Legality
Alcohol legal status by country
Also known as: booze
Countries where the legal status of Alcohol has been confirmed against a primary source. Legal information, not legal advice; drug laws change, so confirm with the destination’s embassy or drug authority before you travel.
Confirmed legal status
Each row links to the full detail for Alcohol in that country, including consequences and the primary source.
- Aceh (Indonesia)Prohibited (diverges from national Indonesia), under the Qanun Jinayat (Qanun Aceh No. 6 of 2014), alcohol...
- AlbaniaAlcohol is not listed in the narcotic, psychotropic and plant tables annexed to Ligji nr. 7975, datë...
- AndorraLegal for adults in Andorra, with sale to under-18s a criminal offence and drinking in the street banned for...
- Antigua and BarbudaNot listed, and this Act does not reach it at all. This is a positive finding of absence and not a deferral....
- ArgentinaNot scheduled as an estupefaciente. Every one of the 886 numbered rows of the current Anexo I was searched by...
- ArmeniaGoverned in Armenia through alcohol, food and excise legislation rather than through the narcotics annex, and...
- AustraliaLegal; not a scheduled poison and not a Commonwealth drug. F2026L01327 lists ethyl alcohol in Appendix B,...
- AustriaNot a designated drug in Austria, and the reason is a finding rather than a silence. Beverage alcohol sits...
- BahamasNot listed in the Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act (Application) Order, 1994 (S.I. 77 of 1994) as those...
- BahrainNot a controlled drug on the text read. Alcohol is not named in any of the twelve tables annexed to Bahrain's...
- BangladeshAlcohol is the one narcotic the Act does not prohibit outright: section 9(1) opens «অ্যালকোহল ব্যতীত», save...
- BarbadosNot a controlled drug under the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act in Barbados, and other Barbados law...
- BelarusAlcohol is regulated in Belarus, and it is regulated somewhere other than the narcotics annexes. The route is...
- BelgiumAlcohol is not reached by the Belgian controlled drug lists on the text checked here. The search found no...
- BelizeAlcohol is legal for adults in Belize and is regulated as liquor under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act,...
- BoliviaControlled as a chemical. Lista V of the Anexo to Ley 913 is the list of sustancias químicas controladas, and...
- Bosnia and HerzegovinaNot a controlled drug under the list attached to the 2006 Law, as consolidated through Official Gazette 56/26...
- BruneiNot a controlled drug in Brunei. Absent from Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IIIA of the First Schedule to...
- BulgariaNot listed. Alcohol is not a named entry of Списък I, Списък II or Списък III of the Наредба за реда за...
- CambodiaLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is a lightly-regulated, freely-sold beverage, not a controlled drug; no strictly...
- CanadaLegal. Alcohol (ethanol) is a provincially-licensed, age-regulated commodity, not a controlled drug; minimum...
- ChileNot a controlled drug in Chile. Ethyl alcohol is not named in artículos 1, 2 or 4 of Decreto 867, as those...
- ChinaLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is a freely-sold, lightly-regulated beverage, not a controlled drug; nominal minimum...
- ColombiaNot listed. Anexo Técnico 1 of Resolución 116 de 2026 carries no entry for alcohol, etanol or alcohol etílico...
- Costa RicaNot handled through the drug control model. Article 1 of Ley 7786, as integrally reformed by Ley 8204, fixes...
- Côte d'IvoireLegal and regulated by Loi n° 64-293 du 1er août 1964 portant code des débits de boissons et des mesures...
- CroatiaAlcohol is not named in the Popis droga, psihotropnih tvari i biljaka iz kojih se može dobiti droga te tvari...
- CubaNot controlled in Cuba as an illicit drug. Alcohol is not a «droga ilícita» for the purposes of articles 235...
- CzechiaNot listed. Alcohol is not printed as an entry in any of the eight seznamy of nařízení vlády č. 463/2013 Sb....
- DenmarkNot a euphoriant under the Danish euphoriants legislation: it is not named in liste A, B, C, D or E of...
- DominicaAlcohol is not a controlled drug under this Act. Section 4(1)(a) makes a controlled drug any substance for...
- Dominican RepublicControlled only as a precursor chemical. Ethanol is not in the Categorías of article 8 of Ley 50-88 and it is...
- EgyptLegal / licensed, alcohol (ethanol) is a licensed, age-regulated beverage (minimum age 21), not a controlled...
- El SalvadorNot a controlled drug for the purposes of Articles 31 to 34 of the Ley Reguladora de las Actividades...
- EstoniaAlcohol is not listed in the Estonian narcotic and psychotropic schedule. It is governed instead by the...
- FinlandControlled by its own statute rather than by the narcotics schedule. Alkoholilaki 1102/2017 section 83...
- FranceAlcohol is not carried by either French closed list. The dossier's finding for this row is recorded in the...
- GeorgiaAlcohol is not carried on Georgia's narcotics lists and it is not therefore unregulated. The dossier records...
- GermanyAlcohol is outside the German narcotics schedules and the dossier records the absence as a checked one rather...
- GhanaLegal for adults and regulated by licence. The Liquor Licensing Act, 1970 (Act 331) says in section 5(1) that...
- GreeceNot listed in the Greek narcotics tables. Alcohol is printed at no entry of ΠΙΝΑΚΑΣ Α, Β, Γ or Δ in the...
- GrenadaNot listed in the First Schedule to the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act, Chapter 84A, as that...
- GuatemalaOutside the Ley contra la Narcoactividad (Decreto 48-92) by the express words of article 2(a), which says the...
- GuyanaNot assigned a controlled drug offence in Guyana. The scope search recorded for this row against the First...
- HondurasNot a controlled drug for the purposes of Articles 311 to 313 of the Código Penal. Alcohol, searched also as...
- HungaryNot listed. Alcohol is not a named entry of the K1 or K2 jegyzék in the 1. melléklet, of the P1, P2, P3 or P4...
- IcelandNot a controlled substance in Iceland's narcotics list. Ethanol is not named in Fylgiskjal I, searched as...
- IndiaNo Indian placement was found for it: it is not named in the Act's Schedule (list of psychotropic...
- IndonesiaNot a narkotika and not a psikotropika under Indonesia's Undang-Undang Nomor 35 Tahun 2009 tentang Narkotika...
- IranAlcohol is placed outside the drug statutes entirely, in the Islamic Penal Code. Article 264 covers consuming...
- IraqNot listed as at 22 September 2026. The only match for the word alcohol in the schedules is inside the...
- IrelandNot a controlled drug in Ireland. The placement recorded for this row is: No controlled-drug schedule; 2010...
- ItalyNot scheduled. A search of the closed tables I to IV and the table of medicinal products under article 14 of...
- JamaicaAlcohol is not among the drugs to which Part IV of the Dangerous Drugs Act applies. The scope search recorded...
- JapanAlcohol is not a controlled substance in Japan and is not governed by drug law at all. It is governed by the...
- JordanAlcohol is outside the Law No. 23 of 2016 scheduling question altogether, and the schedule search that...
- KazakhstanAlcohol is not controlled by Kazakhstan's Resolution No. 470, on the version of the lists read for this row....
- KenyaNot a controlled drug under Cap. 245 on the text read: it is not named in the First Schedule of narcotic...
- KuwaitNot a controlled narcotic or psychotropic substance in Kuwait. Alcohol is in no annexed table of Decree Law...
- LaosLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is a freely-sold, lightly-regulated beverage, not a controlled drug.
- LatviaAlcohol is not listed in the Latvian controlled substances annex. Annex 2 to the law on the entry into force...
- LebanonNot a controlled substance under Law 673 of 16 March 1998 on the version read: it is not named in the four...
- LibyaProhibited, alcohol (ethanol) is banned under Islamic law; production, import, sale and consumption are all...
- LithuaniaAlcohol is not listed in the Lithuanian narcotic and psychotropic lists. Health Minister Order No. 5 is the...
- MalaysiaAlcohol is not a drug question in Malaysia and neither of the two drug statutes reaches it. Ethanol is not in...
- MaldivesProhibited on inhabited islands / tourist-resort exception, alcohol (ethanol) is banned for the general...
- MaltaNeither Maltese drug ordinance governs alcohol. Malta runs two drug ordinances and a cell that answers from...
- MexicoAlcohol is not a controlled substance by name in Mexico. It is not named in article 234 of the Ley General de...
- MoldovaNot in Moldova's national tables of controlled substances as at 3 October 2026. Ethanol and alcoholic drinks...
- MontenegroNot listed in Montenegro's narcotics and psychotropics schedule, and placed instead under Zakon o akcizama...
- MoroccoLegal to drink, but sale is licensed and restricted, and a licensed seller may not sell or give alcohol to a...
- MyanmarOutside the reach of Myanmar's narcotics law. Alcohol is not named in Notification 24/2025 or Notification...
- NetherlandsEthanol is not named in lijst I, lijst IA or lijst II. No Opiumwet offence arises from it as such, and the...
- New ZealandNot a controlled drug on the text cited, and the absence was tested rather than assumed. Alcohol, ethanol,...
- NigeriaSplit regime, alcohol (ethanol) is a legal, freely-sold beverage across the Christian/secular south, but the...
- North KoreaLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is a legal, state-produced beverage (soju, Taedonggang beer), not a controlled drug.
- North MacedoniaNot a controlled drug under the classification lists. The lists carry no row for алкохолни пијалаци; етанол,...
- NorwayNot controlled as narkotika in Norway. Alcohol is not a row on the narkotikaliste, and it is not reached by...
- OmanNot a controlled substance under the Law on Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances issued by Royal...
- PakistanAlcohol is not a narcotic drug, a psychotropic substance or a controlled substance under the Control of...
- PanamaAlcohol is not placed inside Panama's drug chapter. It is not named in Resolución 200 of 2025 and no entry...
- PhilippinesNot a dangerous drug on the text read: alcohol is not listed in the Dangerous Drugs Board's Updated Lists of...
- PolandNot named in the Polish national list. Ethanol appears nowhere in the three annexes to the Minister of Health...
- PortugalLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is an age-regulated retail beverage, not a controlled drug; minimum age raised to 18...
- QatarAlcohol is not named in Table 1, Table 2 or Table 4 of Law No. 9 of 1987, and it is on none of the three...
- RomaniaAlcohol is not controlled in Romania, and that is a completed finding rather than an open question. The...
- Saint LuciaNot a named entry in Schedule 2 to the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act, Cap. 3.02, in any of Part I, Part II...
- SamoaAlcohol is not a narcotic under the Narcotics Act 1967; none of its Schedules name ethanol, beverage alcohol,...
- Saudi ArabiaBeverage alcohol is prohibited in Saudi Arabia, and it is prohibited by a different instrument from the one...
- SerbiaAlcohol is not a named entry on the Serbian controlled substance list. The dossier records a negative check...
- SingaporeNot a controlled drug and not a psychoactive substance under this Act. It is not in any Part of the First...
- SlovakiaAlcohol is not listed in the Slovak narcotic and psychotropic schedule. Act No. 139/1998 carries one closed...
- SloveniaNot named in the annex. A search of every named row of the annex to the Uredba o razvrstitvi prepovedanih...
- Solomon IslandsLegal, with limits. Alcohol is lawful to sell and drink in Solomon Islands within the Liquor Act (Cap. 144),...
- South AfricaNot named in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, so it is not a drug...
- South KoreaLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is a licensed, age-regulated beverage, not a controlled drug; minimum age 19 (by...
- South SudanLegal, alcohol (ethanol) is a legal, openly-available beverage in the Christian/animist-majority state, not a...
- SpainNot a controlled substance on the text read: Alcohol is not named in Anexo 1 or Anexo 2 of Real Decreto...
- Sri LankaNot a dangerous drug under Sri Lanka's Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Chapter 218): absent...
- State of PalestineSplit regime, alcohol (ethanol) is legal and licensed in parts of the West Bank (notably Christian towns such...
- SudanProhibited for Muslims / permitted for non-Muslims (2020 reform), alcohol (ethanol) was banned nationwide...
- SurinameThis act does not reach it. Ethanol is not listed in either annex to the Wet verdovende middelen and no...
- SwedenNot named in the Swedish narkotikaförteckningar, which are Läkemedelsverkets föreskrifter (LVFS 2011:10) om...
- SwitzerlandNot scheduled. The federal schedule ordinance BetmVV-EDI records no entry for alcohol. The German search term...
- SyriaLegal / licensed (historically secular), alcohol (ethanol) has been a licensed, openly-sold beverage under...
- TaiwanNot controlled as a narcotic under Taiwan's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例): absent from all four...
- ThailandAlcohol is not named in Thailand's criminal drug schedules. A substance specific sweep, run in Thai and by...
- Trinidad and TobagoAlcohol is not a dangerous drug under Chap. 11:25: it is not listed in the First or Second Schedule, as the...
- TurkeyAlcohol is not a controlled drug in Turkey. The dossier's search record for this row reads «Arama kaydı:...
- TuvaluLawful and regulated in Tuvalu, with sale restricted to licence holders, and not a dangerous drug under the...
- UkraineGoverned in Ukraine by a separate regime rather than by the narcotics list. Record UKR-15 reports that...
- United Arab EmiratesAlcohol is not a narcotic or psychotropic entry in Decision No. 158 of 2025. The dossier ran a completed non...
- United KingdomNot a controlled drug. Alcohol, ethyl alcohol, is not named in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as...
- United StatesNot a federally controlled substance. It is in no schedule of 21 CFR 1308.11 to 1308.15 and no federal drug...
- UruguayNot a controlled drug. Alcohol appears in the national list only as industrial ethanol in the precursor...
- UzbekistanLegal for adults in Uzbekistan, with an age limit of twenty one. Alcohol is not a controlled drug: ethanol is...
- VenezuelaOutside the criminal drug schedule. Ley Orgánica de Drogas article 3 identifies controlled drugs by reference...
- VietnamNot named in the danh mục. Alcohol/ethanol is not listed as a narcotic or precursor in Decree 28/2026, so...
- YemenProhibited, alcohol (ethanol) is banned under Sharia-based law; production, sale and consumption are criminal...
Want an alert when any country changes its Alcohol law?
Drug-law changes, court decisions and research, once a month.
Free. We email you once to confirm. Unsubscribe with one click.
Not individually verified
For these 106 countries the governing national drug law is known and cited, but we have not verified that Alcohol specifically is scheduled under it. These are not legal answers and are deliberately not published as their own pages. Confirm with the country’s drug authority or your embassy.
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- American Samoa (US)
- Angola
- Anguilla (UK)
- Aruba (Netherlands)
- Azerbaijan
- Benin
- Bermuda (UK)
- Bhutan
- Botswana
- Brazil
- British Virgin Islands (UK)
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cameroon
- Caribbean Netherlands (BES)
- Cayman Islands (UK)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands
- Curaçao (Netherlands)
- Cyprus
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Ecuador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands (UK)
- Faroe Islands (Denmark)
- Fiji
- French Polynesia (France)
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Gibraltar (UK)
- Guam (US)
- Guernsey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Holy See
- Hong Kong
- Isle of Man (UK Crown Dependency)
- Israel
- Jersey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montserrat (UK)
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Caledonia (France)
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Northern Mariana Islands (US)
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico (US)
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Helena (UK)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
- Somalia
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
- U.S. Virgin Islands (US)
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe