Legality
Ephedrine legal status by country
Countries where the legal status of Ephedrine 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 Ephedrine in that country, including consequences and the primary source.
- Aceh (Indonesia)Regulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- AlbaniaEphedrine is not listed in the narcotic, psychotropic and plant tables annexed to Ligji nr. 7975, datë...
- AngolaControlled. Efedrina is in table V of Lei n.º 3/99. Table V is the precursor table, so the offence is article...
- Antigua and BarbudaNot listed, and the Act has no precursor provisions at all. This is a positive finding of absence and not a...
- ArmeniaControlled in Armenia. The annex to Government Decision N 1129-Ն of 21 August 2003, at controlled lists 1 to...
- AustraliaControlled as a methamphetamine precursor, a prescription only medicine and a tier 1 prohibited import; its...
- AustriaNot a designated drug in Austria, and controlled as a drug precursor instead. Ephedrine is a category 1...
- BahamasNot listed in the Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act (Application) Order, 1994 (S.I. 77 of 1994) as those...
- BahrainControlled. Ephedrine is placed in Group III Schedule 1 of the annex, the list of precursors and chemicals...
- BangladeshEphedrine is a precursor chemical, not a narcotic in the ordinary sense, and the Act gives precursors their...
- BarbadosA controlled drug, as a listed substance under Part III of the First Schedule. Under the Drug Abuse...
- BelarusEphedrine is controlled in Belarus. The annexes to Постановление Министерства здравоохранения № 19 от 11...
- BelgiumEphedrine is controlled in Belgium as a drug precursor rather than under Annexes I to IV of the Royal Decree...
- BelizeEphedrine is printed by name as a Class A controlled drug in Belize. Schedule II Part I paragraph 1 of the...
- BrazilControlled in Brazil. The entry read is item 20 of lista D1, precursors of narcotics or psychotropics, and it...
- BruneiControlled substance, not a controlled drug. Ephedrine also known as b-Hydroxy-N-methylamphetamine sits in...
- BulgariaNot listed. Ephedrine is not a named entry of Списък I, Списък II or Списък III of the Наредба за реда за...
- Cabo VerdeControlled as a precursor. Ephedrine is in Table IV of Lei n.º 78/IV/93, printed on page 528 of Boletim...
- CambodiaRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- CanadaRegulated as a chemical precursor (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), not as a...
- ChileControlled as a chemical, not as a drug. The placement is established: this substance lies outside both...
- ChinaRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- ColombiaControlled. Anexo Técnico 1 of Resolución 116 de 2026, the Ministry of Health resolution of 27 January 2026...
- Costa RicaReached as a precursor rather than as a scheduled drug. Article 1 of Ley 7786, as integrally reformed by Ley...
- CroatiaEphedrine is listed in Croatia as a drug precursor, a tvar koja se može uporabiti za izradu droga, placed...
- CzechiaNot listed. Ephedrine is not printed as an entry in any of the eight seznamy of nařízení vlády č. 463/2013...
- DenmarkNot a euphoriant under the Danish euphoriants legislation: it is not named in liste A, B, C, D or E of...
- Dominican RepublicControlled as a precursor. Ephedrine is not in the Categorías of article 8, and it is instead named in the...
- EgyptControlled in Egypt's Table 3. «الجدول رقم (٣) - المواد التي تخضع لبعض قيود الجواهر المخدرة», Table 3, the...
- El SalvadorControlled as a precursor chemical under the Ley Reguladora de las Actividades Relativas a las Drogas,...
- EstoniaEphedrine is not listed in the Estonian narcotic and psychotropic schedule. It is governed instead by the...
- FinlandNot a narcotic in Finland. Ephedrine is not named in any annex of valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina...
- FranceEphedrine is handled in France through the drug precursor regime and not through the narcotics or...
- GeorgiaEphedrine is a controlled substance in Georgia. The dossier places it on the annexes to Law No. 624, matched...
- GermanyEphedrine is controlled in Germany, but not as a narcotic, and the difference decides everything downstream....
- GhanaControlled as a Class A precursor under the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020 (Act 1019), not as a...
- GreeceNot listed in the Greek narcotics tables. Ephedrine is printed at no entry of ΠΙΝΑΚΑΣ Α, Β, Γ or Δ in the...
- GrenadaControlled. It is listed at Part III of the First Schedule, the List of Substances Under Control, in Table I,...
- GuatemalaIllegal under the Ley contra la Narcoactividad (Decreto 48-92), articles 38 and 39.
- GuyanaControlled as a precursor chemical, not as a narcotic. The Act prints «Ephedrine» at Fourth Schedule item 9,...
- HondurasControlled as a precursor. Ephedrine is named in Cuadro I de la Convención de 1988, which the last paragraph...
- Hong KongNot a dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 134). Controlled as a medicine under the...
- HungaryNot listed. Ephedrine is not a named entry of the K1 or K2 jegyzék in the 1. melléklet, of the P1, P2, P3 or...
- IcelandControlled in Iceland. Ephedrine has no row in Fylgiskjal I at all. It is printed in Fylgiskjal II, as...
- IndiaControlled in India, but not under this name: it is not named in the Act's Schedule, and the matched entry...
- IndonesiaPrekursor Narkotika under Indonesia's Undang-Undang Nomor 35 Tahun 2009 tentang Narkotika: Lampiran II Tabel...
- IranEphedrine is placed as a precursor rather than as a drug. Article 40 of the Anti-Narcotics Law reaches the...
- IraqControlled as a chemical precursor rather than as a narcotic or a psychotropic. Schedule Nine carries...
- IrelandNot a controlled drug in Ireland. The placement recorded for this row is: No controlled-drug schedule; 2010...
- ItalyControlled. The Ministry of Health compilation of the DPR 309/1990 tables carries «efedrina» as an operative...
- JapanEphedrine is controlled in Japan as a 覚醒剤原料, a stimulant raw material, under the Stimulants Control Act,...
- JordanEphedrine is a chemical precursor under Law No. 23 of 2016 and not a narcotic drug or a psychotropic...
- KazakhstanEphedrine is controlled in Kazakhstan as a precursor rather than as a narcotic drug or a psychotropic...
- KenyaControlled under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, Cap. 245, as a precursor...
- KyrgyzstanControlled in Kyrgyzstan. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 152 of 26 March 2025 names ephedrine in its...
- LaosRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- LatviaEphedrine is controlled in Latvia. The controlling instrument is Annex 2 to the law on the entry into force...
- LebanonControlled. Ephedrine is placed in Table 4 of the annex to Law 673 of 16 March 1998, in the 1988 Convention...
- LithuaniaEphedrine is not listed in the Lithuanian narcotic and psychotropic lists. Health Minister Order No. 5 is the...
- MacauControlled in Macau as a precursor. Law 17/2009 Table V, item 3, prints «麻黃鹼 / Efedrina». Table V lists...
- MalaysiaEphedrine is NOT in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which settles the point that matters:...
- MaldivesRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- MaltaEphedrine is governed by the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 101, and not by the Medical and Kindred...
- MexicoEphedrine is named in Mexican law as a psychotropic, in the third of the five groups of article 245 of the...
- MoldovaControlled in Moldova as a precursor, not as a drug. Ephedrine is in Table IV, the precursors, Lista nr. 1,...
- MontenegroNot listed in Montenegro's narcotics and psychotropics schedule, and placed instead under Zakon o kontroli...
- MyanmarControlled in Myanmar as a notified precursor. Ephedrine is named in paragraph 1(a), Table (1), of Ministry...
- NetherlandsEphedrine is not named in lijst I, lijst IA or lijst II. No Opiumwet offence arises from it as such, and the...
- New ZealandControlled, and named rather than inferred. Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 names or describes...
- NicaraguaControlled in Nicaragua as a precursor rather than as a narcotic or a psychotropic. The entry relied on is...
- NigeriaControlled as a precursor chemical. The Nigeria dossier quotes «Ephedrine» as an entry in the Second...
- North MacedoniaNot a controlled drug under the classification lists. The lists carry no row for ефедрин, and the instrument...
- NorwayNot controlled as narkotika in Norway, and that is not the same as unregulated. Ephedrine is not a row on the...
- OmanControlled as a precursor. Ephedrine is named in Group IV, Table 1, serial 3 of the annex to the Law on...
- PakistanEphedrine is a controlled substance under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, not a psychotropic...
- PanamaControlled. Ephedrine is reached by the Panamanian criminal definition of a drug, not by a national chemical...
- ParaguayControlled as a precursor. Named in Cuadro I of the precursors sheet of the schedule made under article 1 of...
- PeruThis substance is carried by Peru's controlling schedule. Anexo N. 2 of the Reglamento approved by Decreto...
- PhilippinesA dangerous drug under RA 9165, not merely a precursor. Board Regulation No. 4, Series of 2005, adopted 19...
- PolandNot named in the Polish national list. A search of all three annexes for ephedrine and for pseudoephedrine...
- PortugalRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- QatarEphedrine 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...
- RomaniaEphedrine is controlled in Romania. The entry relied on reads «Ephedrine», located at Legea 143/2000, Tabelul...
- 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...
- SamoaEphedrine is named twice in the Narcotics Act 1967, official version as at 31 December 2023: as item 28 of...
- Saudi ArabiaEphedrine is controlled in Saudi Arabia by two different routes, and which one applies depends on the form...
- SingaporeNot a controlled drug. Ephedrine is not in any Part of the First Schedule. It is a controlled substance under...
- SlovakiaEphedrine 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...
- South AfricaListed as a scheduled substance in Schedule 1 Part I of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, which...
- South KoreaRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
- SpainNot a controlled substance on the text read, but a scheduled drug precursor: Ephedrine is not named in Anexo...
- Sri LankaNot a dangerous drug under Sri Lanka's Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Chapter 218): absent...
- SwedenNot named in the Swedish narkotikaförteckningar, which are Läkemedelsverkets föreskrifter (LVFS 2011:10) om...
- SwitzerlandControlled as a precursor rather than as a drug. Ephedrine is handled in list f, the precursor list at Annex...
- TaiwanCategory 4 narcotic (第四級毒品) under Taiwan's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), listed as a precursor...
- TajikistanControlled in Tajikistan. The National List approved by Government Resolution No. 121 of 27 February 2020...
- TanzaniaControlled by name. The First Schedule of the Drug Control and Enforcement Act Cap 95 R.E. 2023 carries the...
- ThailandEphedrine is not named in Thailand's criminal drug schedules. A substance specific sweep, run in Thai and by...
- Timor-LesteNamed, but as a precursor, not as a drug. Tabela V, item 3, of Anexo II to Lei n.º 2/2017, de 25 de Janeiro,...
- TongaNamed, but as a controlled chemical precursor under Schedule 2 rather than as an illicit drug under Schedule...
- Trinidad and TobagoEphedrine is a precursor chemical under Chap. 11:25, not a dangerous drug. It is printed as «9. Ephedrine» in...
- UkraineControlled in Ukraine by name, and the instrument that lists it covers more than narcotic and psychotropic...
- United KingdomNot a controlled drug. Ephedrine is not named in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as in force on 2...
- United StatesNot a scheduled controlled substance. A listed chemical under the Controlled Substances Act, regulated by...
- UruguayControlled. The national list is the Anexo I enacted by article 6 of Decreto 198/025 of 25 September 2025,...
- UzbekistanControlled in Uzbekistan in three places. List III of Resolution 330 names «Эфедрина гидрохлорид» at row 83...
- VenezuelaControlled as a chemical, not as a drug. Efedrina is a named entry in Lista I of Anexo I to the Ley Orgánica...
- VietnamControlled as a tiền chất, a precursor, rather than as a narcotic substance. Ephedrine is printed in List IVB...
- YemenRegulated as a chemical PRECURSOR (1988 UN Convention Table I, a methamphetamine precursor), NOT as a...
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Not individually verified
For these 115 countries the governing national drug law is known and cited, but we have not verified that Ephedrine 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)
- Andorra
- Anguilla (UK)
- Argentina
- Aruba (Netherlands)
- Azerbaijan
- Benin
- Bermuda (UK)
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- British Virgin Islands (UK)
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Caribbean Netherlands (BES)
- Cayman Islands (UK)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Cuba
- Curaçao (Netherlands)
- Cyprus
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- 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
- Isle of Man (UK Crown Dependency)
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jersey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montserrat (UK)
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Caledonia (France)
- Niger
- North Korea
- Northern Mariana Islands (US)
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Puerto Rico (US)
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Helena (UK)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- State of Palestine
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
- Tuvalu
- U.S. Virgin Islands (US)
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe