Is Kratom legal in Poland?

Also known as: mitragyna speciosa, ketum

Legal status

Controlled. Poland names both the plant and its principal alkaloid in its own national list. «MITRAGYNA SPECIOSA» is entry lp. 132 in group I-N of Załącznik nr 2, the narcotic annex, whose entry continues with the words for live plants or dried material, seeds, extracts and concentrates. «MITRAGYNINA» is entry lp. 133 in group I-N of Załącznik nr 2, the narcotic annex. Article 33(1) of the 2005 Act allows group I-N to be used for medical, industrial or research purposes. Listing the plant and the isolate separately closes the gap that a plant-only entry would leave for an extract sold as a pure compound.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Poland has no death penalty, and the heaviest band the 2005 Act reaches for any conduct with this substance is a term of years. Possession is an offence under article 62(1) of the 2005 Act and the band there is up to three years. Where the quantity is considerable, article 62(2) sets a band of one year to ten years. In a case of lesser gravity article 62(3) provides instead for a fine, a restriction of liberty or up to one year. Article 62a lets proceedings be discontinued, even before the decision to open an investigation, where the quantity is insignificant and intended for the holder's own use and a penalty would be inexpedient. That is a power of the prosecutor and not an entitlement of the holder, so it is not decriminalisation. Seeds are inside the plant entry, so an import for cultivation is the same offence as an import of leaf. Supply offences sit apart from possession. Article 56 punishes putting such a substance on the market with a fine and six months to eight years, and article 56(3) raises that to a fine and two years to twelve years where the quantity is considerable. Article 59(1) punishes supply for gain with one year to ten years. The published Poland entry dates the listing to the Minister of Health regulation of 17 August 2018, which is the instrument consolidated at Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1139 and read here.

If prescribed or medical

No authorised medicinal form exists in Poland, so no prescription route arises.

Documentation

No personal import route exists, because a listed substance may be brought in only under the licensing chapter of the 2005 Act and not on a traveller's own account. The certificate issued under article 75 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement is the route for a prescribed controlled medicine and does not reach a substance for which no prescription can be written. Leaf powder, capsules and seeds all fall inside the lp. 132 wording, so an import for cultivation is the same offence as an import of leaf.

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