Is 6-APB legal in Netherlands?

Also known as: benzofury

Legal status

Controlled through the substance group list rather than by name. 6-APB is not named in lijst I or lijst II.

Consequences if caught

Lijst IA carries four substance groups: substanties die zijn afgeleid van 2-fenethylamine, cannabimimetica en synthetische cannabinoïden, substanties afgeleid van 4-aminopiperidine, and benzimidazol opioïden, the nitazenen. For the 2-fenethylamine group the printed definition admits a closed list of eighteen ring systems at structuurelement A: fenyl, naftyl, tetralinyl, methyleendioxyfenyl, ethyleendioxyfenyl, furyl, pyrrolyl, thiënyl, pyridyl, benzofuranyl, dihydrobenzofuranyl, indanyl, indenyl, tetrahydrobenzodifuranyl, benzodifuranyl, tetrahydrobenzodipyranyl, cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl. Benzofuranyl is on that list, and 6-APB is a 2-aminopropyl benzofuran, so it answers structuurelement A and the 2-amino-ethyl side chain of structuurelement B with an alkyl substituent on the C1 atom, which the definition admits up to C10. The placement therefore rests on reading the printed definition against the molecule and not on a printed entry bearing this name. Use is not itself made an offence by the Opiumwet, which is why the Dutch position is often misread: article 2 and article 3 reach import, export, cultivation, preparation, sale, supply, transport, manufacture and presence, and presence is what a traveller carrying the substance has. Article 10 carries the penalties for lijst I. Intentionally having the substance present, the limb at article 2 under C, carries imprisonment of up to 6 years. Intentionally cultivating, preparing, processing, selling, delivering, supplying, transporting or manufacturing it, article 2 under B and D, carries up to 8 years. Intentionally bringing it into or out of Netherlands territory, article 2 under A, carries up to 12 years, so the trafficking and import limbs run from 8 to 12 years. Where the presence, or the bringing into or out of the territory, concerns a small quantity intended for own use, article 10, sixth limb, lowers the ceiling to 1 year or a fine of the third category; it does not reach the article 2 under B and D acts. The fine on the serious limbs is the fifth category, which the Criminal Code prints at 67.000 euro with an editorial note recording 110.000 euro from 1 January 2026. Article 11 carries the penalties for lijst II. Acting intentionally against article 3 under B, C or D carries imprisonment of up to 2 years, and up to 6 years where the person acts in the exercise of a profession or business. Intentionally bringing it into or out of the territory, article 3 under A, carries up to 4 years. Where the offence concerns a large quantity the two year and the four year cases both rise to 6 years. Article 1 of the Opiumwetbesluit fixes that large quantity at 500 gram hennep, 200 hennepplanten or 500 units of another lijst II substance. The fine is the fifth category, printed at 67.000 euro with an editorial note recording 110.000 euro from 1 January 2026. Article 2a carries the lijst IA prohibition and article 10b its penalties. Acting intentionally against it carries imprisonment of up to 6 years. Acting without intent carries hechtenis of up to 3 months. Where intentional import, export or presence concerns a small quantity for own use the ceiling is 6 months. Article 10c adds up to 3 years for preparatory acts. The fine is the fifth category on the intentional offence and the third category on the others, printed at 67.000 euro and 6.700 euro with editorial notes recording 110.000 euro and 11.000 euro from 1 January 2026. They describe the offences that this row's placement brings into play. The Aanwijzing Opiumwet of the Openbaar Ministerie is prosecution policy and not a statute. For lijst I it treats as a small quantity for own use one bolletje, one ampul, one wikkel or one pill or tablet, in any event a quantity of at most 0,5 gram, and for GHB one consumption unit of 5 ml, with no targeted investigation and prosecution only in support of care. A tolerated quantity is not a lawful one. This is stated as at the Opiumwet consolidation in force from 17 September 2026, read at wetten.overheid.nl on 22 September 2026, and it does not rule out a later amendment.

If prescribed or medical

Article 2 of the Opiumwetbesluit forbids prescribing an Opiumwet substance unless one of the two bijlagen to that decree names it, and neither names this one. There is accordingly no lawful prescription route for it outside research under the Wet medisch-wetenschappelijk onderzoek met mensen. No article 75 Schengen certificate is available for it either, because that route presupposes a prescribed medicine.

Documentation

6-APB is reached by the 2-fenethylamine group in lijst IA, which took effect on 1 Jul 2025, and not by any entry bearing its name. Article 2a under A prohibits bringing such a substance into or out of the territory, so there is no lawful personal import route.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Netherlands’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.