Penalties for drug offenses in the UAE are graduated according to the nature of the act and the offender's intent: use, personal consumption and possession for the purpose of use are punishable by imprisonment or a fine, and may be replaced with committal for treatment and rehabilitation instead of punishment; inciting, instigating and facilitating (promotion) are punishable by imprisonment of no less than five years; while bringing in, importing, exporting and trafficking are punishable by imprisonment that may reach life, rising to the death penalty in aggravated forms such as recidivism or affiliation with a hostile group or gang. The law draws a clear distinction between possession for the purpose of use and possession for the purpose of trafficking, and differentiates in deportation between the foreign user and others. This framework was updated by Federal Decree-Law No. (14) of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026. Below is a statement of these offenses, their penalties, exemption cases and treatment.

What Are the Penalties for Drug Crimes in the UAE? Use, Possession, Promotion and Trafficking

First: The legislative framework for drug offenses in the UAE

Drug offenses in the State are governed by Federal Decree-Law No. (30) of 2021 on combating narcotic and psychotropic substances, amended by Decree-Law No. (53) of 2022, then by Decree-Law No. (14) of 2025, in force from 1 January 2026.

The 2025 amendment replaced the term "the Ministry" with "the Foundation" (the Emirates Drug Establishment), and "the Minister of Health and Prevention" with "the Chairman of the Council," and amended the texts of articles relating to licensing, medical dealing, penalties, deportation, judicial authorization, jurisdiction and committal for treatment, while referring on medical dealing to Federal Decree-Law No. (38) of 2024.

Second: How does the law classify narcotic and psychotropic substances?

The law links the penalty to the substance's classification in the appended schedules; narcotic substances are listed in Schedules (1, 2, 3, 4), and psychotropic substances in Schedules (5, 6, 7, 8). The 2025 amendment provided that the Decree-Law does not apply to the parts and varieties of plants set out in the Third Part of Schedule (4).

Third: The offense of use and personal consumption and its penalty

The law criminalized use and personal consumption otherwise than in the licensed cases, distinguishing the penalty by the substance's classification, with escalation in the case of recidivism:

Recidivism in these offenses is reckoned within a period not exceeding three years from the date the act was first committed, and the penalty is intensified upon the second time, then the third or more, as set out in each article.

Fourth: Possession and acquisition — the difference between intent to use and intent to traffic

The law draws a decisive distinction between the two forms of possession according to intent, with a fundamentally different penal path:

Article (59) also punishes by imprisonment of no less than five years a person licensed to possess a scheduled substance who breaches the licensed purpose; if it is for the purpose of trafficking or promotion, the penalty is life imprisonment and a fine, and the death penalty in the case of recidivism.

Fifth: The offense of promotion, incitement, instigation and facilitation

Under Article (48), a person is punished by imprisonment of no less than five years and a fine of no less than AED 50,000 for inviting or inciting another to commit any of the offenses set out in Articles (41), (42), (43), (44), or facilitating their commission in any way.

Sixth: Bringing in, importing, exporting, trafficking and smuggling

The law intensified the penalty in offenses of dealing for the purpose of trafficking, and set the penalty in prohibited-import offenses according to Penalty Schedule (10) by the type of substance and its weight or the number of plants:

If it is established that the act was committed for the purpose of use or personal consumption, the offender is punished under Articles (41), (42), (43), not the trafficking penalties.

Article (52) punishes by imprisonment anyone who deliberately transfers narcotic substances into another's possession or custody without their knowledge of their true nature; Article (50) punishes slipping a substance into another's food or drink, or causing them to take it without their knowledge, with a penalty escalating to life or the death penalty if the act results in the victim's death.

Seventh: Aggravating circumstances and recidivism

Alongside the aggravating circumstances specific to each offense, the law intensified the penalty in the case of recidivism in a number of offenses up to the death penalty in some forms, and treated affiliation with a hostile group or organized gang, or working for its benefit, as an aggravating circumstance that raises the penalty in prohibited-import offenses to death or life, in addition to the forms of aggravation relating to the place of the offense or the status of the victim in the offenses of invitation, incitement and facilitation.

Eighth: Accessory and supplementary penalties

Ninth: Exemption from and mitigation of the penalty

Under Article (69), any offender who takes the initiative to inform the authorities of what they know about the offenses set out in Articles (53), (57), (58) before the authorities learn of the offense and before it begins is exempt from the penalty. The court may grant exemption if the report is made after the offense and before the investigation begins, and may mitigate the penalty if, during the investigation or trial, the offender facilitates the arrest of one of the offense's perpetrators.

Tenth: Treatment and rehabilitation instead of punishment

The law made available the path of treatment and rehabilitation instead of the penalty in offenses of use and personal consumption:

Under Article (93) as amended, the offenses of use and personal consumption (41, 42, 43, 44) are not considered a criminal precedent requiring rehabilitation of reputation when committed for the first time by nationals, and suspension of the execution of the penalty may not be ordered when committed for the third time or more.

Eleventh: Special cases

Twelfth: Judicial authorization and jurisdiction

Under Article (87) as amended, a judicial authorization issued by the Public Prosecution is effective in all Emirates of the State where the offense is committed for the purpose of trafficking or promotion, or where the offender is affiliated with a hostile group or organized gang or works for its benefit. Under Article (88) as amended, the federal courts located at the seat of the federal capital have exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate the Decree-Law's offenses where committed for the purpose of trafficking or promotion and what is connected with them by an indivisible link. As for the offenses of use and personal consumption, jurisdiction lies — by exception to Article (142) of the Criminal Procedure Law — with the court within whose territorial scope the apprehension took place (Art. 86).

Legal references

Frequently asked questions

This text is a translation of the original article written in Arabic. In the event of any discrepancy between this translation and the Arabic text, the Arabic version shall prevail.