Oman: date the first restriction to 1974 and add 8 history entries

The general drug offences already fall within the restrictive personal-possession and sharing levels; the earlier first-restriction estimate remains provisional because the code does not define cannabis separately.

possession 10 · cultivation 10 · enforcement 10 · sharing 10 · consumption 10 · access 10

label Growing for personal use, Article 41 · treatment criminal · term Personal use · pris … · term Trade · death true · fine min 35000 · fine 60000 · note Death or life imprisonment · life possible

label Supply without payment or preparing premises for use, Article 39 · treatment crimina … on min 15 years · fine min 10000 · fine 25000 · note At least fifteen years plus the fine · life possible, label Import, export, production, manufacture or growing for trade, Article 37 · treatment criminal · term Trade · death true · fine min 35000 · fine 60000 · note Death or life imprisonment · life possible, label Trading in a protected place or to a person lacking capacity, Article 38 · treatment criminal · term Trading · life mandatory · fine min 10000 · fine 25000

Article 37 sets death or life imprisonment and a fine of 35,000–60,000 rials for specified unauthorised import, export, production, manufacture and growing offences for trade.[@rd67] Smuggling for trade and itssix listed aggravated cases requireaggravations make death. Trading and supplying for payment are separately punished under mandatory; article 38 makes life mandatory for trading in protected places or to a person lacking capacity.[@rd67] No possession, starting at fifteen yearsuse or personal-growing offence carries death or life.[@rd67]

nonemedical

No licensed commercial cannabis production was found. Articleis known, but article 7 permits growing licences only for specified public bodies, colleges and research institutions, for medical or scientific purposes.[@rd67] The law does not create an industrial-hempNo commercial or adult-use production routepatient product licence is known to have been issued.[@rd67]

Article 61 requires permanent deportation of foreigners convicted under the law, except itsapart from residual article 56 offences.[@rd67] It also reaches repeated accusations on serious groundsDrug felonies have a 25-year limitation period, suspended sentences are excluded, periodic testing can last two years, and acquittals on formal grounds when evidence indicates involvementforeign final convictions count towards recidivism.[@rd67] Article 60 allows additional measures for convicted Omanis, including health monitoring, residence restrictions, a travel ban and community service; article 51 provides for confiscationConfiscation of drugs and property or vehicles used in offences is provided by article 51.[@rd67]

There is no recreational supply route.[@rd67] Personal possession, useA small personal import falls under article 41 and growing carrycarries one to three years and a fine of 1,000–5,000 rials, with treatment alternatives; import for established dependencetrade falls under article 37 and can carry death or life.[@rd67] Article 61 provides for permanent deportation of foreign offenders, apart from the residual article 56 offences.[@rd67]

The Public Prosecution reported 6,741 drug cases inbetween 2023– and 2024, an all-drug figure with 2024 higher than 2023.[@omanobserver25] AirportSeizures are dominated by hashish and postal seizuresmixed consignments: 30 kg of hashish in South Al Batinah in October 2024, 85 kg of hashish and marijuana off Quriyat in August 2025–, and 185 kg of mixed drugs at Al Barka in August 2026 included.[@times24,times25q,khaleej26] Airport and postal cases include 11.65 kg and 6.5 kg of marijuana at Salalah airport, 12.66 kg at Muscat airport, 7.29 kg in 24 postal food parcels and 2.56 kg in a parcelparcels from Thailand and Canada.[@omanobserver25omanobserver25b,gulf26,ki26] The 2026 law's death-or-life tier for import and production for trade shows that the border trade is treated as serious.[@rd67] No price or purity data were found.[@rd67]

omanobserver25, times24, times25q, khaleej26, omanobserver25b, gulf26, ki26, rd67

The Public Prosecution reported 6,741 drug cases inbetween 2023– and 2024, an all-drug figure with no cannabis breakdown; 2024 was higher than 2023.[@omanobserver25] The 2025–2026 airport and postal cases each involved a handful of travellers or parcels, not a national arrest series.[@omanobserver25omanobserver25b] The UNODC data are seizure-only and should not be read as arrest figures.[@unodc_szr]

omanobserver25, omanobserver25b, unodc_szr

The only lawful growing route doubles as the research route: article 7 permits growing licences for specified public bodies, colleges and research institutions for medical or scientific purposes.[@rd67] No separate researchcannabis-specific cultivation programme, trial or published studyclinical trial was established byfound.[@rd67] A 2021 survey of 375 students at one college found 5.1% lifetime cannabis use, but a 3.1% response rate means it cannot represent the retained sourcescountry.[@omj21]

rd67, omj21

Times of Oman — 30 kg hashish seized in South Al Batinah (21 October 2024) Times of Oman — 85 kg hashish and marijuana off Quriyat (22 August 2025) Khaleej Times — 185 kg mixed drugs at Al Barka (23 August 2026) Oman Observer — Salalah airport marijuana seizures (July–September 2025) Gulf News — 12.66 kg marijuana at Muscat airport (21 August 2025) Gulf Insider — Postal marijuana parcels from Thailand and Canada (June 2026) Oman Medical Journal — Substance use among college students (2021) 6 unchanged