Are Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2 / Spice) legal in Egypt?

Legal status

Controlled as narcotic substances in Egypt's Table 1, mostly by chemical group in its first section. «الجدول رقم (١) - الجواهر المخدرة», Table 1, the narcotic substances, Section 1(b), «الجدول رقم (١) - القسم الأول (ب)», whose heading covers «المجموعات الآتية والمواد المشتقة منها، عدا المُدرج منها في جدول آخر», the following groups and the substances derived from them, other than those listed in another table, and «أي مستحضر أو مخلوط أو مستخلص» containing them. Groups 1 «Naphthoylindole» (JWH-018), 2 «Cyclo Hexyl phenol» (CP-47,497), 3 «Indazole Carboxamide» (AB-Fubinaca, 5F-ADB), 4 «Tetramethyl Cyclopropyl Indole» (XLR-11), 5 «Indole Carboxamide» (5F-MDMB-PICA), 7 «Classical Cannabinoids Dibenzopyran», 8 «Naphthylmethylindole», 9 «Naphthoylpyrrole», 10 «Naphthylmethylindene», 11 «Phenylacetylindole», 13 «Quinolinyl Ester» (PB-22) and 14 «Adamantoyl Indole» (APICA) (PDF pages 4 to 8, gazette pages 5 to 9). This is an open class, so the row is answered by group: a product that contains a member or a derivative of one of these groups is reached. Some synthetic cannabinoids are instead printed by name in Section 2, among them «SDB-005» item 118 and «Cumyl-pegaclone» item 126 (PDF page 20, gazette page 21), and a compound on a scaffold that appears in neither place is not answered by this row. Article 1 bis, added by Law 134/2019, treats synthetic substances in Table 1 as narcotic substances. The earlier citation of Decree 440 of 2018 and the 2014 addition to Schedule 1 is superseded, because Decision 44 replaced every table. This is the position under Ministry of Health and Population Decision 44 of 2026, which replaced every table annexed to Law 182/1960, published in Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya issue 39 (continued, c) on 17 February 2026 and in force from publication, as amended by Decision 242 of 2026, in Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya issue 179 of 17 August 2026 and in force the next day, replaced item 12 of Table 1 Section 1(b), the phenethylamine group, and added items 57 to 61 to Table 3 Section 3, four alkyl nitrites and «Cannabidiol (CBD)». Decision 44's preamble cites the Supreme Constitutional Court's judgment of 16 February 2026 in case 33 of judicial year 47, read on the court's own server on 3 October 2026, which held «بعدم دستورية قرار رئيس هيئة الدواء المصرية رقم 600 لسنة 2023 باستبدال الجداول الملحقة بقرار رئيس الجمهورية بالقانون رقم 182 لسنة 1960 في شأن مكافحة المخدرات وتنظيم استعمالها والاتجار فيها», striking Egyptian Drug Authority chairman's Decision 600 of 2023, and «بسقوط قرارات رئيس هيئة الدواء المصرية السابقة واللاحقة على القرار المقضي بعدم دستوريته، الصادرة في شأن تعديل الجداول الملحقة بقرار رئيس الجمهورية بالقانون المشار إليه», so that every earlier and later decision of the Authority's chairman amending the tables fell with it. Decision 44 and Decision 242 are decisions of the Minister of Health and Population, as their own first pages state, not of the Authority's chairman, so the judgment does not reach them. The Egyptian Drug Authority laws index read on 3 October 2026 lists no amendment to the tables later than Decision 242, which does not rule out one made since. The governing statute is the Anti-Narcotics Law, Law 182/1960.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: death. Article 1 of the Anti-Narcotics Law, Law 182/1960, makes Table 1 the narcotic substances and excepts the Table 2 preparations: «تعتبر جواهر مخدرة فى تطبيق أحكام هذا القانون المواد المبينة فى الجدول رقم (١) الملحق به، ويستثنى منها المستحضرات المبينة بالجدول رقم (٢)». Under Articles 33 to 45 as replaced by Law 122/1989: Article 33 punishes unlicensed import or export, and production or manufacture for trade, by death and a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 pounds. Article 34 punishes possession, purchase, sale, delivery or transport with intent to trade by death or life imprisonment and the same fine, and its second paragraph makes the penalty death and that fine where «الجوهر المخدر محل الجريمة من الكوكايين أو الهيروين أو أى من المواد الواردة فى القسم الأول من الجدول رقم (١)». A synthetic cannabinoid in these groups is in the first section, so trafficking it carries death without the life alternative. Decision 44 prints the first section as «القسم الأول (أ)» and «القسم الأول (ب)», and both are read here as the first section the law names. Article 38(1) punishes possession without intent to trade or to use by aggravated imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 to 200,000 pounds, and Article 38(2) raises it to life imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 pounds for cocaine, heroin and the first section. Article 37 punishes possession for personal use by aggravated imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 50,000 pounds; for a person proven to be an addict the court may order treatment in a sanatorium instead, though not after an earlier sentence. Article 39 punishes knowing use in premises prepared for use by imprisonment of at least one year and a fine of 1,000 to 3,000 pounds, doubled for cocaine, heroin and the first section. Each of these articles reaches anyone who commits the act and makes no exception for a foreign national, and none of Articles 33 to 39 states a minimum quantity. Law 19/2020 bars conditional release for a conviction under Law 182/1960 other than the Article 37 felony. A synthetic cannabinoid printed in Section 2 instead, such as «SDB-005» or «Cumyl-pegaclone», carries Article 34's death or life tier rather than the death only tier. The earlier figure of a minimum of one year plus a fine for personal use belongs to Article 39, use in premises prepared for use, not to Article 37. Law 95/2003, Article 2, abolished hard labour «أينما وردت», wherever it appears, in the Penal Code or any other law, putting «السجن المؤبد», life imprisonment, in place of life hard labour and «السجن المشدد», aggravated imprisonment, in place of hard labour for a term; Article 3 of the same Law replaced Penal Code Article 14, under which aggravated imprisonment runs from three to fifteen years unless the law provides otherwise. The penalties above are named as they stand after that Law, although Law 122/1989 wrote them as hard labour.

If prescribed or medical

These synthetic cannabinoids have no recognised medical use and no lawful prescription route in Egypt.

Documentation

No lawful personal-import route for scheduled synthetic cannabinoids; do not carry.

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