Is Alcohol legal in Malta?

Legal status

Neither Maltese drug ordinance governs alcohol. Malta runs two drug ordinances and a cell that answers from one when the substance sits in the other is wrong. For this item the answer is that it sits outside both: it is not a single scheduled drug classification under the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance, Chapter 31, or the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 101. The two drug schedules contain no alcohol entry. Alcohol is outside the scheduling question presented by Chapters 31 and 101, so this row does not claim that Malta leaves alcohol unregulated under other laws. The legislation this row did not read, and which may still govern the item, is named by the source itself: medicines, pharmacy, veterinary, poisons, tobacco, alcohol, food, product safety and driving law.

Consequences if caught

Capital and life exposure. Malta has no death penalty and no Maltese drug offence can bring one. No penalty ceiling and no Chapter 537 diversion analysis applies to alcohol within this two ordinance question, because it is not a single scheduled drug classification under either ordinance. There is accordingly no article to quote, since the articles that carry the ceilings, Chapter 101 article 22 and Chapter 31 article 120A, operate on scheduled drugs. Other Maltese legislation may impose its own consequences and was not read for this row.

If prescribed or medical

No prescribing consequence follows from the two drug ordinances for alcohol, because neither schedules it, and there is no control here for a prescription to lift. The two ordinance question is the wrong question to ask about this item. Whatever rules govern it in Malta sit in other legislation, which was not read for this row, and the dossier says in terms that it ‘did not attempt to decide separate medicines, pharmacy, veterinary, poisons, tobacco, alcohol, food, product-safety, or driving laws’. Nothing in this cell should be read as saying the item is unregulated.

Documentation

Nothing in the two Maltese drug ordinances tells you what to carry for alcohol, because neither of them schedules it, and a carriage requirement is something a drug control imposes. That is the carriage answer and it is a narrow one: other Maltese legislation governing this item was not read for this row and may impose requirements of its own, including at the border. Read this as the drug schedules having nothing to say rather than as a clearance. The provenance is the consolidated English text of the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance, Chapter 31, and the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 101 on Legislation Malta, read on 18 September 2026 at https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/31/eng and https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/101/eng. The amendment horizon is 18 September 2026, and on that date the consolidated texts stood at Chapter 31 through Legal Notice 46 of 2026, Chapter 101 through Legal Notice 97 of 2025, Chapter 537 through Acts VII and XII of 2025, and Chapter 628 through Act XII of 2025. Legislation Malta prints the footer ‘© Dritt tal-awtur: L-Uffiċċju tal-Avukat tal-Istat’ on each page, no open reuse licence was located, and only the words needed to identify the provision are quoted here.

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