Egypt

International Legal Efforts

Egypt has long sought to combat drugs through international arrangements. Egypt is a signatory to the 1971 United Nations (UN) Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its 1972 Protocol, as well as the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropics.

Egypt is also a party to the 2000 UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. Egypt participates in drug control efforts sponsored by the UN and the Arab League, and has a wide range of bilateral cooperation agreements, including one with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for training, intelligence gathering, and joint interdiction operations.

Domestic Drug Laws and Policies

The government drug control strategy seeks to target both the supply of and demand for illicit drugs, though financial constraints, uneven law enforcement, and competing priorities (e.g., counterterrorism) have hampered its effectiveness. Egyptian policy has historically relied on criminalization to address drug-related crimes. Drug use has been criminalized since the 19th century, when French and Ottoman laws prohibited the consumption and production of hashish in Egypt. Pursuant to the 1925 Geneva International Convention on Narcotics, Egypt promulgated laws prohibiting the production and the consumption of opium, heroin, and cocaine. By 1952, the production and consumption of proscribed substances were punishable by penalties including life imprisonment with hard labor and heavy fines.

Law 182/1960, amended in 1989, remains the foundation of Egyptian anti-drug efforts. This law combats the problems of trafficking and consumption by attaching heavy penalties to both, and it expands the repertoire of offenses. The current penalty for the exportation or importation of narcotics is a fine ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately $18,000-$90,000 at time of writing) with possibility of the death penalty. The production, sale, purchase, or transportation of narcotics all carry identical penalties. The law outlaws criminal enterprises, establishing fines or the death penalty for those found guilty of operating an organized narcotics enterprise.

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