Legal experts have affirmed that amendments to the United Arab Emirates' law on combating narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances have reinforced a national framework that is simultaneously stronger and more flexible, through tougher penalties for trafficking and promotion offences — particularly when minors and students are targeted — expanded treatment and rehabilitation opportunities for users, authorisation to establish specialised treatment units in private healthcare facilities, updated schedules of prohibited substances, and the criminalisation of using the internet and social media platforms to illegally promote narcotics, psychotropic substances, and pharmaceutical drugs.
Speaking to Al Bayan in a survey to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse, observed annually on 26 June, the experts said that Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021 on Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and the subsequent amendments culminating in Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2025, reflect the state's commitment to developing its legislation to keep pace with changes linked to organised and cross-border crime.
They noted that what most distinguishes the UAE's legislative approach in this area is that it does not treat counter-narcotics efforts solely through the lens of punishment, but rather combines strict legal deterrence with community prevention, early intervention, treatment and rehabilitation, and the reintegration of recovered individuals into society — protecting families and youth while giving users a genuine opportunity to return to normal life, without any leniency towards those who traffic in people's lives or target the most vulnerable groups.
A recurring occasion
Legal adviser Mohammed Al Hayes affirmed that the International Day Against Drug Abuse represents a recurring occasion to spotlight the evolution of the country's legislative framework, which has adopted a balanced approach combining strict deterrence against smugglers and traffickers with a therapeutic and rehabilitative response to users.
He said that the development of the UAE's anti-narcotics law follows an advanced structural trajectory based on distinguishing between organised crime related to trafficking and promotion, and cases of personal use, which the law treats in many of its forms as a health and social problem requiring treatment and rehabilitation before punishment, wherever the legal conditions for that are met.
Al Hayes pointed out that the UAE operates under a comprehensive legal framework for combating narcotics, headed by Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021 on Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 53 of 2022, alongside subsequent amendments that strengthened the prevention, early intervention, and treatment approach while maintaining strict measures against trafficking and promotion.
A balanced approach
He noted that the recent amendments to the law on combating narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2025, reinforced this balanced approach by combining strict deterrence of trafficking and promotion with early intervention and the provision of treatment opportunities for users — particularly in cases where swift intervention can protect a person's educational, family, and social future.
He explained that among the most notable provisions of the amendments is granting educational institutions a role in early intervention to protect students and address cases of use within defined preventive and therapeutic programmes, thereby preserving their educational and psychological futures and preventing a first experience or incidental behaviour from developing into a long-term addiction.
He added that the law, in contrast, tightened penalties for promotion and trafficking offences, with sentences graduated according to the nature and circumstances of the crime and potentially reaching life imprisonment or the death penalty in some cases, in addition to substantial financial fines — particularly when the offence involves targeting young age groups, organised trafficking, or the promotion of narcotics through modern means.
Protecting the individual
For his part, lawyer and Dr Rashed Al Kaitoob said that the UAE's legislative wisdom in confronting the scourge of narcotics is evident in the leadership's dedication to protecting the individual and safeguarding community security through an advanced legislative framework that does not rely on punishment alone, but combines deterrence, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
He explained that Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021 on Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances stood at the forefront of this framework, constituting a comprehensive structure for addressing trafficking, promotion, and use offences. He noted that the UAE legislature did not stop at its original formulation but continued to develop it through Federal Decree-Law No. 53 of 2022, then Federal Decree-Law No. 53 of 2023, and finally Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2025, which enters into force on 1 January 2026.
Al Kaitoob stressed that the greatness of the UAE's experience lies in the fact that the law does not merely pursue crime after it has occurred, but pre-empts it through awareness, contains it through regulation, confronts it with resolve, and at the same time opens the door to treatment and safe reintegration into society.
Legal adviser Moataz Fanous affirmed that the UAE's adoption of the National Strategy to Combat Drugs 2024–2031 represents a pivotal step in strengthening national efforts, as the strategy aims to achieve a drug-free country by 2031 through national targets that include reducing deaths resulting from drug use, lowering the proportion of drug users, and enhancing prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and social integration.
He affirmed that combating narcotics in the UAE is inseparable from quality of life, family protection, and social stability, explaining that the strength of the law is measured not only by the severity of its penalties but also by its capacity to save those who can be saved, deter those who traffic in people's lives, and open the path of return to recovered individuals so they can become active and constructive members of society.
Exceptional authority
Lawyer Ali Mosbah said that the UAE issued a decree-law amending certain provisions of the law on combating narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, in a step that reflects the ongoing development of the legislative framework to achieve a balance between societal protection, enhanced oversight, and support for treatment and rehabilitation. He explained that among the most notable amendments is the confirmation that a foreign national convicted of narcotics offences shall be deported following the execution of the sentence, while granting the court exceptional authority in specific cases that take into account family ties and humanitarian considerations, alongside updating the competent authorities responsible for regulating pharmaceuticals and combating narcotics in line with the state's current institutional structure.
He noted that on the treatment side, the decree-law authorised the establishment of specialised units for the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts in private healthcare facilities, in addition to federal and local health authorities, thereby helping to expand treatment and rehabilitation opportunities and the reintegration of recovered individuals into society.
Mosbah said that another significant set of amendments involves the unification of judicial procedures related to narcotics trafficking, promotion, and facilitation offences by strengthening the jurisdiction of federal courts and ensuring the enforcement of orders issued by the competent public prosecution at the national level, thus achieving speedy resolution of cases and uniformity of legal application.
He affirmed that these amendments entrench the UAE's approach to combating narcotics through a comprehensive framework that combines legal deterrence, community prevention, and treatment and rehabilitation.