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 and 2018 to include individual NPS. The amendment in 2019 was relating to the control of individual substances and generic legislation.

Decree No. 560/19 was adopted on 14 August 2019, the most recent amendment to Article 77 of the Criminal Code of Argentina, which placed 17 chemical NPS groups (listed in Annex II, based on the UNODC NPS classification) under national control. The selection of the chemical groups contemplated for control was based on the NPS classification established by UNODC, with the selected NPS groups being the following: aminoindanes, arylcyclohexylamines, synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, phenethylamines, piperazines and tryptamines. In addition, 134 substances were placed under national control (see more under individual listing).

A substance included in Annex II, must be considered as a “narcotic drug” under the terms of article 77 of the Criminal Code of Argentina.