Is Heroin legal in Germany?

Also known as: diacetylmorphine, smack

Legal status

Heroin is in Anlage I of the Betäubungsmittelgesetz with a carve-out printed inside the entry itself, and the carve-out is the reason this row is not the simple prohibition it looks like. The dossier records the line as „- | Heroin(Diacetylmorphin, Diamorphin) - ausgenommen Diamorphin zu den in den Anlagen II und III bezeichneten Zwecken - | [(5R,6S)-4,5-Epoxy-17-methyl-morphin-7-en-3,6-diyl]diacetat“. Read carefully, the same molecule appears under three names and is excepted from Anlage I where it is diamorphine used for the purposes designated in the second and third Anlagen. So the German schedule places the substance in the non-marketable tier by default and moves it out of that tier by purpose rather than by chemistry. Placement is under BtMG § 1 Abs. 1.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. The dossier's penalty column records that no death-penalty regime applies. The provisions are BtMG §§ 29 bis 30a and the recorded figure is the ceiling: not less than five years under § 30a Abs. 1, with a determinate sentence capped at fifteen years by StGB § 38 Abs. 2. No ordinary band is recorded and none is stated. Street material is outside the printed exception on its face, because the exception is defined by the designated purposes rather than by the substance, so the exposure is the full Anlage I position and the carve-out does not assist.

If prescribed or medical

Annex I substances are non-prescribable; there is no traveller-medicine pathway.

Documentation

EU/Schengen travel: carry prescribed narcotics for up to 30 days with an Article 75 Schengen certificate, completed by your doctor and authenticated by the competent Land health authority (one certificate per drug). From outside Schengen: carry a multilingual doctor's certificate authenticated by your home-country health authority. Ordinary (non-narcotic) medicines: up to a 3-month personal supply.

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