Combined drug and psychoactive preparations to be treated entirely as narcotics

Any pharmaceutical preparation that combines a narcotic substance with a psychoactive substance will now be treated entirely as a narcotic under updated Saudi regulations, bringing it under the stricter rules and penalties.

A joint committee from the Ministry of Health and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority approved the changes. They also prohibit the possession or cultivation of banned plants and seeds at every stage of growth and in any form. The listed plants include cannabis, poppy, coca, khat, kratom and hallucinogenic ergot fungus.

The updated provisions regulate narcotic substances, psychotropic substances, chemical precursors and prohibited plants. They divide narcotic and psychotropic substances into five main categories each. The international narcotics lists are identified as the Yellow List, while the psychotropic substances lists are identified as the Green List. The fifth category is reserved for substances subject to local control in Saudi Arabia.

The provisions also ban the circulation, prescription, possession or import of Category Four narcotics and Category One psychotropic substances, along with specified additional materials. The supplied article ends while detailing those substances.