Is Zolpidem legal in Kazakhstan?

Legal status

Zolpidem is named in Kazakhstan's controlled list. The first of the three documents Government Resolution No. 470 of 3 July 2019 approves, the Список наркотических средств, психотропных веществ и прекурсоров, подлежащих контролю в Республике Казахстан, carries the entry Золпидем at item 16 of section В of Таблица III of the Список, the schedule of substances used for medical purposes and held under control. The second document, the Сводная таблица of small, large and particularly large sizes, then carries the row Золпидем and sets небольшой размер at 0-0,6 grams, крупный размер at 0,6-30 grams and особо крупный размер above 30,0 grams. The zolpidem row takes the barbiturate pattern rather than the benzodiazepine one, 0-0,6 grams and then 0,6 to 30 grams, which puts the особо крупный threshold at about three thousand 10 mg tablets. It sits in the lighter of the two medical schedules. The copy read carries the amendment of 24 February 2026 made by Government Resolution No. 111, and the Сводная таблица is wholly in that redaction, so every size quoted here is the 24 February 2026 text, not an earlier one. [Certain] on the placement and the figures, both re-derived from the instrument in this pass. [Likely] Re-derived in this pass as far as a secondary source allows, and it changes what an absence from Resolution 470 means for this row: Kazakhstan runs a separate category of сильнодействующие и ядовитые вещества outside that Resolution, fixed by the Order of the Minister of Health No. 120 of 26 December 2023 approving the List of Potent Substances Having Harmful Effects on Human Life and Health, and punished by Criminal Code Article 301. A Kazakh pharmaceutical-sector explainer of the 2026 change states that the list reaches preparations containing zolpidem. Criminal liability for unlawful trafficking in a listed potent substance, including dispensing it from a pharmacy without a prescription, took effect on 1 January 2026 under Law No. 150-VIII of 2 January 2025. Order 120 itself was not read in this pass, so the naming is carried from that explainer and not from the list.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Kazakhstan has abolished the death penalty. No capital punishment remains available anywhere in its Criminal Code, because the law of 29 December 2021 numbered 89-VII on abolition replaced the words carrying it in Article 11 with life imprisonment, and Article 46 now names life imprisonment as the heaviest penalty the Code holds. Kazakhstan grades the offence by the size band. Criminal Code Article 296 part 2 meets ordinary possession without intent to supply with a fine of up to 160 monthly calculation indices, corrective labour, community work or arrest of up to 40 days, part 3 meets a крупный quantity with up to 200 indices or 50 days, and part 4 meets an особо крупный quantity with three to seven years of imprisonment. Public non-medical consumption is part 1. Supply is Article 297 at five to eight years with confiscation and up to fifteen to twenty years for its aggravated forms, and Article 297-1, inserted on 2 January 2025 by law No. 150-VIII, covers manufacture and processing for supply with life imprisonment available at part 4. The row that carries those figures is Золпидем, and for Zolpidem the custodial rung therefore opens above 30,0 grams. Article 296 also carries a note releasing from liability under that article a person who voluntarily hands the substance over, seeks medical help or actively assists in uncovering a related offence. [Likely] The Criminal Code articles and their year ranges in this cell were read from secondary consolidations rather than from an official publisher in this pass. Two independent consolidations agree on them, and the Code's own article text was not reached: the state portal served only its contents list. The abolition of the death penalty, by contrast, was confirmed against the Code itself and is tagged [Certain] where it appears. [Likely] Carried from the entry published before this batch and not re-derived in this pass: the two middle rungs of that ladder are six to ten years for part 2 and seven to twelve years for part 3.

If prescribed or medical

Таблица III of the Список is headed as the schedule of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances used for medical purposes and held under control, which is the lighter of the two medical schedules, so Zolpidem has a domestic prescribing route. The Resolution fixes the schedule and the seizure sizes and says nothing about what a visitor may bring in, so the carriage question is answered by the health ministry's import rules and not by this text.

Documentation

Provenance. The placement and the grams on this row were read from the consolidated text of Government Resolution of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 470 of 3 July 2019 approving the Список наркотических средств, психотропных веществ и прекурсоров, подлежащих контролю в Республике Казахстан and the Сводная таблица of small, large and particularly large sizes at https://zakon.uchet.kz/rus/docs/P1900000470, which is the state legal information system's copy, on 2026-09-21. The tables were parsed by column position rather than by reading them as a stream of lines, which matters because a blank небольшой размер cell is a real feature of this table and a line reader silently shifts the remaining figures one column left. The copy read carries the amendment of 24 February 2026 made by Government Resolution No. 111, and the Сводная таблица is wholly in that redaction, so every size quoted here is the 24 February 2026 text. Russian names are quoted as the instrument prints them, except that the list prints the Список entries in capitals and they are given here in ordinary case.

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