Reconstruct Oman drug penalties and treatment chronology

Oman replaces its drug lawraises personal-use fines and unpaid-supply prison terms

Royal Decree 67/2026, signed on 3 September and published on 6 September, repealed the 1999 law. Possessing, buying or growing a drug plant for personal use, or using, carriesOman retained one to three years in prison and afor personal use while raising the fine ofto 1,000 to –5,000 rials from 500–3, and a court may send a dependent user to treatment instead000. Importing[@1, exporting2] Unpaid supply now carried seven to fifteen years, producing or manufacturing a scheduled drug for traffickingup from five to ten, or growing a listed plant for traffickingand the separate trading offence’s minimum rose from ten to fifteen years.[@1, can bring3] The replacement law kept treatment alternatives and death or life imprisonment. Smuggling those things for trafficking is punishedspecified supply offences; its testing rules also reached people reported by deathrelatives. Supplying a drug to a user without payment carries seven to fifteen years. Viable cannabis seeds are banned along with[@1] It took effect on 7 September 2026, replacing the plant1999 law and amendments.[@1]

Oman — Royal Decree 34/2015 amending the drug law, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Oman — original drug law issued by Royal Decree 17/1999, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om 1 unchanged

sentencing, treatment, seeds

Higher fines and supply sentences, expanded testing and revised treatment procedures do not cross the existing whole-point personal-use score levels.

oman-narcotics-law-1999, oman-death-penalty-widened-2015

2015-10-12

Oman widens the death penalty formakes drug dealingsmuggling for trade punishable by death

Royal Decree 34/2015 amended ten articles ofOman made death the narcoticsprescribed sentence for smuggling scheduled drugs or listed plants for trade, adding that conduct to the aggravated cases in its drug law. Dealers now face[@1,2] Other specified import, manufacture and growing offences for trade carried death or life imprisonment with no minimum quantity, as does anyone linkedwhile the separate personal-use rule set one to international trafficking gangsthree years and a fine of 500 to 3,000 rials.[@1] Using drugs was expressly brought under that personal-use penalty, and refusing a drug-test sample in specified circumstances became a separate crime.[@1] The earlier law already provided capital punishment and treatment alternatives.[@2]

possession 0 · cultivation 0 · enforcement 2 · sharing 0 · consumption 0 · access 0

Oman — Royal Decree 34/2015 amending the drug law, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Oman — original drug law issued by Royal Decree 17/1999, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Gulf News — Qaboos approves amendments to Oman drug law

Mandatory death for smuggling and the revised personal-use/testing provisions remain within existing restrictive score levels; capital liability already appears in the 1999 step.

oman-narcotics-law-1999, oman-narcotics-law-2026

1999-03-15

Oman issues its narcotics lawsets a one-year minimum for personal drug holdings

Royal Decree 17/99 was Oman's first dedicated narcotics law set a minimum of one year in prison for holding or growing listed drugs for personal use, alongside a fine of 500 to 3,000 rials. It allowed the[@1] Courts could order treatment for established dependence instead, and people seeking treatment before arrest or prosecution had a protected route.[@1] The law also provided death penaltyor life imprisonment for traffickingspecified import, production and growing offences, with mandatory death in quantities above 50 kgaggravated cases.[@1] It followed a penal code that set three months to two years for personal drug holdings.[@2]

Oman — original drug law issued by Royal Decree 17/1999, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Oman — original Penal Code issued by Royal Decree 7/1974, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Gulf News — Qaboos approves amendments to Oman drug law

treatment, sentencing, home-growing

possession 0 · cultivation 0 · enforcement 2 · sharing 0 · consumption 0 · access 0

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Personal possession carries, use and growing carry one to three years. Importing or manufacturing and a scheduled drugfine, with treatment alternatives for traffickingestablished dependence. Unpaid supply carries seven to fifteen years; specified import and production offences for trade can bring death or life imprisonment.

Under the new narcotics law issued by Royal Decree 67/2026, anyone who possesses, acquires or buys drugs for their own consumption facesArticle 41 sets one to three years in prison and a fine of 1,000 to –5,000 rials for possessing, buying or producing drugs, or growing listed plants, for personal use. A court can order residential or specialist outpatient treatment instead for established dependence. Residential treatment lasts six months to one year, with release decided by the court on a committee’s recommendation.[@rd67]

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Growing aArticles 3 and 7 prohibit unauthorised growing of listed plantplants and reserve growing licences for personal specified public bodies, colleges and research institutions for medical or scientific purposes. Cannabis is expressly listed. Personal-use falls under the samegrowing carries one -to -three-year provision years and a fine of Article 41. Growing1, importing or exporting a listed plant or its seeds000–5,000 rials under article 41; growing for trafficking can bringtrade falls under article 37’s death-or-life imprisonmentrange and a fine of 35,000 to –60,000 rials.[@rd67]

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Using a drug carriesPersonal possession, growing and use carry one to three years. Importing, exporting, producing or manufacturingwith treatment alternatives for established dependence. Article 57 separately punishes refusal of a scheduled drug for trafficking-test sample in specified circumstances, including possession of drugs or growingequipment, signs of use in public, a listed plant or its seeds for traffickingprosecution arrest order, can bring death or life imprisonmenta report by relatives: six months to three years and a fine of 35100–1,000 to 60,000 rials. Death is the only penalty for smuggling those things for traffickingSpecified import, manufacture and growing offences for a repeat of that offence,trade carry death or life imprisonment. Smuggling for an official charged with drug control,trade and for taking part in an international smuggling gangspecified aggravated supply cases carry death.[@rd67]

Supplying a drug to a user without paymentUnder article 39, supplying drugs for consumption or preparing a placepremises for use without payment, carries seven to fifteen years and a fine of 5,000 to –15,000 rials. Supplying a user for payment, or possessing, selling or handing a drug over in order to traffic, carriesArticle 38 separately sets at least fifteen years and a fine of 10,000 to –25,000 rials. An unpaid transfer for trading, including transfers made in order to traffic can still fall underfor that fifteen-year offencepurpose, and supply for payment.[@rd67]

Use is covered byArticle 41 expressly punishes unauthorised use with the personalsame one-consumption offenceto-three-year prison range and 1,000–5,000-rial fine as personal holdings. Article 43 protects people seeking treatment voluntarily or through specified relatives before they are caught using or prosecuted. Treatment information is confidential under article 44.[@rd67]

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NoneThere is no recreational supply route. Articles 9 and 15 restrict authorised drug dealings to listed medical, pharmaceutical, veterinary, public and research bodies, and article 27 requires a licensed doctor’s prescription for pharmacy dispensing.[@rd67]

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Importing, exporting, producing or manufacturing a scheduled drug for trafficking, or growing, importing or exporting a listed plant or its seeds for trafficking, can be punished byArticle 37 sets death or by life imprisonment, and by a fine of 35,000 to –60,000 rials. Death is the sentence for smuggling those things for traffickingspecified unauthorised import, for a repeat of that offenceexport, for an official charged with drug controlproduction, manufacture and growing offences for taking part in an international smuggling gangtrade. Selling or handing a drug over in order to trafficSmuggling for trade and its listed aggravated cases require death. Trading and supplying for payment are separately punished under article 38, without that import or manufacture, startsstarting at fifteen years.[@rd67]

NoneReliable national information about lawful cannabis production was not established by the retained sources.

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NoneReliable national information about legally available cannabis products was not established by the retained sources.

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NoThe retained sources do not establish whether a medical cannabis programme operates.

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Foreigners are deported after serving their sentenceArticle 61 requires permanent deportation of foreigners convicted under the law, except its residual article 56 offences. It also reaches repeated accusations on serious grounds and acquittals on formal grounds when evidence indicates involvement. Article 60 allows additional measures for convicted Omanis, including health monitoring, residence restrictions, a travel ban and community service; article 51 provides for confiscation of drugs and property or vehicles used in offences.[@rd67]

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The 2026 narcotics law bansArticle 3 prohibits unauthorised growing, holding, buying or selling a and dealings in listed plantplants, any part of ittheir parts at any stage ofevery growth, stage and itstheir seeds. Cannabis is on the list. OnlySchedule 5 expressly names male and female cannabis; schedule 6 exempts stalk fibres and seeds treated so they cannot germinate, and stalk fibre, are exempt. The law defines cultivation as starting with sowingArticle 7 permits growing licences for germinationspecified public bodies, colleges and licences to grow go only to state bodies and recognised research institutesinstitutions for medical or scientific purposes.[@rd67]

No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leavesThe statute provides no room for them: growingrecreational cannabis-club route. Unauthorised personal growing and supplying it to another person are both prohibitedcriminal, and the law provides for the death penalty for the most serious drug offencesincluding supply without payment.[@rd67]

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There is no legal recreational supply for anyoneroute. Under the narcotics law issued by Royal Decree 67/2026Personal possession, anyone who possesses, acquires or buys drugs for their own consumption facesuse and growing carry one to three years in prison and a fine of 1,000 to –5,000 rials, with treatment alternatives for established dependence. Article 61 provides for permanent deportation of foreign offenders, apart from the residual article 56 offences.[@rd67]

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Gulf News — Oman's new anti-narcotics law introduces death penalty, fines of up to OMR 60,000 Oman Observer — New law tightens penalties in drug crimes 3 unchanged

In 2015 Sultan Qaboos approved Royal Decree 34/2015, which amended ten articles of Oman's law on combating narcotics and psychotropic made smuggling scheduled drugs or listed plants for trade punishable by death in October 2015. The amendments had been recommended by both chambers ofalso expressly applied the Council of Oman, the Majlis Al Shurapersonal-use prison range to consumption and the State Councilcreated a separate offence of refusing a drug-test sample in specified circumstances. Their main effect was to remove the quantity that had limited the death penalty.[@1] ## What changed Oman's first dedicated narcoticsCapital punishment already existed The [1999 drug law, Royal Decree 17](/99, allowed a death sentence only for trafficking in more than 50 kg. The 2015 text sets no quantity. | Who | Penalty after 2015 | |history/oman-narcotics-law-|---| | Dealers and traffickers (Article 431999/) |had provided death or life imprisonment for specified import, production and a fine of more than 25growing offences. It required death in aggravated cases,000 rials | | Producers including repetition, importersinvolvement of drug-control officials and exporters | death or life imprisonment | | Anyone linked to anparticipation in international trafficking gang | death | | Anyone who uses a minorsmuggling gangs.[@2] The 2015 amendments added smuggling for trade to smuggle or sell | death | | Anti-narcotics officers who take part in the mandatory-death cases. Other listed import, manufacture and growing offences for trade |carried death or life imprisonment | | A suspect who refuses to give a sample for testing | at least six months and a fine of 100twenty-five thousand to fifty thousand rials | Assaulting an enforcement officer carries at least ten years.[@1] The change took effect on 12 October, life if the officer is permanently disabled, and death ifday after publication in the officer diesofficial gazette.[@1] ## The reasoning,Personal holdings and the practice A Royal Oman Police source quoted at the time said drug casesuse had been rising by more than 10% a yearan express range The replacement personal-use rule set one to three years in prison and that applying the death penalty would "definitely reduce drug cases"a fine of five hundred to three thousand rials. The health ministry counted 5It covered buying,000 people dependent on drugs in 2014 importing, against 4,000 the year before; heroin was the drug most often seizedholding or producing drugs and growing listed plants for consumption or personal use. The practice was milder than[@1] A separate sentence applied the text. An official ofsame penalty to using the national narcotics committee said only five smugglerslisted substances. Holdings outside trading, consumption or dealers had been sentencedpersonal use carried three to death in fifteenseven years, and executions had been halted since 2004a different fine.[@1] Courts could still order residential or specialist outpatient treatment for proved dependence. The country had set up more than1999 text already contained that treatment alternative and a dozen rehabilitation centresprotected route for seeking help before arrest or prosecution.[@1,2] ## Since then A new law, issued by Royal Decree 67/2026 in September 2026, repealed the 1999 law and itsRefusing a sample became a separate crime The amendments. It punishes possession or use for personal consumption punished refusal of a sample needed to detect drugs with onesix months to three years in prison and a fine of one hundred to one thousand rials.[@1] The specified circumstances included signs of drug use in public, possession of drugs or equipment, and letsbeing with others where signs of use or drugs were found. Giving the sample counted as a court send a dependent user to treatmentground for mitigation.[@1] ## Why the index moved The index movedreplacement law raised fines and supply sentences The [Oman2026 law](/countryhistory/omoman-narcotics-law-2026/) kept the one-to-three-year personal-use prison range but raised its fine to one thousand to five thousand rials. It also expanded the listed circumstances for the sample-refusal offence to include a prosecution arrest order and reports by relatives.[@3] Unpaid supply for consumption moved from 4 the earlier five-to 2 with-ten-year range to seven to fifteen years. Treatment alternatives continued alongside these penalties, as described in the [2015 decreeOman profile](/historycountry/oman-death-penalty-widened-2015om/). Enforcement fell from [@2 to 1, because a capital charge no longer depended on quantity. Possession, cultivation, sharing and consumption were already at 0. 3]

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Oman — Royal Decree 34/2015 amending the drug law, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Oman — original drug law issued by Royal Decree 17/1999, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Gulf News — Qaboos approves amendments to Oman drug law 1 unchanged

In September 2026 Oman replaced the’s replacement drug law raised personal-use fines and prison terms for unpaid supply when it had used since 1999took effect on 7 September 2026. For cannabis the new text confirms the old positionPersonal possession, prison for use and death for trafficking, and addsgrowing continued to carry one way outto three years, with treatment alternatives for established dependence. ## The law it replaces Oman's first dedicated narcotics law was [Royal Decree 17/99@1](/history/oman ## Personal-narcotics-law-1999/), which alloweduse fines increased Under the death penalty for trafficking above 50 kg. An amendment in [2015 amendments](/history/oman-death-penalty-widened-2015/) removed the minimum quantity, so that any dealer faced death or life imprisonment. Royal Decree 67/2026 was signed on 3 Septemberpersonal holdings, published on 6 Septembergrowing and took effect the next dayconsumption carried one to three years and a fine of five hundred to three thousand rials. It repeals the 1999The new law retained that prison range and increased the fine to one thousand to five thousand rials. ## What it says about cannabis Cannabis[@1, its resin, extracts2] Cannabis and tinctures areresin remain listed as narcoticsdrugs, and THC and HHC separately as psychotropic substances. Thethe plant may not be grown or imported. Two things are excluded: fibre fromis expressly covered by the stem,growing restrictions. Stalk fibres and seeds treated so that they cannot grow. A seed that can germinate is banned with the plantare exempt parts. | Conduct | Penalty | |---|---| | Using; or importing Growing licences are reserved for specified public bodies, buying, holding or growingcolleges and research institutions for personal use | medical or scientific purposes.[@1] ## Unpaid supply brought longer prison terms The [1999 law](/history/oman-narcotics-law-1999/) had set five to 3ten years and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 rials | | Supplying a drug to a user,for supplying drugs for consumption or preparing a placepremises for use, without payment | 7. The replacement raised that range to 15seven to fifteen years and aincreased the fine of 5,000 to 15,000five thousand to fifteen thousand rials | | Possessing.[@1, selling or transporting for trafficking, or supplying a user for payment | At least 153] The separate trading offence’s minimum rose from ten to fifteen years and a fine of 10. Specified import,000 to 25,000 rials | | Importing, exporting, producing, manufacturing or production and growing offences for trafficking | Deathtrade continued to carry death or life imprisonment,. Smuggling for trade and a fine of 35listed aggravated cases required death.[@1,000 to 60,000 rials | | Refusing to give a sample for testing | 6 months to 3 years | Death] ## Treatment alternatives continued Courts could order residential or life imprisonment is the penaltyspecialist outpatient treatment for that import, export, production, manufacture or cultivation when it is done in order to traffic. Death issomeone proved dependent instead of the only penalty for smuggling those things for traffickingpersonal-use sentence. Residential treatment lasted six months to one year, for a repeat of that offence, for an official charged with drug control, andcourt approval needed for taking part in an international smuggling gangrelease on a committee’s recommendation. A sale that is not an import[@1] People seeking treatment voluntarily or a manufacture starts at fifteen yearsthrough specified relatives before being caught using or prosecuted had protection from prosecution. An unpaid transfer made in order to traffic can still fall underThe replacement text extended the fifteen family route to fourth-year offencedegree relatives where no second-degree relative existed. A foreigner convicted under Treatment information remained confidential; these treatment and confidentiality routes had already appeared in the older law is deported for good.[@1,3] ## Testing and consequences reached beyond imprisonment The way out The law treats dependence differently from use. sample- A court may send a proven addict to a clinicrefusal offence covered further circumstances, forincluding a prosecution arrest order and reports by relatives. It retained six months to three years and a year, instead fine of prisonone hundred to one thousand rials. This is possible at most twice. - No case is brought at all against someone who comes forward for treatment voluntarily[@1, or is brought in by a spouse or close relative,2] The law also provided they have not already been arrested or charged. - Treatment records are confidential. Licensed medical and research use is providedadditional court measures for: government bodies, colleges convicted Omanis and research centres may be licensed to grow listed plants permanent deportation of foreign offenders, and pharmacies to dispense on prescriptionapart from its residual offences. ## In These consequences sit alongside the index The entry moves no score.possession, growing and supply penalties in the [Oman profile](/country/om/) stays at 0 for possession, growing, sharing and consumption. The treatment provisions matter to the people they reach, but the ordinary user still faces a minimum of one year in prison. [@1]

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Oman — Royal Decree 34/2015 amending the drug law, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om Oman — original drug law issued by Royal Decree 17/1999, Arabic text reproduced by Qanoon.om 1 unchanged