In Argentina, the possession and traffic of narcotic and psychotropic substances is regulated by Article 77 of the Penal Code, as amended by the 1989 Drug Law, No. 23.737. The official list of controlled substances is contained in Decree No. 722 of 18 April 1991, which was modified in 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to include individual New Psychoactive Substances.
Decree No. 772 of May 2015 added substances such as GBL, 25I-NBOMe, and methylone. Decree No. 299 of 2010 added substances such as 2C-I; 2C-T-2; 2C-T-7, PMMA, TMA-2, ketamine, and mPPP.
Decree No. 69/17 of 2017, an amendment to Decree No. 722 of 1991, added over 60 substances, including: 2C-P, 3C-Bz, 3-MMC, 5-MeO-DMT, AB-FUBINACA, etizolam, at least 4 synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-022, JWH-122, JWH-200/WIN-55,255, and JWH-210), synthetic cathinone MDPBP, as well as MPA and MXE (summing up to a total of 306 controlled substances).
Decree No. 852/18 was adopted on 25 September 2018, placing 22 substances under national control (summing up to a total of 328 controlled substances). Substances included: 1P-LSD, ALD-52, acrylfentanyl, butyrfentanil, ocfentanyl, ethylphenidate, AMB-FUBINACA, MDMB-CHMICA and 2C-H.
Decree No. 560/19 was adopted on 14 August 2019, an amendment to Article 77 of the Criminal Code of Argentina, placing another 134 NPS under national control, summing up to a total of 462 substances (see Annex I). Five arylcyclohexylamines; 12 synthetic cannabinoids; 22 synthetic cathinones; 16 phenethylamines; 3 synthetic opioids; 70 fentanyl analogues and 6 NPS belonging to 'other substances' as defined by UNODC. In addition 17 chemical NPS groups were placed under national control (see more under generic legislation)
Decree No. 635/2024 was adopted on 18 July 2024, the most recent amendment to Annex 1 of Decree No. 560/19 by including 169 new substances (62 synthetic opioids, 31 benzodiazepines, 5 synthetic cannabinoids, 3 cathinones, 2 correspond to the chemical group of phenetylamines, 1 correspond to tryptamines and 65 substances related to fentanyl).
A substance included in Annex I, must be considered as a “narcotic drug” under the terms of article 77 of the Criminal Code of Argentina.
In Argentina, the possession and traffic of narcotic and psychotropic substances is regulated by Article 77 of the Penal Code, as amended by the 1989 Drug Law, No. 23.737. The official list of controlled substances is contained in Decree No. 722 of 18 April 1991, which was modified in 2010, 2015, and 2017 to include individual New Psychoactive Substances.
Decree No. 69 of 2017, the most recent amendment to Decree No. 722 of 1991, contains Argentina’s current complete list of 306 controlled substances. The decree added over 60 substances, including: 2C-P, 3C-Bz, 3-MMC, 5-MeO-DMT, AB-FUBINACA, etizolam, at least 4 synthetic cannabinoids (JWH-022, JWH-122, JWH-200/WIN-55,255, and JWH-210), synthetic cathinone MDPBP, as well as MPA and MXE.
Decree No. 772 of May 2015 added substances such as GBL, 25I-NBOMe, and methylone. Decree No. 299 of 2010 added substances such as 2C-I; 2C-T-2; 2C-T-7, PMMA, TMA-2, ketamine, and mPPP.
In January 2018, Argentina announced plans to update Decree 722/1991 by mid-year to ensure that 739 of the new substances identified by the UNODC were contained therein, as well as add 8 analogue categories identified by Argentina’s drug observatory to capture new or currently unknown substances.