Is Alcohol legal in Finland?

Also known as: booze

Legal status

Controlled by its own statute rather than by the narcotics schedule. Alkoholilaki 1102/2017 section 83 governs possession and it reads «Henkilö, joka on 20 vuotta nuorempi, ei saa pitää hallussa väkevää alkoholijuomaa. Henkilö, joka on 18 vuotta nuorempi, ei saa pitää hallussa mietoa alkoholijuomaa.» The same section forbids holding an alcoholic drink that was not lawfully made or imported. Section 5 makes the trade licensable and section 6 sets the exemptions. Ethanol is not named in any annex of valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina pidettävistä aineista, valmisteista ja kasveista 543/2008 and not named in the annex to valtioneuvoston asetus 1130/2014, as those annexes stand after 651/2026, 1119/2025 and 650/2026.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Criminal Code chapter 50 a carries the alcohol offences. Section 1 sets a fine or up to two years for an alkoholirikos, section 2 sets four months to four years for an aggravated one, and section 3 sets a fine alone where the quantity and the circumstances make the act minor. Chapter 50 of the Criminal Code (39/1889) carries the narcotics offences. Section 1 sets a fine or up to two years for a huumausainerikos covering manufacture, cultivation, import, export, transport, sale, supply, distribution and possession. Section 2 sets one to ten years for a törkeä huumausainerikos where the object is a very dangerous narcotic or a large quantity, or substantial gain is sought, or the act is part of an organised group, or serious danger to life or health is caused to several people, or the drug is spread to minors. Section 2 a sets a fine or up to six months for a huumausaineen käyttörikos, unlawful use or possession of a small quantity for own use. Section 3 sets a fine or up to two years for preparation and section 4 the same for promotion, while section 4 a sets four months to six years for aggravated promotion. Section 7 allows the charge or the sentence to be waived where the quantity, the circumstances and the use situation make the act minor as a whole, or where the suspect has entered approved treatment. The live Finland cell recorded the same three provisions and asserted no custodial term at all, and every provision it named is carried here: Criminal Code (39/1889) chapter 50, the substantive prohibitions in Narcotics Act 373/2008 section 5 with the lawful exceptions in section 3, and the consumer market conduct offence in Criminal Code chapter 44 section 5 a. The bands stated above are new to this pass and were read off the Criminal Code itself, not carried from that cell. This row is placed outside that regime, so they are recorded as Finland's published drug penalties and not as this substance's exposure. This row in particular. Alcohol is not carried by either drug decree, so neither the chapter 50 lane nor the chapter 44 section 5 a lane is the one that describes this row. The statute that does is alkoholilaki 1102/2017, and the bands stated above are the narcotics bands, reproduced because the live cell named chapter 50 and they are what that citation means, not because this row sits in them. It is not named in either decree and that is a measured absence, not an assumption. The Finnish forms put to both texts for this row were «Alkoholi», «Etanoli», «etyylialkoholi». Against the consolidated 543/2008, whose annexes carry 196 entries in Liite I, 192 in Liite II, 11 in Liite III, 70 in Liite IV and 1 in Liite V, and against the annex to 1130/2014 as substituted by 650/2026, no form returned an entry of its own. What the search did return is a near miss rather than a hit: in Liite II the longer entry «Katiini, (+)-norpseudoefedriini ((+)-(S)-α-[(S)-1-aminoetyyli]bentsyylialkoholi)»; and in Liite II the longer entry «Tsipeproli (α-(α-metoksibentsyyli)-4-(β-metoksifenetyyli)-1-piperatsiinietanoli)»; and in the 1130/2014 annex the longer entry «Difenyyliprolinoli (D2PM) (difenyyli[(2S)-pyrrolidin-2-yyli]metanoli)», which contains the searched form inside a different molecule's name and is not this row.

If prescribed or medical

Alcohol is not dispensed on prescription in this sense, so no prescription route is stated for this row. Where a substance is a medicinal ingredient rather than a listed narcotic, it is handled through the Medicines Act 395/1987, in particular the conduct and import rules in section 3 and the medicinal substances list, and its status turns on individual product classification. This row in particular. Neither decree names this row, so section 24 of huumausainelaki 373/2008 has no list to match it against: that section is written by reference to the convention lists and takes out of the Act's import and export provisions only medicinal products «joita matkustaja käyttää henkilökohtaiseen lääkitykseensä» containing a substance in one of them. The medicines list 230/2025 was read for this row as well, in its Liite 1, Liite 1 A and Liite 2, and the Finnish forms recorded in the documentation field return no row of its own there either.

Documentation

No document is carried for alcohol itself. Age is the operative control and section 83 sets it at 20 for strong drink and 18 for mild drink. Carry any prescribed medicine in its dispensed packaging with the prescription. Finland's personal import rules for medicines sit in the Medicines Act 395/1987 and were not read for this cell, so no traveller allowance is stated here. This row in particular. The search behind the absence stated for this row was run in Finnish and the forms were «Alkoholi», «Etanoli», «etyylialkoholi». Section 24 of huumausainelaki 373/2008, the provision that would otherwise carry a traveller's own medicine past the Act's import and export rules, reaches only products «joita matkustaja käyttää henkilökohtaiseen lääkitykseensä» that contain a substance in one of the convention lists, and this row is in none of them. Provenance for this row. The consolidated 543/2008 read here is the Finlex text carrying amendments up to 25.6.2026/651, the version Finlex identifies as data.finlex.fi/eli/sd/2008/543/ajantasa/2026-06-26/fin, in force from 10 July 2026, read on 21 September 2026; the consolidated 1130/2014 read here is the Finlex text whose annex was substituted by 650/2026 with effect from 10 July 2026, read on 21 September 2026; and where the medicines list is cited it is the Finnish annex text to decision 230/2025 served by Finlex, read on 21 September 2026.

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