Is Codeine legal in Netherlands?

Legal status

Controlled as a hard drug. Codeine is named in lijst I of the Opiumwet, the hard drug list, and the row prints «codeïne | 4,5-epoxy-3-methoxy-N-methyl-7-morfineen-6-ol». Lijst I placement decides the regime, because article 2 supplies the prohibitions and article 10 the ceilings.

Consequences if caught

Two provisions of the Opiumwetbesluit soften the handling. Article 11 disapplies the article 2 prohibitions under B and C to preparations containing at most 0,5 mg codeine per gram or per millilitre and no other lijst I substance. Article 9, second limb, lifts the stricter prescription and record articles from codeine preparations containing at most 100 mg per dosage unit, or at most 2,5 percent in an undivided preparation. 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 1, second limb, equates the salts of a substance with the substance itself. 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. 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.

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. Bijlage 1 names it among the lijst I substances that may be prescribed, so a lawful prescription route exists. Carry it in its original packaging with the prescription. For Schengen travel the route is the article 75 certificate issued via the CAK, valid 30 days and covering up to 4 Schengen countries, with a legalised medical certificate valid 1 year beyond Schengen.

Documentation

Carry the medicine in original packaging with a prescription for higher strengths; within Schengen the Article 75 certificate applies.

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.