that does not. Category E is the Kingdom's own domestic list, so the placement does not depend on the substance appearing in any international table. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) is available against a Schedule II Category E substance, and it states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in the article: the conduct it names is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, together with the repeat promotion histories it sets out. 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 for this placement. The kratom plant is separately a prohibited plant under Schedule IV, so plant material and isolated alkaloid are reached by different entries and both are reached.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance. 7-hydroxymitragynine sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, and no separate per substance route was recorded for it. A supplement bought lawfully elsewhere is not a medicine for this purpose and carries no permit with it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category E placement for 7-hydroxymitragynine was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine placed at Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Adderall

Legal status: Adderall has no legal identity of its own in Saudi Arabia, because it is a brand and the schedules list substances. What the schedules reach is its contents. The mixed amphetamine salts in Adderall resolve through the amphetamine entries at Schedule II Category B of 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, which print «أمفيتامين», amphetamine, under «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances, together with the stereochemical and salts wording that carries the salts rather than only the free base. That salts wording is what makes the row work: a product that is dexamfetamine saccharate, amfetamine aspartate, dexamfetamine sulfate and amfetamine sulfate is four salts and no free base, and without the salts limb the entry would not reach the tablet in the bottle. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Because the contents are Schedule II Category B, Article 37(I) is available against them, and it states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in the article: the conduct it names is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, together with the repeat promotion histories it sets out. 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 for this placement. A prescription bottle carried in from abroad is the most common way this row is reached in practice, and it is reached because the permit is missing rather than because the medicine is unusual.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and this is the row where that distinction costs people the most. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival, however genuine it is and however long the patient has taken the medicine. Adderall's contents sit inside that regime as Schedule II Category B substances, so the clearance question governs, and the dossier records no separate per substance route that would take a branded amphetamine product outside it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Name the active ingredient and not only the brand on every document, because the brand is what the schedules do not list. 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 II Category B amphetamine placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with Adderall resolved through the amphetamine entries and the salts wording at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Adderall in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Alcohol

Legal status: Beverage alcohol is prohibited in Saudi Arabia, and it is prohibited by a different instrument from the one that governs the rest of this table. 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 الكحول: لا يوجد قيد مطابق في الجداول من الأول إلى الرابع.», the schedule search for alcohol, there is no matching entry in the schedules from the first to the fourth. That is a finding about which law applies and not a finding that drinking is permitted. Ordinary beverage alcohol falls under the separate Saudi Sharia criminal prohibition and under the customs and import control regime, which is why the narcotics articles quoted elsewhere in this table are the wrong articles to reason from here. Anyone who reads the absence of a schedule entry as permission has drawn exactly the inference this row exists to prevent.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: none. The narcotics law is not the instrument that governs beverage alcohol in the Kingdom, so Article 37, its capital route and its absence of any quantity threshold are all beside the point on this row, and no drug weight calculation applies. What does apply is the Sharia criminal prohibition together with the customs and import control regime, enforced at the border and inland, and covering production, import, sale, possession and consumption. The dossier's columns identify that regime but do not carry its penalty tiers, so the sentencing range is deferred here rather than guessed at, and a figure quoted from a travel article is not a substitute for the instrument. The practical position is unambiguous even where the tariff is not: there is no personal allowance, duty free purchases are confiscated on arrival, and a bottle in a suitcase is an offence rather than a declaration problem.
If prescribed / medical: The SFDA controlled medicine clearance regime described elsewhere in this table does not reach beverage alcohol, because alcohol is not in the schedules that regime is built on. Medicinal and industrial ethanol is governed by its own licensing arrangements rather than by the narcotics permit, and the dossier does not carry the terms of those arrangements, so the position of an alcohol containing medicine, a tincture or a mouthwash at the border is deferred rather than stated. That deferral is itself the practical advice: a product whose excipient is ethanol should be declared and evidenced with its prescription rather than assumed to be covered.
Documentation: There is no permit to carry, because there is no lawful personal import route for beverage alcohol. Do not buy in duty free en route, and do not assume a sealed bottle in transit baggage is treated differently from one in a suitcase. If a prescribed medicine contains ethanol, carry it in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient and the active ingredient, translated into Arabic, and declare it at customs rather than relying on the absence of a schedule entry. The failed narcotics schedule search for alcohol was run against the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, the Sharia criminal prohibition on intoxicants together with the customs and import control regime, which are the instruments that govern beverage alcohol · the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, does not schedule it, and Schedules I to IV in the version issued on 4 September 2026 were searched with no matching entry, at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy · M/39 itself was read at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy, and cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus. No URL for the Sharia criminal or customs instruments was carried in this row's source set, so those are cited by name only · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Alcohol in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Amanita muscaria

Legal status: Amanita muscaria is reached expressly and twice over in Saudi Arabia. The fungus itself is named in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule 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, and the same row links it to muscarine in Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list. The schedule prints «أمانيتا مسكاريا» against the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. The point worth holding on to is that this is a plant schedule doing the work rather than an inference from the mushroom's constituents: the Kingdom did not leave Amanita to be argued about through ibotenic acid and muscimol, it listed the organism. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants, and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule IV prohibited plant with a linked Schedule II Category E constituent is 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 it sets out, and cultivation is a limb of the article rather than a lesser offence. 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 for this placement. Dried caps sold as a legal botanical elsewhere do not arrive in the Kingdom as a legal botanical.
If prescribed / 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. Amanita muscaria sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule IV prohibited plant linked to a Schedule II Category E constituent, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue. A supplement, a tea or a dried botanical bought lawfully abroad carries no Saudi permission with it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this material, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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, keep to a one month supply or the length of the stay, 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 IV listing and the Schedule II Category E link were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with Amanita muscaria named in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, and linked to muscarine at Schedule II Category E of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Amanita muscaria in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Amphetamine

Legal status: Amphetamine is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «أمفيتامين» under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances, and the entry is the international name amfetamine as well as the ordinary English spelling. This is the row that several others in this table run through: Adderall resolves to it through the salts wording, and the substance most often encountered in the Gulf under the street name Captagon is an amphetamine product rather than a separate scheduled molecule. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) reaches a Schedule II Category B substance, and it 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, so a single tablet and a shipping container enter through the same provision and the difference between them is a sentencing question rather than a threshold question. 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 for this placement.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival. Amphetamine sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, so the clearance question governs any medicinal amphetamine product, and no separate per substance route was recorded that would take one outside it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any amphetamine medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category B placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with amfetamine placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Amphetamine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Ayahuasca

Legal status: Ayahuasca is controlled in Saudi Arabia through its actual components rather than through the name of the brew. Banisteriopsis caapi, the vine, is expressly named in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule 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, printed as «نبات (Banisteriopsis Caapi)». Its harmala alkaloid constituent harmine sits at Schedule II Category E, under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Where the preparation also contains DMT, and a traditional brew ordinarily does, DMT is separately scheduled at Schedule II Category A. Three entries, three routes, and the brew does not need its own listing for any of them to apply. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) is available through any of the three entries, and the 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 both cultivation of the vine and extraction from it are limbs of that article. 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 for this placement. A brew that a laboratory reports as DMT positive engages the Category A entry as well as the plant one.
If prescribed / 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. Ayahuasca's components sit inside the narcotics law at Schedule IV and at Schedule II Categories A and E, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing them was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue. Religious or ceremonial use is not a recorded exemption in these schedules and none was found.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this preparation, because no lawful import route was established for it. Dried vine, cut root bark and a bottled brew are all reached by the entries above, and a customs declaration does not convert a prohibited plant into a permitted one. 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 IV and Schedule II entries were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with Banisteriopsis caapi named in Schedule IV, harmine at Schedule II Category E and DMT at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated October 8, 2026

Ayahuasca in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Barbiturates

Legal status: Controlled under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), phenobarbital sits in Category D (1971 Convention Schedule IV), while secobarbital is a Category B (1971 Schedule II) substance expressly named among prohibited substances. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no barbiturate-specific capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Phenobarbital is a prescribable controlled anticonvulsant; import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID (secobarbital is prohibited by name and is not importable).
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (phenobarbital Category D = 1971 Schedule IV; secobarbital Category B prohibited by name), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Barbiturates in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Benzodiazepines

Legal status: Benzodiazepines are a class and not a molecule, and in Saudi Arabia the class resolves member by member rather than in one line. 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, name the members individually, printing «ألبرازولام؛ كلونازيبام؛ ديازيبام؛ لورازيبام؛ نيميتازيبام», alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam and nimetazepam, under «فئة (د):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category D psychotropic substances. Unlike the barbiturate row in this table, this class can be answered, because each of those members has its own row here and each of them landed in the same place: Schedule II Category D. Etizolam, which is a thienodiazepine rather than a true benzodiazepine but is used as one, is separately scheduled at Schedule II Category D on its own row in this table although it is not among the five names printed in the entry quoted above. So every member of this class that this table covers is a Category D psychotropic, and that convergence is measured across six rows rather than assumed from the class name.
Consequences if caught: Every member of this class that this table resolves is a Schedule II Category D substance, so Article 37(I) is available against each of them, and the article states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter, so a prescribed anxiolytic and a Category A narcotic enter the same provision: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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. A benzodiazepine not named above should still be checked on its own name before this answer is relied on for it.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and this class is where the distinction catches the largest number of ordinary travellers. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival. Each of these members sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category D substance, so the clearance question governs, and it should be applied for on the name of the specific active ingredient rather than on the class.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, naming the specific benzodiazepine as the active ingredient, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category D placements for alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam, nimetazepam and etizolam were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with the class resolved member by member through the individual entries at Schedule II Category D of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, which name alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam and nimetazepam, etizolam being separately placed in the same category · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39, with the statute text cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Benzodiazepines in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Buprenorphine

Legal status: Buprenorphine is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category C 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. The schedule prints «بوبرينورفين» under the heading «فئة (ج):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category C psychotropic substances. The category is worth noting because buprenorphine is an opioid and the reflex is to look for it in Schedule I with morphine and methadone; the Kingdom's schedules put it in the psychotropics table instead, and the entry that governs is the one that is actually printed. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current, so the September 2026 attachment is the operative list.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) reaches a Schedule II Category C substance, and it 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. 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 for this placement. The therapeutic purpose of a buprenorphine product does not change which article it enters; what changes that is the permit.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and the permit is what separates lawful carriage from an offence. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival, and that includes a maintenance prescription a patient has held for years. Buprenorphine sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category C substance, so the clearance question governs, and no separate per substance route was recorded that would take a buprenorphine or buprenorphine and naloxone product outside it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category C placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with buprenorphine placed at Schedule II Category C of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Buprenorphine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Caffeine

Legal status: Caffeine is not a controlled substance in Saudi Arabia. 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 كافيين: لا يوجد قيد مطابق في الجداول من الأول إلى الرابع.», the schedule search for caffeine, there is no matching entry in the schedules from the first to the fourth. Caffeine is governed instead through the SFDA's food and medicines regime, which is where limits on energy drinks, caffeinated products and caffeine containing medicines sit. Coffee is a national institution in the Kingdom and nothing in the narcotics law touches it. The distinction this row records is that a substance can be regulated without being scheduled, and that the instrument doing the regulating determines what the penalties are.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: none. Caffeine 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, because thresholds belong to a scheduling framework this substance is outside. There is no offence of possessing or consuming caffeine in Saudi Arabia. What does exist is product regulation under the SFDA food and medicines rules, which can restrict how a caffeinated product is composed, labelled, marketed or sold, and those rules are regulatory rather than criminal in the sense that the rest of this table is discussing. The dossier's columns identify the SFDA regime but do not carry its specific limits, so no figure for a permitted concentration or a serving is stated here.
If prescribed / medical: The SFDA controlled medicine clearance regime described elsewhere in this table does not apply to caffeine, because caffeine is not in the schedules that regime is built on. A caffeine containing medicine travels as an ordinary medicine rather than as a controlled one. If a product combines caffeine with a scheduled substance, and some analgesic combinations do, it is the scheduled component that determines the permit position and it should be checked on its own name rather than on the caffeine.
Documentation: No narcotics clearance is needed for caffeine itself. Carry an ordinary medicine in its original packaging with the prescription where it has one, which is good practice at any border rather than a Saudi requirement in this case. Where a combination product contains a scheduled substance alongside caffeine, apply for that substance through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling and carry the clearance. The failed narcotics schedule search for caffeine was run against the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, does not schedule caffeine · Schedules I to IV in the version issued on 4 September 2026 were searched with no matching entry, at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy. Caffeine is governed by the SFDA food and medicines regime, cited by name because no URL for it was carried in this row's source set. M/39 itself was read at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy, and cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Caffeine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Cannabis / THC

Legal status: Cannabis is a controlled narcotic drug in Saudi Arabia and it is reached three ways over. The plant and its resin are 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 issued on 4 September 2026, printed as «القنب الهندي... Cannabis Sativa» under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A. The plant is separately a prohibited plant under Schedule IV, and tetrahydrocannabinol is separately scheduled at Schedule II Category A. So herb, resin and the isolated cannabinoid each have their own entry, and growing the plant is reached by the plant schedule rather than left to be argued from possession of the product. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current. Nothing in these schedules distinguishes cannabis by THC content for the purposes of the Schedule I placement.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) reaches cannabis at Schedule I Category A, and it reaches it at no stated quantity at all. There is no weight threshold anywhere in the article, which is the single most important thing for a reader arriving from a jurisdiction that grades cannabis by grams: 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 a personal amount does not sit below a line because there is no line. 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, and it is in that lower band rather than in Article 37 that a personal use case is dealt with.
If prescribed / 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. Cannabis sits inside the narcotics law at Schedule I Category A, as a Schedule IV prohibited plant, and through the Schedule II Category A tetrahydrocannabinol entry, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal cannabis product was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. A medical cannabis authorisation issued in another country is not a Saudi clearance and has no standing at the border.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for cannabis, because no lawful import route was established for it. That holds for flower, resin, edibles, vape cartridges and oils alike, and a prescription label from a jurisdiction where the product is lawful does not travel with it. 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, Schedule IV and Schedule II Category A entries were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with cannabis and cannabis resin placed at Schedule I Category A, the plant listed in Schedule IV and tetrahydrocannabinol at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Cannabis / THC in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Cathinone

Legal status: Cathinone is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The schedule prints «كاثينون» under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. Cathinone is the principal active alkaloid of khat, and the Kingdom has listed both: the khat plant is separately a prohibited plant under Schedule IV and cathine, the weaker alkaloid, sits at Schedule II Category C. Three entries at three different strengths of control, which is what an engaged legislature looks like on this plant and which is why none of this row rests on inference from the plant to its constituent. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts cathinone 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 it sets out. 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 for this placement. Fresh khat leaf carries cathinone that degrades to cathine as it wilts, so the same bundle can engage a different entry depending on when it is tested.
If prescribed / 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. Cathinone sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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, keep to a one month supply or the length of the stay, 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 II Category A placement for cathinone was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with cathinone placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, khat being separately listed in Schedule IV and cathine at Schedule II Category C · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Cathinone in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

CBD

Legal status: CBD of herbal origin is broadly prohibited in Saudi Arabia, with exceptions that the rule itself prints. CBD has its own rule in Saudi Arabia rather than an ordinary schedule entry. General Rule 9 of 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, addresses «مادة الكانابيديول (CBD)» and turns on origin, reaching CBD «المستخلصة أو المستحضرة من مصادر عشبية», extracted or prepared from herbal sources, subject to the exceptions the rule itself prints. The structure has three limbs. The first limb is that prohibition of herbal source CBD compounds. Wholly synthetic CBD can qualify for the stated exception where it carries no scheduled component. Approved herbal medicinal CBD products are brought within M/39 rather than left outside it. So the question a Saudi officer asks about a CBD product is where the molecule came from and what else is in the bottle, not whether the label says CBD. Cannabis itself remains at Schedule I Category A and tetrahydrocannabinol at Schedule II Category A.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure here is conditional and the condition is the contents. The special 2026 CBD rule prohibits extensive conduct in its own terms but does not itself create a standalone Article 37 trigger, and Article 37 capital exposure requires either a scheduled narcotic or psychotropic constituent or a product that the CBD rule has brought within M/39. Where one of those is present, Article 37(I) is available and it states no quantity at all: the conduct named is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, with no weight threshold anywhere in it, and the death sentence is reducible by the court under Article 37(II) to a prison term of not less than fifteen years with the stated lashes and fine. No express life imprisonment wording was found anywhere in M/39. The practical trap is that most retail CBD oil is a herbal extract carrying residual THC, and THC is Schedule II Category A, so the constituent rather than the label decides which article applies.
If prescribed / 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. CBD's position under that rule depends on which limb of General Rule 9 the product falls into: an approved herbal medicinal CBD product is brought within M/39 and therefore inside the clearance regime, while a herbal source CBD compound that is not an approved product is on the prohibited side of the rule rather than the permitted side. A wholly synthetic CBD preparation with no scheduled component can qualify for the stated exception. A foreign prescription does not establish any of those limbs, and a certificate of analysis from the seller is not an SFDA determination.
Documentation: Do not carry a retail CBD product into the Kingdom on the strength of it being lawful where it was bought. If the product is an approved herbal medicinal CBD preparation, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling and carry the clearance itself, with the medicine in its original dispensing packaging, the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, 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. General Rule 9 was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, General Rule 9 of 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, which governs cannabidiol by origin and prints its own exceptions, with M/39 Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71 applying to scheduled constituents and to products brought within the Law · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39, with the statute text cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated October 8, 2026

CBD in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Clonazepam

Legal status: Controlled psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category D, Saudi adopts the 1971 Convention Schedule IV by reference for clonazepam. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no clonazepam/benzodiazepine capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribable controlled psychotropic (anticonvulsant/anxiolytic); import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category D = 1971 Convention Schedule IV), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Clonazepam in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Cocaine

Legal status: Controlled narcotic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 1 (narcotic drugs), Category A, Saudi adopts the 1961 Single Convention Schedule I by reference for cocaine. the exact cocaine capital quantity threshold is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: No practical prescription channel in Saudi Arabia; cocaine has only nominal medical use and is not dispensed as a traveller-importable medicine.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 1 narcotic drugs (Category A = 1961 Single Convention Schedule I), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties; documented cocaine capital cases.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Cocaine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Codeine

Legal status: Codeine is a controlled narcotic drug in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule I Category B 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 «كوديين» under «الجدول الأول... فئة (ب)», Schedule I Category B. There is a carve out and it is the part of this row that decides most real cases. The 2026 general rules take tablets and capsules containing 8 mg or less of the component out of M/39 altogether and place those products under the ordinary prescription medicine rules instead. So a low dose combination tablet and a codeine linctus can sit on opposite sides of the Law, and the strength printed on the box is what determines which. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Where the product is not within the 8 mg carve out, Article 37(I) is available against a Schedule I Category B substance, and the 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. 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. The carve out is a threshold about product strength rather than about how much a person is carrying, and it does not become a quantity defence for a scheduled preparation.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and codeine is the row where a traveller most often holds a product that may be outside the permit regime altogether. 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. Codeine sits at Schedule I Category B, so the clearance question governs it, except where the product is a tablet or capsule containing 8 mg or less of the component, which the general rules move to ordinary prescription medicine treatment. Read the strength on the packaging and treat anything above that as controlled. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance.
Documentation: Check the milligram strength per unit before anything else, because that single figure decides whether a clearance is needed. For a controlled codeine preparation, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone, bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 B placement and the 8 mg exception were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with codeine placed at Schedule I Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 and the general rules of those schedules excepting tablets and capsules containing 8 mg or less per component · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Codeine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Crack Cocaine

Legal status: Crack has no separate entry in the Saudi schedules, and it does not need one. Crack is cocaine free base, so the legal identity is supplied by the cocaine entry 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 «Cocaine» under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A. Stating that plainly matters more than it looks: the temptation on a row like this is to write as though a crack listing existed, and inventing an entry to make a table look complete is how a cell becomes wrong. There is one molecule, one entry, and two physical forms of the same controlled substance. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Because the substance is cocaine at Schedule I Category A, Article 37(I) is available, and the article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it and there is no separate crack tariff: 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 the same figures govern base and salt alike. 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. The absence of a form based distinction is itself worth noting, because several jurisdictions do sentence base and powder differently and Saudi Arabia does not.
If prescribed / 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. Crack is cocaine and sits inside that regime as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug, and no Saudi dispensing route and no traveller importable product in this form was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful personal import route was established for it. 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 cocaine placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with crack resolved through the cocaine entry at Schedule I Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, no separate crack entry existing · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Crack Cocaine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Delta-8-THC

Legal status: Controlled, as a 1971 Convention party Saudi Arabia schedules tetrahydrocannabinols and their isomers under the Law of Combating Narcotics & Psychotropic Substances (Royal Decree M/39), so delta-8-THC (Δ8-THC) is caught as an isomer of THC (whether by a named amendment or the tetrahydrocannabinol group entry is left to confirmation). Distinct from cannabis, prohibited.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: No recognised medical use; delta-8-THC is not a prescribable medicine.
Documentation: No lawful personal import.

sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Delta-8-THC in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Diazepam

Legal status: Controlled psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category D, Saudi adopts the 1971 Convention Schedule IV by reference for diazepam; it appears by name (Valium) on SFDA traveller-permit lists. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no diazepam/benzodiazepine capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribable controlled psychotropic (anxiolytic/muscle relaxant); import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID; diazepam (Valium) is expressly named on SFDA permit guidance.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category D = 1971 Convention Schedule IV), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; SFDA Traveler's Permit guidance; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Diazepam in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

DMT

Legal status: DMT is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The schedule prints «دي ام تي», the transliteration of DMT, under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. The entry is for the molecule itself, so it applies to isolated dimethyltryptamine however it was obtained, and it operates alongside rather than through the plant entries: Banisteriopsis caapi is separately a Schedule IV prohibited plant and harmine sits at Schedule II Category E, which is how an ayahuasca preparation can engage several entries at once. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts DMT 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 extraction is a named limb rather than a preparatory act treated leniently. 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 for this placement.
If prescribed / 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. DMT sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Ceremonial or religious use is not a recorded exemption in these schedules and none was found.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it, and that covers plant material intended for extraction as well as the isolated compound. 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 II Category A placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with DMT placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

DMT in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

DOM

Legal status: DOM is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The schedule prints «اس تي بي، دي او ام», STP and DOM, under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A, listing both names the compound has travelled under. That double naming is useful rather than decorative: STP was the street name of the 1960s and DOM the chemical abbreviation, and a schedule that carries both leaves less room for an identification argument. The placement is by the express entry rather than through the neighbouring phenethylamine listings. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts DOM 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. 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 for this placement. DOM is active at very low doses, so the quantity a person carries can be small in a way that would matter under a threshold system and does not matter under this one.
If prescribed / 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. DOM sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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, keep to a one month supply or the length of the stay, 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 II Category A placement for DOM was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with DOM, also printed as STP, placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

DOM in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

DXM

Legal status: Dextromethorphan is expressly excluded from the narcotic drugs schedule in Saudi Arabia rather than merely absent from it, and that distinction is the whole value of this row. The notes to Schedule I of 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, state «الدكستروميتورفان والدكسترورفان لا يخضعان للمراقبة الدولية.», dextromethorphan and dextrorphan are not subject to international control. No separate current Saudi local entry for DXM was recovered either, including in the Category E list of substances controlled locally in the Kingdom. An express exclusion is stronger evidence than a failed search, because it shows the drafter considered the compound and decided where it stood; everywhere else in this table an absence has to be reported as an absence.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: none. The Schedule I note expressly excludes dextromethorphan and dextrorphan from that narcotic schedule, no separate local entry was found, and no M/39 death or life penalty was verified for DXM itself, so Article 37 is not the article to reason from here and no drug quantity threshold applies. That is a statement about the narcotics law and not a statement that a DXM product may be sold, imported or consumed freely: the SFDA's ordinary medicines rules govern cough preparations, and a pharmacy medicine bought abroad is still subject to the import rules for medicines. The exclusion also does not travel to combination products, which commonly pair dextromethorphan with other actives, and a combination containing a scheduled substance is assessed on that substance.
If prescribed / medical: The SFDA controlled medicine clearance regime described elsewhere in this table is built on the schedules, and dextromethorphan is expressly outside them, so a DXM product travels as an ordinary medicine rather than as a controlled one. Carry it as a medicine, in its packaging, with the prescription where it has one. If the preparation is a combination that includes codeine or another scheduled component, it is that component that determines whether a clearance is needed, and codeine in particular has its own Schedule I Category B placement with an 8 mg per unit exception.
Documentation: No narcotics clearance was established as necessary for dextromethorphan itself. Carry the medicine in its original packaging with the prescription or pharmacy label, and read the ingredients list rather than the brand, because that is what determines whether anything else in the bottle is scheduled. Where a combination product contains a scheduled substance, apply for that substance through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling and carry the clearance. The Schedule I exclusion note was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1 and 70 to 71, with the Schedule I notes of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 expressly excluding dextromethorphan and dextrorphan and no separate current local entry recovered · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, and M/39 itself at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy, with the statute text cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

DXM in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Ephedrine

Legal status: Ephedrine is controlled in Saudi Arabia by two different routes, and which one applies depends on the form the substance is in. Generally it is a precursor, listed at Schedule III 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 issued on 4 September 2026. Separately, a special rule in Schedule II Category E prints «إيفيدرين Ephedrine» with the condition «إذا كانت على شكل صيدلاني وللعلاج الطبي فإنها تخضع للرقابة», when it is in pharmaceutical form and for medical treatment it is subject to control, which brings that form under the narcotics law itself as a locally controlled psychotropic. Two entries, two regimes, and the difference between them is not academic: it changes which penalty article applies. M/39 Articles 36 and 48 govern the precursor route, Article 37 the drug route, and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure depends on which route the material falls into, and on the ordinary precursor route there is none. Precursor conduct under Article 36 is punished by Article 48, which provides imprisonment of up to six months and a fine, or one of them, and not death. That is a different order of exposure from everything else in this table and it should not be blurred into the general Saudi position. Only the special Schedule II Category E form, ephedrine in pharmaceutical form for medical treatment, enters the ordinary Article 37 drug route; where it does, the article states no quantity at all, the conduct named is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, and the death sentence is reducible by the court under Article 37(II) to a prison term of not less than fifteen years with the stated lashes and fine. No express life imprisonment wording was found anywhere in M/39.
If prescribed / 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. Ephedrine in pharmaceutical form for medical treatment is the form the Schedule II Category E rule brings under M/39, so that is the form the clearance question attaches to; bulk or chemical ephedrine is a Schedule III Category A precursor and is governed by the precursor controls rather than by the traveller permit. A foreign prescription is not a Saudi clearance, and a herbal ephedra supplement is not a pharmaceutical form.
Documentation: Establish which form you are carrying before anything else, because the two routes need different things. For a pharmaceutical ephedrine medicine, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling, carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone, bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, 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 III Category A precursor listing and the Schedule II Category E pharmaceutical form rule were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 36, 37, 48 and 70 to 71, with ephedrine listed as a precursor at Schedule III Category A and separately subject to a Schedule II Category E rule for the pharmaceutical medical form, in the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39, with the statute text cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Ephedrine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Etizolam

Legal status: Etizolam is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category D 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. The schedule prints «ايتيزولام» under the heading «فئة (د):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category D psychotropic substances. Etizolam is a thienodiazepine rather than a true benzodiazepine, and in several jurisdictions that structural difference has been the gap through which it was sold; the Kingdom has closed it by naming the compound, so this row does not depend on reading etizolam into a benzodiazepine class term. It is a prescription medicine in some countries and an unscheduled research chemical in others, and neither of those positions has any bearing here. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) reaches a Schedule II Category D substance, and it 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. 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 for this placement. Etizolam is frequently pressed into tablets sold as alprazolam, which is also Schedule II Category D, so a misidentified tablet does not change the category it falls into.
If prescribed / 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. Etizolam sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category D substance. A prescription written in a country where etizolam is licensed is not a Saudi clearance, and material bought online as a research chemical has no prescription at all and therefore nothing on which a clearance could be sought.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring any prescribed etizolam in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 II Category D placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with etizolam placed at Schedule II Category D of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Etizolam in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Fentanyl

Legal status: Fentanyl 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. The schedule prints «فنتانيل» under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A, the narcotic drugs table. Fentanyl is also a mainstream hospital anaesthetic and analgesic, so this is one of the rows where a Category A listing and ordinary clinical use sit together, and the schedules resolve that through the licensing and permit machinery rather than by softening the placement. This row speaks to fentanyl itself; a fentanyl analogue is a different compound and would need its own entry or its own search. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Schedule I Category A places fentanyl inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. The absence of a threshold is particularly worth stating on this row, because fentanyl is potent at microgram doses and a threshold system would have to grapple with that; the Saudi article simply does not have one. 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. 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 / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and fentanyl is a medicine on which the permit is least likely to be waived informally. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival, and that applies to a transdermal patch, a lozenge and an injectable alike. Fentanyl sits inside that regime as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug, so the clearance question governs any medicinal fentanyl product.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System well before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Used patches should be accounted for rather than discarded loose, since the count against the prescription is what the documentation supports. 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 placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with fentanyl placed at Schedule I Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Fentanyl in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Gabapentin

Legal status: Gabapentin is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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. The schedule prints «جابابنتين» under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Category E is the Kingdom's own domestic list, and gabapentin is the clearest illustration of why that list matters: it is not in the international psychotropic conventions, so a traveller checking the treaty tables would find nothing and conclude it was an ordinary medicine. In Saudi Arabia it is controlled, and it is controlled by a decision the Kingdom took for itself. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category E placement is a placement in the schedules, so Article 37(I) is available, and it states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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, and an undeclared personal supply is a case about the missing permit rather than about trafficking. The conduct Article 37(I) names is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler and import, export or manufacture with intent to promote, which is not what a patient travelling with a gabapentin prescription is doing. For that person the operative requirement is the advance SFDA clearance, not the capital tier. The distinction is the article's own and the dossier supports nothing beyond it.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and gabapentin is a medicine where travellers are most likely to be caught out by not knowing it is controlled at all. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance. Gabapentin sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, so the clearance question governs it, whatever its status is at home.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Do not rely on gabapentin being uncontrolled where the prescription was written. 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 II Category E placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with gabapentin placed at Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Gabapentin in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

GBL

Legal status: GBL is both named in the schedules and governed by a special prohibition in Saudi Arabia. It appears at Schedule II Category E of 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, the locally controlled psychotropics list, and General Rule 10 of those schedules provides «يحظر استيراد مادة GBL... أو تصديرها أو إنتاجها أو صنعها...», the import, export, production and manufacture of GBL, among the other conduct the rule lists, is prohibited. The rule prints its own exceptions, and they are the part that decides most industrial cases: filled final products are excepted, as are licensed scientific, research, industrial and commercial uses under the chemical management rules. GBL is a bulk solvent as well as a prodrug of GHB, and a scheme that banned it outright would stop legitimate manufacturing, which is why the exceptions exist rather than being an oversight. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category E placement brings GBL 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. 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 for this placement. The General Rule 10 exceptions turn on licence and product form rather than on amount, so a drum held under a chemical management licence and a bottle carried for consumption are distinguished by authorisation, not by volume.
If prescribed / 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. GBL sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule II Category E substance subject to the General Rule 10 prohibition, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal GBL product was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for personal carriage. The licensed scientific, research, industrial and commercial exceptions are business licensing routes rather than traveller routes.
Documentation: There is no traveller permit for this substance, and a cleaning, solvent or nail product labelling does not create one. An industrial or research user relies on the licence the General Rule 10 exceptions describe, which is held by the entity rather than carried by a person. For any controlled medicine, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling, carry the clearance and not the prescription alone, bring it 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 II Category E entry and General Rule 10 were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with GBL placed at Schedule II Category E and subject to General Rule 10 of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, which prohibits the listed conduct subject to its printed exceptions for filled final products and licensed scientific, research, industrial and commercial use · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

GBL in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

GHB

Legal status: Controlled psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category D, Saudi adopts the 1971 Convention Schedule IV by reference for GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate). Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no GHB-specific capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribable only in rare specialist use (Xyrem for narcolepsy); any lawful import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category D = 1971 Convention Schedule IV), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

GHB in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Heroin

Legal status: Prohibited narcotic (diacetylmorphine) under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 1 (narcotic drugs), Category D, a prohibited category (import/export/use/possession banned except SFDA-approved research), corresponding to the 1961 Single Convention. the exact heroin capital quantity threshold is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription channel; heroin is a prohibited-category narcotic with no medical use in Saudi Arabia and is not a traveller-importable medicine.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 1 narcotic drugs (Category D prohibited; 1961 Single Convention), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties; documented heroin capital cases.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Heroin in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

HHC

Legal status: HHC is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «الهيكساهيدروكانابينول», hexahydrocannabinol, under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. HHC is the hydrogenated cannabinoid that was sold across several markets specifically because it was not tetrahydrocannabinol and therefore not caught by THC entries; the Kingdom has named it, so the argument that made it saleable elsewhere does not run here. It has its own entry rather than being folded into the Category A tetrahydrocannabinol listing, and the categories differ, which is a detail worth keeping straight. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings HHC 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. 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 for this placement. A vape or edible bought legally from a shop in another country is a scheduled psychotropic here, and the receipt proves where it was bought rather than that it may be carried.
If prescribed / 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. HHC sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal HHC product was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it, and a certificate of analysis showing hemp derivation does not change the entry that applies. 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 II Category B placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with hexahydrocannabinol placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

HHC in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Hydrocodone

Legal status: Hydrocodone 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. The schedule prints «Hydrocodone» in Latin script under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A, the narcotic drugs table. It sits at the same level as morphine and oxycodone rather than in the lower Category B where codeine is placed, which is worth noticing because hydrocodone is most commonly dispensed as a combination cough or analgesic product and the packaging can make it look like a minor opioid. The entry governs the substance, not the formulation. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Schedule I Category A places hydrocodone 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. 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 for this placement, and a traveller with an undeclared prescription bottle is in that lower band rather than in the capital article.
If prescribed / 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival. Hydrocodone sits inside that regime as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug, so the clearance question governs any hydrocodone product, including combination preparations, and no separate per substance route was recorded that would take one outside it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Name hydrocodone on the documents and not only the brand of the combination product. 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 placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with hydrocodone placed at Schedule I Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Hydrocodone in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Ketamine

Legal status: Controlled under Royal Decree M/39 (2005) as a nationally/locally controlled substance (Schedule 2, Category E, not internationally scheduled in the 1961/1971 Conventions) and regulated by the SFDA as a restricted anaesthetic. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no ketamine-specific capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribable controlled anaesthetic regulated by the SFDA; import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), locally controlled substance (Category E, outside the UN Conventions); SFDA ketamine regulatory page; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Ketamine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Khat

Legal status: Khat is expressly a prohibited plant in Saudi Arabia, listed in Schedule IV of 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, which prints «القات (KHAT)» under «الجدول الرابع... النباتات والبذور المحظورة», Schedule IV, prohibited plants and seeds. Its active alkaloids are separately scheduled: cathinone at Schedule II Category A and cathine at Schedule II Category C. Plant, strong alkaloid and weak alkaloid each have an entry, so nothing on this row rests on reading a constituent into a plant or a plant into a constituent. The plant seeds are within the Schedule IV heading as well as the leaf. Khat is chewed traditionally in neighbouring parts of the region, and the Kingdom's position on it is unusually well documented for that reason. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule IV prohibited plant with scheduled constituents is inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. There is no weight threshold in it, which matters for a bulky plant material that is ordinarily carried in bundles: 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 is a named limb of the capital article rather than a lesser agricultural offence. 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 / 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. Khat sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule IV prohibited plant with constituents at Schedule II Categories A and C, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal khat product was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Customary or cultural use is not a recorded exemption in these schedules and none was found.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this material, because no lawful import route was established for it, and that covers fresh leaf, dried leaf and seed alike. 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 IV listing and the Schedule II Category A and Category C constituent entries were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with khat listed in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, cathinone at Schedule II Category A and cathine at Schedule II Category C of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Khat in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Kratom

Legal status: Kratom is expressly named in Saudi Arabia rather than inferred. The plant is listed in Schedule IV of 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, printed as «نبات القرطوم (Kratom)», and its alkaloid mitragynine, together with 7-hydroxymitragynine, sits at Schedule II Category E under «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. So leaf, powder, extract and isolated alkaloid are all reached, by entries at two different places in the schedules. Mitragyna speciosa is unscheduled or contested in a number of countries and is widely sold as a supplement; none of that transfers, and the Kingdom's position is set out in its own tables. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule IV prohibited plant with a Schedule II Category E alkaloid is 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 and extraction are both named limbs. 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. A tub of powder ordered online and shipped in is an import within the article's own words.
If prescribed / 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. Kratom sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule IV prohibited plant with its alkaloid at Schedule II Category E, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal kratom product was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. A supplement label, a herbal designation or a food supplement registration in another country carries no Saudi permission with it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this material, because no lawful import route was established for it. That covers leaf, capsules, powder, extracts and drinks alike, and a customs declaration does not convert a prohibited plant into a permitted one. 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 IV listing and the Schedule II Category E alkaloid entry were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with kratom listed in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, and mitragynine with 7-hydroxymitragynine at Schedule II Category E of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Kratom in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Lorazepam

Legal status: Controlled psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category D, Saudi adopts the 1971 Convention Schedule IV by reference for lorazepam. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no lorazepam/benzodiazepine capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribable controlled psychotropic (anxiolytic); import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category D = 1971 Convention Schedule IV), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Lorazepam in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

LSA (Morning Glory)

Legal status: LSA is controlled in Saudi Arabia on its own terms rather than by borrowing the LSD entry, and that distinction is the point of this row. Schedule II Category E of 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, expressly names «الليذرجاميد», lysergamide, under «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Schedule IV separately names the source plants, morning glory and Argyreia, among the prohibited plants and seeds. So the seeds are reached by the plant schedule and the alkaloid by the Category E entry, and neither route runs through lysergide, which is separately at Schedule II Category A. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category E alkaloid entry with Schedule IV source plants is 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 both cultivation of the plant and extraction from the seed are named limbs. 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. Garden seed sold for ornamental planting is still the listed plant's seed, and the packet does not decide that question.
If prescribed / 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. LSA sits inside the narcotics law through the Schedule II Category E lysergamide entry and its source plants through Schedule IV, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance or for its source seeds, because no lawful import route was established for either. 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 II Category E lysergamide entry and the Schedule IV source plant listings were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with lysergamide placed at Schedule II Category E and the morning glory and Argyreia source plants listed in Schedule IV of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

LSA (Morning Glory) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

LSD

Legal status: LSD is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The schedule prints «ليسرجيد», lysergide, under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. The entry is for lysergide itself, which is why the related rows in this table sit where they do: 1P-LSD was searched against this entry and the isomer and ester clauses and could not be matched, while lysergamide has its own separate Category E entry. An entry for one lysergamide is not an entry for every lysergamide, and the Kingdom's schedules treat them as distinct. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts LSD inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. The absence of a threshold is worth dwelling on here, because LSD is dosed in micrograms and a sheet of blotter weighs almost nothing: 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 none of it turns on mass. 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 / 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. LSD sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Participation in a clinical trial elsewhere is not a Saudi authorisation.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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 II Category A placement for lysergide was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with lysergide placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

LSD in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

MDA

Legal status: MDA is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The schedule prints «تينامفيتامين», tenamfetamine, under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. Tenamfetamine is the international non-proprietary name for MDA, and the entry is under that name rather than under the three letter abbreviation, which is the kind of thing that makes a substance look absent to anyone searching only for the street name. It is a distinct entry from MDMA, which is separately listed in the same category. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts MDA 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. 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 for this placement. MDA is both a drug in its own right and a metabolite of MDMA, and a toxicology result showing it does not by itself identify which substance was taken.
If prescribed / 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. MDA sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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 II Category A placement for tenamfetamine was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with tenamfetamine, MDA, placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

MDA in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

MDMA

Legal status: Prohibited psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category A, a prohibited category (banned except SFDA-approved research), corresponding to the 1971 Convention Schedule I. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37; no MDMA-specific capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: No prescription channel; MDMA is a prohibited-category psychotropic with no recognised medical use in Saudi Arabia and is not a traveller-importable medicine.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category A prohibited = 1971 Convention Schedule I), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

MDMA in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

MDPV

Legal status: Controlled. As a 1971 Convention Schedule II psychotropic, MDPV falls under Saudi Arabia's broad narcotics/psychotropics prohibition; the specific national listing instrument is left to confirmation. MDPV-specific reach is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: MDPV has no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route in Saudi Arabia.
Documentation: No lawful personal-import route; zero-tolerance enforcement.

unodc.org · Updated September 20, 2026

MDPV in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Mephedrone (4-MMC)

Legal status: Mephedrone is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «ميفيدرون» under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. Mephedrone is 4-methylmethcathinone, and its close relative 3-MMC is separately listed in the same category on its own row in this table, while the parent alkaloid cathinone sits at Category A. The Kingdom has named the members rather than relying on a family clause, which is what allows each of these rows to be answered by an entry instead of by argument. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings mephedrone 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. 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 for this placement.
If prescribed / 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. Mephedrone sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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 II Category B placement for mephedrone was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with mephedrone placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Mephedrone (4-MMC) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Mescaline

Legal status: Mescaline is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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. The schedule prints «ميسكالين» under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. The source cactus is dealt with separately: Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, lists the mescal cactus and links it to this entry, so a live plant, a dried button and the isolated alkaloid are each reached by their own listing. That separation is worth keeping because it means neither the plant nor the alkaloid is being inferred from the other. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement puts mescaline 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 and extraction are both named limbs, which is how a grower and an extractor are reached as directly as a carrier. 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 / 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. Mescaline sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Traditional or ceremonial use is not a recorded exemption in these schedules and none was found.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it, and that covers cactus material as well as the isolated alkaloid. 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 II Category A placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with mescaline placed at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, the mescal cactus being separately listed in Schedule IV · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Mescaline in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Methadone

Legal status: Methadone 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. The schedule prints «Methadone» in Latin script under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A, the narcotic drugs table. Methadone's principal use worldwide is as an opioid substitution medicine dispensed daily under supervision, and a Category A placement does not alter that; it determines which permit and which penalty articles apply. Buprenorphine, the other substitution medicine in this table, is placed differently, at Schedule II Category C, so the two should not be assumed to sit together. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Schedule I Category A places methadone 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. 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 for this placement. A patient carrying take home doses without a clearance is in the permit problem rather than the trafficking article, and the way out of it is documentation obtained in advance.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and for a substitution patient it is the single most important thing to arrange before departure. 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. A dispensing record or a clinic letter from a substitution programme abroad is not a Saudi clearance. Methadone sits inside that regime as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug, so the clearance question governs, and there is no informal allowance for a supervised treatment supply.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System well before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. A letter from the prescribing clinic setting out the daily dose and the reason for the take home supply belongs with the application rather than only in the luggage. 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 placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with methadone placed at Schedule I Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Methadone in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Methamphetamine

Legal status: Controlled psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category B, Saudi adopts the 1971 Convention Schedule II by reference for methamphetamine. the exact methamphetamine capital quantity threshold is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Although theoretically a prescription substance abroad (Desoxyn), methamphetamine is not practically dispensed as medicine in Saudi Arabia; any lawful medical import would require the SFDA Traveler's Permit with an attested prescription/medical report.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category B = 1971 Convention Schedule II), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; Art. 37 penalties; documented methamphetamine capital cases.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Methamphetamine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Methaqualone (Quaaludes)

Legal status: Methaqualone is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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, and the schedules restrict it specially to research. The entry prints «ميثاكوالون» under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. Methaqualone was withdrawn as a medicine decades ago in most of the world, so the research restriction is doing real work rather than describing a theoretical position: there is no ordinary prescribing route for it to sit behind. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings methaqualone 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. 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 for this placement. The research restriction limits who may lawfully hold the substance at all; it does not create a lighter penalty for anyone outside that permission.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and on this row there is no prescription to speak of. 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. Methaqualone sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance specially restricted to research, so lawful holding runs through a research authorisation rather than through a traveller permit, and no Saudi dispensing route for a methaqualone medicine was recorded.
Documentation: There is no traveller route for this substance. A research holder relies on the authorisation the schedules contemplate, which belongs to the institution rather than to an individual crossing a border. 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 II Category B placement and the research restriction were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with methaqualone placed at Schedule II Category B, specially restricted to research, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Methaqualone (Quaaludes) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Methylone

Legal status: Methylone is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «ميثايلون» under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. Methylone is the beta-keto analogue of MDMA, and it is worth noting that the two sit in different categories here: MDMA is at Category A and methylone at Category B, which is a reminder that the Kingdom places each compound on its own assessment rather than by proximity to the substance it imitates. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings methylone 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. 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 for this placement. Methylone has frequently been sold as MDMA, and a tablet found to contain either is a scheduled psychotropic, whichever of the two categories turns out to apply.
If prescribed / 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. Methylone sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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 II Category B placement for methylone was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with methylone placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Methylone in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Methylphenidate

Legal status: Methylphenidate is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «فينيدات الميثيل», methylphenidate, under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. It sits in the same category as amphetamine, so the two most commonly prescribed stimulant treatments for attention deficit disorder are at the same level of control, and a patient switching between them does not change the permit position. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings methylphenidate inside Article 37(I), and that article states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter or by therapeutic purpose: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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, and a patient who arrives with a month of tablets and no clearance is in that lower band rather than in the capital article.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and methylphenidate is one of the medicines most often carried by people who have no idea a permit exists. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival, and a repeat prescription for a child's medicine is in exactly the same position as any other. Methylphenidate sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Where the patient is a child, name the child rather than the accompanying adult on the documents. 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 II Category B placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with methylphenidate placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Methylphenidate in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Mitragynine

Legal status: Mitragynine is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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. The schedule prints «ميرتاجينين» under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom, and the same entry carries 7-hydroxymitragynine. Mitragynine is not in the international psychotropic conventions, so Category E, the Kingdom's own domestic list, is the reason this row can be answered at all. The source plant, kratom or Mitragyna speciosa, is separately listed in Schedule IV as a prohibited plant, so alkaloid and plant are reached independently. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Because mitragynine is listed at Schedule II Category E, Article 37(I) reaches it, 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 extraction of the alkaloid from leaf is a named limb. 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. The locally controlled label says where the entry came from and not how lightly it is treated.
If prescribed / 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. Mitragynine sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. A supplement sold lawfully elsewhere carries no Saudi permission with it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it, and an extract, a capsule and a powder are in the same position. 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 II Category E placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with mitragynine placed at Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, the kratom plant being separately listed in Schedule IV · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Mitragynine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Modafinil

Legal status: Modafinil is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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. The schedule prints «مودافينيل» under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Modafinil is not in the international psychotropic conventions, so a traveller who checks the treaty tables will find nothing and may conclude it is an ordinary prescription medicine. In the Kingdom it is controlled, by a domestic decision recorded on the Kingdom's own list, and it is bought casually online in a way that few Schedule II substances are. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category E placement is a placement in the schedules, so Article 37(I) is available, and it states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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. Ordering a supply online for delivery into the Kingdom is an import in the article's own words, and the shipping label is the evidence of it. Article 37(I) is a conduct provision, and smuggling, receipt from a smuggler and import with intent to promote are what it names. Somebody carrying a prescribed modafinil supply for their own use is doing none of those things, so the article that governs them is the SFDA clearance requirement and not the capital tier. This follows from the article's own conduct list in the dossier and nothing further is read into it.
If prescribed / 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance. Modafinil sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, so the clearance question governs it, whatever its status is where the prescription was written; material bought online without a prescription has nothing on which a clearance could be sought.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Where the medicine is prescribed for narcolepsy or a shift work sleep disorder, say so in the medical report. 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 II Category E placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with modafinil placed at Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Modafinil in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Morphine

Legal status: Morphine 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. The schedule prints «Morphine» in Latin script under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A, the narcotic drugs table. Morphine is the reference opioid analgesic and an essential medicine, and its Category A placement is about the level of control rather than a judgement on its clinical value; opium and the opium poppy are separately listed, at Category A and in Schedule IV respectively, so the plant, the crude preparation and the isolated alkaloid each have an entry. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Schedule I Category A places morphine 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. 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 for this placement. A palliative care patient carrying an undeclared supply is in the permit problem rather than in the capital article, and the answer to it is the clearance rather than discretion at the desk.
If prescribed / 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival, however serious the condition it was written for. Morphine sits inside that regime as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug, so the clearance question governs any morphine product, whether oral solution, modified release tablet or injectable.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System well before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. For a patient on a high dose, have the prescriber state the dose and the indication in the medical report, because the quantity is what the documentation has to explain. 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 placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with morphine placed at Schedule I Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Morphine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

MXE

Legal status: MXE is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «MXE (methoxetamine)» in Latin script under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. That is a direct methoxetamine entry, naming both the abbreviation and the chemical name. It is worth being explicit that this is not the 3-MeO-PCP entry, because a different chemical name in a different Gulf schedule was misread that way in an earlier pass on another country, and reading an arylcyclohexylamine entry as covering every other one is exactly the error that produces a confident wrong answer. Ketamine is separately at Schedule II Category E and 2-FDCK at Category B. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings MXE 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. 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 for this placement. One feature of this row is worth stating because it is what makes the placement safe to rely on: the Category B entry is printed in Latin script as «MXE (methoxetamine)» rather than transliterated into Arabic as the neighbouring entries are, so the substance is named directly and no analogue reasoning is doing any work. It is also not the 3-MeO-PCP chemical name, which is a different compound and which produced a misreading in another jurisdiction in this corpus.
If prescribed / 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. MXE sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. MXE has no licensed medical use anywhere, so there is no prescription on which an application could rest.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it, and a research chemical description on an invoice is not a permission. 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 II Category B placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with MXE, methoxetamine, placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 by a direct entry rather than through any arylcyclohexylamine family reading · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

MXE in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Nicotine

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 / 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.

Saudi Arabia, the Anti-Smoking Law, Royal Decree M/56 of 1436 AH, and the product rules made under it govern nicotine products · the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, does not schedule nicotine, and Schedules I to IV in the version issued on 4 September 2026 were searched with no matching entry, at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy · M/39 itself was read at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy, and cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus. No URL for M/56 was carried in this row's source set, so that statute is cited by name only · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Nicotine in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Nimetazepam

Legal status: Nimetazepam is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category D 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. The schedule prints «Nimetazepam» in Latin script under the heading «فئة (د):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category D psychotropic substances, and it is one of the five benzodiazepines the schedule names individually. Nimetazepam is barely prescribed anywhere and is encountered chiefly as a diverted tablet, so the entry is doing enforcement work rather than medicines work; it sits in the same category as the everyday anxiolytics, which is a reminder that the category letter is not a measure of how a substance is used. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category D placement brings nimetazepam 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. 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 for this placement.
If prescribed / 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. Nimetazepam sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category D substance. It is not a commonly licensed medicine, so in most cases there is no prescription on which a clearance could be sought, and no Saudi dispensing route for it was recorded here.
Documentation: There is effectively nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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, keep to a one month supply or the length of the stay, 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 II Category D placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with nimetazepam placed at Schedule II Category D of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Nimetazepam in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Opium

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 / 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.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with opium placed at Schedule I Category A and Papaver somniferum listed in Schedule IV of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Opium in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Oxycodone

Legal status: Oxycodone 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. The schedule prints «Oxycodone» in Latin script under «الجدول الأول... فئة (أ)», Schedule I Category A, the narcotic drugs table, at the same level as morphine and hydrocodone. Codeine, by contrast, is at Category B with an 8 mg per unit exception, so the opioids in these schedules are graded rather than treated as one block, and oxycodone is in the higher group with no equivalent low dose carve out recorded for it. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Schedule I Category A places oxycodone 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. 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 for this placement, and a patient arriving with an undeclared prescription supply sits in that lower band rather than in the capital article.
If prescribed / 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival. Oxycodone sits inside that regime as a Schedule I Category A narcotic drug, so the clearance question governs any oxycodone product, immediate release or modified release, and no separate per substance route was recorded that would take one outside it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, 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 placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with oxycodone placed at Schedule I Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Oxycodone in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

PCP

Legal status: PCP is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category B 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. The schedule prints «فينسيكليدين», phencyclidine, under the heading «فئة (ب):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category B psychotropic substances. The entry names phencyclidine itself. It is not a general arylcyclohexylamine clause, which is why the memantine row in this table records that the PCP entry does not reach that medicine, and why MXE has its own separate Category B entry rather than being read into this one. A schedule that lists compounds individually has to be read compound by compound. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category B placement brings PCP 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. 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 for this placement. PCP is often applied to plant material rather than carried as a powder, and treated leaf is the scheduled substance in the form it has been put into.
If prescribed / 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. PCP sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category B substance, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product containing it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Phencyclidine has no current human medical use anywhere, so there is no prescription on which an application could rest.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it. 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 II Category B placement for phencyclidine was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with phencyclidine placed at Schedule II Category B of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 as a named entry rather than a family clause · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

PCP in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Peyote

Legal status: Peyote is reached in Saudi Arabia through its actual plant and constituent entries. The prohibited plants and seeds schedule, Schedule IV of 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, lists the mescal cactus, printed «صبار المسكال», and links it to mescaline at Schedule II Category A under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)». So the cactus is listed as a plant and its principal alkaloid is listed as a psychotropic, and neither is being inferred from the other. That matters because peyote is a slow growing cactus that is also sold ornamentally, and a scheme that caught only the isolated alkaloid would leave the plant unaddressed. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule IV prohibited plant with a Schedule II Category A constituent is 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 is a named limb, so growing the cactus is within the capital article rather than outside it. 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 / 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. Peyote sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule IV prohibited plant with its alkaloid at Schedule II Category A, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product derived from it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Religious or traditional use is not a recorded exemption in these schedules and none was found.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this plant, because no lawful import route was established for it, and that covers a live cactus, a dried button and a seed packet alike. 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 IV listing and the Schedule II Category A mescaline link were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with the mescal cactus listed in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, and mescaline at Schedule II Category A of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Peyote in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Pink Cocaine / Tusi

Legal status: Pink cocaine is a market label rather than a substance, so it takes no single schedule placement in Saudi Arabia. The dossier's own instruction for this row is «pink-cocaine: يلزم تحديد كل مكوّن وفحصه في الجداول من الأول إلى الرابع.», identify each constituent and test it against Schedules I to IV. The name describes a coloured powder whose composition varies from batch to batch and seller to seller, and which frequently contains no cocaine at all; ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, caffeine and various cathinones have all been reported in material sold under it. Each of those has its own entry in 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, at different categories, so the legal answer follows the analysis of the actual sample rather than the name it was sold under. This cell is confirmed in that finding rather than deferred: the reason there is no one placement is known, and it is that there is no one substance.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure follows the constituent identified, not the label, and the label predicts nothing. Article 37(I) is available against a scheduled narcotic or psychotropic and states no quantity at all: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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. Most constituents reported in this product are scheduled, so the practical expectation is that Article 37 is engaged through one of them, but which one it is remains a question for the laboratory and not for this cell.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and it attaches to a substance with a schedule placement. Pink cocaine has none, because it is not a substance, so no permit category can be stated for it and the question resolves only once the constituents are identified. No medicinal product of this description exists and no Saudi dispensing route was recorded, so nothing here should be read as suggesting a clearance could be sought for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry and nothing that could be documented, because there is no product of this name with a lawful import route. 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 constituent by constituent instruction for this row was applied against the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, applied constituent by constituent because pink cocaine is a variable mixture with no entry of its own · each identified constituent is tested against Schedules I to IV of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, with the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39, and the statute text cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Pink Cocaine / Tusi in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Poppers

Legal status: Poppers is a product label rather than a substance, so it takes no single schedule placement in Saudi Arabia. The dossier's own instruction for this row is «poppers: يلزم تحديد كل مكوّن وفحصه في الجداول من الأول إلى الرابع.», identify each constituent and test it against Schedules I to IV. A bottle sold under the name may contain amyl nitrite, isopropyl nitrite, isobutyl nitrite or another alkyl nitrite, and the formulation changes with whatever is available to the manufacturer. The amyl nitrite row in this table records that Schedules I to IV and the locally controlled Schedule II Category E list of 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, contain no exact alkyl nitrite entry. So the narcotics law is not where the answer lies for the nitrites that were checked; product, chemical and medicines controls administered by the SFDA and customs are separate instruments, and this row does not speak to them. This cell is confirmed in that finding rather than deferred.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure follows the constituent identified, not the label. Article 37(I) is available only against a substance with a schedule placement, and it states no quantity at all when it applies: the conduct named is smuggling, receipt from a smuggler, and import, export, manufacture, production, extraction or cultivation with intent to promote, and the death sentence is reducible by the court under Article 37(II) to a prison term of not less than fifteen years with the stated lashes and fine. No express life imprisonment wording was found anywhere in M/39. For the alkyl nitrites actually checked in this pass, no such placement was verified, so no Article 37 route was established for them; that is a finding about M/39 and not a statement that a bottle may be carried. Import, sale and consumer product rules sit outside the narcotics law and reach products the schedules do not.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and it attaches to a substance with a schedule placement. Poppers has none, because it is not a substance, so no permit category can be stated and the question resolves only once the constituent is identified. Amyl nitrite has a recognised clinical use as an antidote in some countries, and no Saudi dispensing route for it was recorded here, so no claim is made that one exists.
Documentation: There is no permit to carry, because no lawful import route was established for any product of this description. Do not treat open sale in another country as evidence of Saudi permission; the narcotics schedules are only one of several instruments that can bar an import, and this row speaks only to them. For any controlled medicine, apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling, carry the clearance and not the prescription alone, 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 constituent by constituent instruction was applied against the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, applied constituent by constituent because poppers is a variable alkyl nitrite product label with no entry of its own · each identified constituent is tested against Schedules I to IV of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026, read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy, with the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39, and the statute text cross-checked against the readable transcription at https://github.com/Ahmed-Sleem/SaudiLegalCorpus · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Poppers in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Pregabalin

Legal status: Pregabalin is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category E 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. The schedule prints «بريقابالين» under the heading «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Pregabalin is not in the international psychotropic conventions, so the Kingdom's own domestic list is where this placement comes from, and gabapentin sits beside it in the same category. A patient taking pregabalin for neuropathic pain or anxiety in a country where it is an ordinary prescription medicine is carrying a scheduled psychotropic on arrival here. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Pregabalin sits at Schedule II Category E, which is a placement in the schedules, so Article 37(I) is available against it and that article states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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, and a patient with an undeclared box of capsules is in that lower band rather than in the capital article. Pregabalin is the row where this distinction matters most, because it is widely prescribed and widely carried. Article 37(I) reaches smuggling, receipt from a smuggler and import with intent to promote, and a personal prescribed supply carried by the patient is not that conduct; the clearance requirement is what governs it. The dossier's conduct list settles this and nothing further is read into it.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and pregabalin is among the medicines travellers are least likely to realise are controlled here. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance. Pregabalin sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category E substance locally controlled in the Kingdom, so the clearance question governs it whatever its status is at home.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Do not rely on pregabalin being an ordinary prescription medicine where it was dispensed. 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 II Category E placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with pregabalin placed at Schedule II Category E, the locally controlled psychotropics list, of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Pregabalin in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Psilocybin

Legal status: Psilocybin is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II 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 «بسيلوسيبين» under «الجدول الثاني... فئة (أ)», Schedule II Category A. The fungi are listed separately: Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, names Psilocybe and Conocybe and links them to psilocin and psilocybin. So the mushroom, the prodrug and the active metabolite are each addressed, which is why growing, drying and possessing are all reached without any of them having to be argued from another. That completeness is also why the 4-AcO-DMT row in this table could not be resolved: an ester of psilocin is a different compound again, and the coverage wording read there was stereoisomeric rather than ester coverage. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule II Category A placement with a Schedule IV fungal listing puts psilocybin 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 is a named limb, so a growing kit is reached as directly as a bag of dried caps. 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 / 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. Psilocybin sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category A substance with its source fungi in Schedule IV, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal psilocybin product was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it. Authorised therapeutic or trial use in another country is not a Saudi authorisation.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this substance, because no lawful import route was established for it, and that covers spores, grow kits, dried material and extracts alike. 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 II Category A placement and the Schedule IV fungal listing were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with psilocybin placed at Schedule II Category A and the Psilocybe and Conocybe fungi listed in Schedule IV of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Psilocybin in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Salvia divinorum

Legal status: Salvia divinorum is expressly a prohibited plant in Saudi Arabia, listed in Schedule IV of 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, printed as «نبات (Salvia Divinorum)». Its active constituent salvinorin A is separately placed at Schedule II Category E under «فئة (هـ):... المؤثرات العقلية الخاضعة للرقابة محلياً بالمملكة», Category E, psychotropic substances locally controlled in the Kingdom. Both entries are express. Salvia is unscheduled in a number of countries and has been sold openly as a herbal product, so the temptation on a row like this is to assume it fell through the net; in these schedules it did not, and the plant and the diterpene are each named. M/39 Article 17 governs the prohibited plants and Articles 70 to 71 keep the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: A Schedule IV prohibited plant with a Schedule II Category E constituent is 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 and extraction are both named limbs. 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. A concentrated extract sold by a strength multiple is the same listed plant material concentrated, and the multiple on the label has no legal significance here.
If prescribed / 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. Salvia divinorum sits inside the narcotics law as a Schedule IV prohibited plant with salvinorin A at Schedule II Category E, and no Saudi dispensing route and no medicinal product derived from it was recorded, so nothing here should be read as saying a clearance would issue for it.
Documentation: There is nothing to carry for this plant, because no lawful import route was established for it, and that covers live cuttings, dried leaf and standardised extracts alike. 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 IV listing and the Schedule II Category E salvinorin A entry were read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 17, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with Salvia divinorum listed in Schedule IV, the prohibited plants and seeds schedule, and salvinorin A at Schedule II Category E of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Salvia divinorum in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2 / Spice)

Legal status: Controlled. Synthetic cannabinoids fall under Saudi Arabia's broad narcotics/psychotropics prohibition (Anti-Narcotics Law, Royal Decree M/39 of 2005), which incorporates the synthetic cannabinoids added to Schedule II of the 1971 Convention. synthetic-cannabinoid-specific reach is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: These synthetic cannabinoids have no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route in Saudi Arabia.
Documentation: No lawful personal-import route; zero-tolerance enforcement.

unodc.org · Updated September 20, 2026

Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2 / Spice) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Tobacco

Legal status: Tobacco 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 التبغ: لا يوجد قيد مطابق في الجداول من الأول إلى الرابع.», the schedule search for tobacco, there is no matching entry in the schedules from the first to the fourth. Tobacco is governed instead by the Anti-Smoking Law, Royal Decree M/56 of 1436 AH, Articles 1 to 3 and the implementing rules made under it. That statute defines the products it covers and sets the restrictions on them, and it is a public health instrument rather than a narcotics one. The finding is about which law applies: tobacco is regulated in the Kingdom, and it is regulated somewhere other than in these schedules.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: none. Tobacco 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 implementing regulations are what apply, through restrictions on where smoking is permitted, on sale to minors, on advertising and on packaging, enforced by administrative penalties rather than by the narcotics articles. The dossier's columns identify that statute and its executive regulations for this row but do not carry the individual penalty provisions, so no figure is stated here. Enforcement of no smoking areas in the Kingdom is active and fines are issued in practice, which is a different matter from the criminal exposure the rest of this table describes.
If prescribed / medical: The SFDA controlled medicine clearance regime described elsewhere in this table does not reach tobacco, because tobacco is not in the schedules that regime is built on, and tobacco is not a medicine in any event. Nicotine replacement products are dealt with on the nicotine row and are treated as medicines or consumer products rather than as controlled substances. No prescription question arises for tobacco itself.
Documentation: No narcotics clearance is needed for tobacco. Personal import quantities are a customs matter and duty applies, so declare more than a personal allowance rather than assuming the absence of a schedule entry settles it. The Anti-Smoking Law restrictions apply on arrival, including where a product may be used. The failed narcotics schedule search for tobacco was run against the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, the Anti-Smoking Law, Royal Decree M/56 of 1436 AH, Articles 1 to 3, with its executive regulations read at https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/Rules/Documents/Executive-Regulations-of-Anti-Smoking-Law-Ar.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy · the Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, does not schedule tobacco, and Schedules I to IV in the version issued on 4 September 2026 were searched with no matching entry. This row's source set carries only the anti-smoking regulation, so the narcotics schedules are cited here by name for the search that was run rather than by link · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Tobacco in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Tramadol

Legal status: Tramadol is a controlled narcotic/psychotropic in Saudi Arabia under the Law of Combating Narcotics (Royal Decree M/39, 2005) and the SFDA controlled-drug schedules, requiring pre-arrival SFDA e-clearance (effective 1 November 2025).
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Dispensed as a controlled narcotic/psychotropic on prescription.
Documentation: A prescription alone is insufficient, obtain SFDA e-clearance before travel and carry a doctor's letter with original packaging and a personal quantity only.

sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Tramadol in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Xanax (Alprazolam)

Legal status: Controlled psychotropic under Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 (psychotropic substances), Category D, Saudi adopts the 1971 Convention Schedule IV by reference for alprazolam; it appears by name (Xanax) on SFDA traveller-permit lists. Capital exposure attaches to smuggling or trafficking-with-intent-to-promote under Article 37 (no schedule carve-out); no alprazolam/benzodiazepine capital case is documented, so drug-specific capital application is left to confirmation.
Consequences if caught: Capital exposure: not established for this substance. Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty for drug offences, under Royal Decree M/39 of 2005, article 37, for smuggling or trafficking with intent to promote, and that much is established here. What is not established is this substance's own position under it: the source read here gives neither the article that would carry it nor any quantity at which it would apply. No threshold is stated in this cell because none was established. Do not read the absence of a figure as a safe amount. The country level position is the one to act on, and the substance specific position has to be settled against the current instrument.
If prescribed / medical: Prescribable controlled psychotropic (anxiolytic); import requires the SFDA Traveler's Permit, mandatory advance electronic clearance from 1 Nov 2025, with an attested prescription/medical report and ID; alprazolam (Xanax) is expressly named on SFDA permit guidance.
Documentation: Royal Decree M/39 (2005), Schedule 2 psychotropic substances (Category D = 1971 Convention Schedule IV), per SFDA General Provisions for the Schedules; SFDA Traveler's Permit guidance; Art. 37 penalties.

sfda.gov.sa · sfda.gov.sa · Updated September 20, 2026

Xanax (Alprazolam) in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Zolpidem

Legal status: Zolpidem is a controlled psychotropic substance in Saudi Arabia, placed at Schedule II Category D 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. The schedule prints «زولبيديم» under the heading «فئة (د):... المؤثرات العقلية», Category D psychotropic substances. Zolpidem is an imidazopyridine rather than a benzodiazepine, and the Kingdom has placed it in the same category as the benzodiazepines by its own entry rather than by treating it as one. It is one of the most commonly prescribed sleep medicines in the world, and its Category D placement means an ordinary insomnia prescription is a controlled substance on arrival. M/39 Articles 1 and 70 to 71 are cited for identification and for keeping the attached schedules current.
Consequences if caught: Article 37(I) reaches a Schedule II Category D substance, and it states no quantity at all. The penalty articles do not sort by category letter or by how ordinary the medicine is: 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, with no weight threshold anywhere in it. 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, and a traveller with a strip of sleeping tablets and no clearance belongs in that lower band rather than in the capital article.
If prescribed / medical: The Saudi traveller rule is a permit rule rather than a prescription rule, and a sleep medicine taken for a long haul flight is exactly the case people forget to arrange. 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. A prescription written abroad is not a Saudi clearance and does not become one on arrival. Zolpidem sits inside that regime as a Schedule II Category D substance, so the clearance question governs it.
Documentation: Apply through the SFDA Controlled Drugs System before travelling rather than on arrival, and carry the clearance itself and not the prescription alone. Bring the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a medical report naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, translated into Arabic and dated less than six months before travel, keep the quantity to a one month supply or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter, and declare it at customs; advance electronic clearance has been required since 1 November 2025. Loose tablets in a pill organiser are the shape of this problem that customs sees most often, so keep them in the dispensed box. 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 II Category D placement was read in the 4 September 2026 schedules on 17 September 2026.

Saudi Arabia, Law of Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, Royal Decree M/39 of 1426 AH, Articles 1, 37 to 41 and 70 to 71, with zolpidem placed at Schedule II Category D of the schedules attached to the Law in the version issued on 4 September 2026 · the schedules were read at https://sfda.gov.sa/sites/default/files/2026-09/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9%20%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85%20%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%AB%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9%202026.pdf, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority copy of the schedules attached to the Law, and the penalty articles at https://www.moh.gov.sa/eServices/Licences/Documents/17.pdf, the Ministry of Health copy of M/39 · the traveller clearance route is the SFDA Controlled Drugs System · read as at 17 September 2026 · Updated September 20, 2026

Zolpidem in Saudi Arabia, full detail →

Not individually verified

16 substances are not individually verified for Saudi Arabia

For these the governing national drug law is cited, but we have not verified that the substance specifically is scheduled under it. Treat them as unanswered, not as legal. Confirm with Saudi Arabia’s drug authority or your embassy.

Substance	What we found
1P-LSD	Not confirmed. A placement for 1P-LSD was not established, and the search that failed is recorded rather than...
2C-E	Not confirmed. A placement for 2C-E was not established, and the reason is recorded rather than summarised. The...
2C-I	Not confirmed. A placement for 2C-I was not established, and the search that failed is recorded rather than...
2C-T-7	Not confirmed. A placement for 2C-T-7 was not established, and the search that failed is recorded rather than...
4-AcO-DMT	Not confirmed. A placement for 4-AcO-DMT was not established, and the reason is a specific gap in the coverage...
4-HO-MET	Not confirmed. A placement for 4-HO-MET was not established, and the search that failed is recorded rather than...
6-APB	Not confirmed. A placement for 6-APB was not established, and the search that failed is recorded rather than...
Amyl Nitrite	Not confirmed. A placement for amyl nitrite was not established, and the search that failed is recorded rather than...
Cannabinol	Not confirmed. A placement for cannabinol was not established, and the reason is a chemical distinction that is easy...
Memantine	Not confirmed. A placement for memantine was not established under the narcotics law, and the search that failed is...
Nitrous Oxide	Not confirmed. A placement for nitrous oxide was not established under the narcotics law, and the search that failed...
Phenibut	Not confirmed. A placement for phenibut was not established under the narcotics law, and the search that failed is...
Quetiapine	Not confirmed. A placement for quetiapine was not established under the narcotics law, and the search that failed is...
Scopolamine (Devil's Breath)	Not confirmed. A placement for scopolamine was not established under the narcotics law, and the search that failed...
THC-P	Not confirmed. A placement for THC-P was not established, and the reason is a chain length rather than a missing...
Xylazine	Not confirmed. A placement for xylazine was not established under the narcotics law, and the search that failed is...

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

Before you travel

Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.

If you’re detained or arrested abroad

Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately, not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →

← All countries Drug index