Is Ketamine legal in Hungary?

Legal status

Ketamine is controlled in Hungary. The entry relied on reads «Ketamine*** (ketamin)», located at 78/2022. (XII. 28.) BM rendelet, Annex 2, P2 list, row 30. The consolidated Hungarian list contains an exact official-name, alias or chemical-identity entry for this molecule. Hungary uses an outward-reference model, which is the second of the three: the Act names nothing and the delegated instrument carries the list. Criminal Code section 459(1a) identifies as kabitoszer the substances in BM Decree 78/2022, Annex 1 lists K1 and K2, Annex 2 lists P1 and P2, and Annex 3. Sections 176 to 184 then define the offences. Annex 2 lists P3 and P4 remain controlled schedules, and listing there alone does not place a substance in the ordinary section 176 trafficking lane. This reading is stated as in force on 18 September 2026. The consolidated text of BM Decree 78/2022 read here is dated 29 June 2026, and the Criminal Code text incorporates the amendments made by Act XIX of 2025 to sections 176 to 184, 459(1a) and 461.

Consequences if caught

Capital and life exposure. Hungary has no death penalty. It does have life imprisonment for a drug offence, and that is the ceiling here. In Hungary ketamine sits in list P2 of BM Decree 78/2022, and the list it sits in is what decides whether the ordinary section 176 lane applies. Criminal Code section 176(3) reaches life imprisonment for qualifying trafficking in a significant quantity. Below it, section 178(6) makes consumption and the acquisition or possession of a small quantity for consumption punishable by up to two years, and section 180 supplies a conditional non-punishment route that is not a numerical decriminalisation rule: it requires admission, at least six months of documented treatment or prevention service, and disclosure enabling the seller to be identified by the charging stage. Section 461 supplies the quantity definitions that grade the offence, so a quantity figure in Hungary selects the band rather than creating a lawful allowance. The quantity rule for ketamine is printed: 1 g ketamine base; Btk. §461(1)(a)(ah).

If prescribed or medical

There may be a lawful medical route for ketamine and this row does not settle it. What is settled is the control status: ketamine is on the Hungary controlled list, so any supply runs inside the control regime rather than around it. The prescribing, dispensing and import conditions sit in the Hungary medicines and pharmacy regime, which this row did not audit, and the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition is the body that states them. Do not read this row as a statement that ketamine cannot be a prescribed medicine, because that is a different question and this row does not reach it. Treat the route as unread rather than as absent.

Documentation

Carry the prescription and the original dispensing packaging for ketamine, and get the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition or the relevant embassy to confirm the position in writing before you travel rather than at the border. That is the carriage answer and it is short because no traveller permit scheme, declaration form or carriage allowance for ketamine appears anywhere in what was read for this row, and an absence in what was read is not proof that no scheme exists. Provenance follows. The controlling text was read on the Nemzeti Jogszabalytar, the official National Legislation Database on 18 September 2026, at 78/2022. (XII. 28.) BM rendelet, Annex 2, P2 list, row 30.

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