In force
Saudi Narcotics Law Implementing Regulations
اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام مكافحة المخدرات والمؤثرات العقلية
Implementing regulations that cover the laboratories approved by the Ministry of Health for analysis, transport, the authorities competent to monitor and prosecute offenses, import licensing, transport controls, prescriptions, and judicial-police capacity for officers.
- Articles
- 40
- In force
- 40
- Amended
- 0
- Issued
- 10/6/1431 AH
Issued by: قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 201 بتاريخ 10 / 6 / 1431
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Narcotics Law Implementing Regulations by topic
Laboratory Analysis of Narcotic Substances1 articleNarcotic Medicines on Means of Transport1 articleNarcotics Control Authorities and Judicial Police Status3 articlesInternational Cooperation and Controlled Delivery5 articlesImporting and Exporting Narcotic Substances4 articlesTransporting Narcotics and Transit Through the Kingdom3 articlesStoring Narcotics and Keeping Their Records6 articlesPrescriptions for Narcotic Medicines5 articlesPhysicians' and Ambulance Possession of Narcotic Medicines2 articlesChemical Precursors1 articleCharges and Aggravating Circumstances3 articlesCases of Drug Use and Personal Consumption3 articlesAddiction Treatment and Committing an Addict to a Clinic3 articlesConfiscating and Destroying Drugs and Exemption4 articles
Articles of the Saudi Narcotics Law Implementing Regulations
- Article 1The article sets who designates the approved laboratories for analyzing narcotic substances and suspects' samples, requires two specialist experts to approve the result, and says who prepares the analysis forms and sets the sampling method.
- Article 2The article defines means of transport and sets the rules for carrying medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances on them, for non-Saudi and Saudi means of transport, with the list of medicines and their maximum quantities.
- Article 3The article identifies the authorities competent to monitor and to prosecute those who commit the offenses under the Law of Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
- Article 4The article identifies the two bodies competent to request assistance from other states in seizing smuggling of, or illicit trafficking in, narcotics on a ship on the high seas.
- Article 5The article identifies the bodies competent to prosecute and punish a Saudi citizen who commits an offense under Article 3 of the Law outside the Kingdom, and the conditions for initiating the case.
- Article 6The article identifies the two bodies competent to prosecute those accused of participating in Article 3 offenses outside the Kingdom, and requires international agreements to be observed in the procedures of Article 8 of the Law.
- Article 7The article makes the Mutual Legal Assistance Committee at the Ministry of Interior the body authorized to consider assistance requests, and requires the 1988 United Nations Convention to be observed in these requests.
- Article 8The article identifies the two bodies authorized to allow narcotics to enter, pass through or leave the Kingdom, and details controlled delivery rules in three cases and the Minister of Interior's approval.
- Article 9The article sets conditions for importing and exporting narcotic and psychotropic substances for legitimate purposes: licensing, the approved annual need, the duration, renewal and data of licenses, and the means of transport.
- Article 10The article sets three controls for reviewing the quantities of narcotic and psychotropic substances requested for import or export, tied to the approved need and the importing country's license.
- Article 11The article requires an import license issued before the arrival of narcotic and psychotropic substances for customs clearance, excepts patients' medicines for personal use, and regulates their storage at customs and license instructions.
- Article 12The article regulates importing the seeds of plants listed in Table 4 of the Law: the request and the committee that studies it, the term and data of the license, clearance, packaging and custody, proof of consumption, and conditions for licensing cultivation.
- Article 13The article sets the controls for transporting narcotic and psychotropic substances inside the Kingdom and delivering them, from sealed containers, delivery statements and guarding to conditions for transporting medicines and samples sent for analysis.
- Article 14The article requires a permit from the Minister of Interior or his delegate for narcotic and psychotropic substances to pass through the Kingdom, and sets the transit conditions and customs' verification of their exit.
- Article 15The article empowers the Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, in agreement with the Minister of Health, to approve procedures and controls for taking custody of narcotics in warehouses, factories and treatment institutions.
- Article 16The article sets the data that must be included in the register of narcotic and psychotropic substances at licensed establishments, and requires submitting the periodic register every six months.
- Article 17The article empowers the Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, in coordination with the Minister of Health, to approve procedures and controls for selling, delivering and disposing of narcotics in pharmacies and treatment institutions.
- Article 18The article regulates license applications to establish factories or laboratories producing narcotic or psychotropic substances, and forming a permanent committee to study them and refer approved ones to the Council of Ministers.
- Article 19The article sets the conditions for storing narcotic and psychotropic substances at licensed establishments, and the procedures required when quantities are in excess, lost, short or damaged.
- Article 20The article sets the conditions for the prescription for restricted medicines, its mandatory data and validity period, the Minister of Health's power to amend them, and verifying modern prescription-writing technologies.
- Article 21The article sets the retention of the original prescription at three years and the prescription register at five years, and how they are destroyed after the period by a committee and a report.
- Article 22The article requires a special register for each medicine containing a narcotic or psychotropic substance at pharmacy establishments, and sets its data, how it is written and signed, and its retention for ten years then destruction.
- Article 23The article empowers the Minister of Health, in coordination with the Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, to approve controls for prescribing and dispensing narcotic medicines in treatment institutions and controls for verifying compliance with them.
- Article 24The article allows physicians to hold emergency narcotic medicines and prescribe and dispense them from their private clinics under specific controls, and regulates holding and giving them in ambulance centers and teams.
- Article 25The article defines family members as the parents, children, siblings and spouse.
- Article 26The article empowers the Minister of Health to issue controls and instructions on returning medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances and disposing of them, including those dispensed from government and private treatment institutions.
- Article 27The article subjects the chemical precursors listed in Table 3 to the Chemical Substances Import and Management Law, requires the competent bodies to provide Narcotics Control with data and periodic reports, and identifies who is responsible for their custody.
- Article 28The article provides for relying on the provisions that preceded the Law in charging offenses under items 5 and 6 of paragraph first of Article 37, and requires the judgment to specify the criminal description and the substance.
- Article 29The article defines the scope of places that carry aggravated punishment in drug offenses: mosque facilities, the sanctity of the Two Holy Mosques, educational and training areas and their surroundings, and correctional institutions.
- Article 30The article provides that a drug user or consumer who is sentenced to imprisonment as a discretionary penalty may not receive more than the maximum set in paragraph (1) of Article 41 of the Law.
- Article 31The article regulates how a user or addict hands over and seizes any drugs in his possession, the scope of use cases, and the closing and recording of first-time use or personal-use possession investigations.
- Article 32The article defines the addict, sets out when a court may order admission to a treatment facility, the length of admission and treatment, who does not benefit, and the conditions for release, extension and cancellation of the treatment order.
- Article 33The article sets out the tasks and powers of the Committee for Considering Addiction Cases, the bodies represented on it, and its working procedures from chairmanship and meetings to issuing decisions.
- Article 34The article specifies the types and maximum quantities of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances referred to in Article 47 of the Law, and authorizes the Minister of Interior to amend them in coordination with the Minister of Health.
- Article 35The article makes designating the psychiatric clinics referred to in Article 50 of the Law the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, in coordination with the Committee for Considering Addiction Cases.
- Article 36The article provides for confiscating the substances in paragraph (1) of Article 52 of the Law as soon as they are seized, and regulates keeping them with the seizing body, destruction committees, and handing them to government bodies for lawful purposes.
- Article 37The article requires the competent executive bodies to take the measures necessary to implement what is provided in Articles 55, 56 and 57 of the Law of Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
- Article 38The article provides that the exemption under Article 61 of the Narcotics Law is issued by a reasoned decision of the head of the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.
- Article 39The article gives narcotics control directors, officers and non-commissioned officers in military sectors the status of judicial officers for the Law's offenses within their sectors and facilities, with coordination with the competent bodies.
- Article 40The article provides that the Regulations are published in the Official Gazette and take effect thirty days after the date of their publication.