Law of Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Purpose and scope

• Criminalises smuggling, importing, exporting, manufacturing, growing, possessing, trading in and using narcotics and psychotropic substances outside authorised cases (Article 3), and sets the exempt medical quantities (Article 2).

Key rules, rights and obligations

• The authorities prosecute a Saudi who commits an offence under this law abroad (Article 7).
• A doctor may not prescribe medicines containing narcotics or psychotropics for themselves or their family (Article 34), and listed chemical precursors may not be dealt in without a licence (Article 36).
• Addicts are treated in strict confidence, and anyone involved who discloses their identity is punished (Article 51).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• Penalties are graded by the act: the most severe for smuggling and promotion (Article 37), then imprisonment for possession for trade or promotion (Articles 38 and 39) and for possession not for use (Article 40).
• Use, or possession for personal use: imprisonment from six months to two years, aggravated in cases such as a user who is charged with drug control (Article 41).
• An accomplice receives the principal's penalty (Article 58), attempt is punished (Article 59), and tools and vehicles used are confiscated by court judgment (Article 53).
• A convicted Saudi is barred from travel after prison for an equal period of at least two years, and a non-Saudi is deported after serving the sentence (Article 56).

Procedures and key deadlines

• No case is brought against a user who comes forward, or whose relative comes forward, to seek treatment and hands over any substances held (Article 42).
• Instead of punishment, an addict may be placed in a treatment centre (Article 43) or required to attend a psychiatric clinic (Article 50).
• For valid reasons the court may go below the minimum prison term in specified cases (Article 60).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.