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Legality · MDMA

Is MDMA legal in Netherlands?

Also known as: molly, ecstasy

Confirmed against a primary sourceVerified October 2, 2026
Legal status
Controlled as a hard drug. MDMA is named in lijst I of the Opiumwet, the hard drug list, and the row prints «3,4-methyleendioxymethamfetamine, MDMA | (±)-N,alfa-dimethyl-3,4-(methyleendioxy)-fenethylamine». Lijst I placement decides the regime, because article 2 supplies the prohibitions and article 10 the ceilings.
Consequences if caught
The row prints the Dutch chemical name first and the initials second, and the third column gives the racemate description, so the entry is not confined to one enantiomer. 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, and neither names this one. There is accordingly no lawful prescription route for it outside research under the Wet medisch-wetenschappelijk onderzoek met mensen. No article 75 Schengen certificate is available for it either, because that route presupposes a prescribed medicine.
Documentation
There is no lawful personal import route, because article 2 under A of the Opiumwet prohibits bringing a lijst I substance into or out of the territory and no traveller exemption covers it. The live cell recorded that the article 75 Schengen certificate, issued in the Netherlands by the CAK, is for a prescribed controlled medicine, and that is carried forward from it and not verified here. No prescription route exists for this substance, so on that record the certificate offers no route for it.
Primary sources
  • Opiumwet, artt. 1, 2, 2a, 3, 3a, 3aa, 10, 10b, 10c and 11, and lijsten I, Ia and II
  • wetten.overheid.nl
  • geldend van 17-09-2026, read 22 September 2026
  • Opiumwetbesluit
  • wetten.overheid.nl
  • geldend van 01-01-2023
  • Aanwijzing Opiumwet, prosecution policy of the Openbaar Ministerie
  • wetten.overheid.nl
  • geldend van 01-03-2015
  • Wetboek van Strafrecht art. 23, fine categories
  • wetten.overheid.nl

What sentences have courts imposed for MDMA in Netherlands?

Prosecutions recorded in Netherlands, each checked against the official document cited below it. Individuals are never named, and these are examples of what has happened, not a prediction of what will. How we verify a court case.

Across 5 verified cases, one sentence of 6 months is recorded. 4 cases state no single comparable term. In 4 of these 5 the court ordered no immediate custody: community service, or a term of imprisonment suspended in full. The range above is drawn from the 1 that state a term in days, months or years.

  • A Rotterdam court found that in 2026 the accused delivered more than 11 kilograms of MDMA tablets and transported more than 100 grams of cocaine. The quantities are wholesale rather than personal. The sentence was one year's imprisonment wholly suspended on a two-year operational period together with 240 hours of community service, of which 202 hours remained after credit for pre-trial detention.

    2026delivery of over 11 kg MDMA tablets and transport of over 100 g cocaine

    Citation Charge or suit number 10-016542-26

    convicted of delivering MDMA tablets and transporting cocaine; one year's imprisonment wholly suspended, plus 240 hours community service

    Substances recorded mdma, cocaine

    Source Rechtspraak.nl (Raad voor de rechtspraak)

  • A Gelderland court found that in 2025 the accused took part in a criminal organisation and dealt in and held cocaine, heroin and MDMA. All the counts put to the court were proved. The sentence was four months' imprisonment wholly suspended on a three-year operational period, with special conditions attached to the suspended part, together with 240 hours of community service, so no immediate custody was ordered.

    2025criminal-organisation participation, dealing and possession

    Citation Charge or suit number 05/036669-25

    convicted of criminal-organisation participation, joint dealing and possession; four months' imprisonment wholly suspended, plus 240 hours community service

    Substances recorded cocaine, heroin, mdma

    Source Rechtspraak.nl (Raad voor de rechtspraak)

  • A Gelderland court found that between 25 January and 2 February 2023, in the municipality of Doetinchem and elsewhere in the Netherlands, the accused dealt in, transported and held MDMA, methamphetamine, amphetamine and GHB. The sentence was six months' imprisonment wholly suspended on a two-year operational period together with 160 hours of community service, so no immediate custody was ordered.

    2023dealing, transport and possession of several List I drugs

    Citation Charge or suit number 05/257291-24

    convicted of dealing in and possessing several List I drugs; six months' imprisonment wholly suspended, plus 160 hours community service

    Substances recorded mdma, methamphetamine, amphetamine, ghb

    Source Rechtspraak.nl (Raad voor de rechtspraak)

  • A Zeeland-West-Brabant court found that between 27 July 2023 and 8 February 2024 the accused, working with another, repeatedly sold, delivered and transported cocaine and MDMA, sending price lists to buyers while the co-accused supplied the delivery addresses. The charged period was cut back from 11 March 2023 because nothing in the file showed dealing before late July. The reference points set 12 months for street dealing over six to twelve months, but the court went below that, weighing the shorter proved period, the seven month breach of the reasonable time for trial, and the six months imposed on the co-accused. It gave six months with three suspended.

    2023joint street dealing in cocaine and MDMA over about six months

    Citation Charge or suit number 02.290787.23

    convicted of jointly dealing in cocaine and MDMA; six months' imprisonment, three months suspended on a two year operational period

    Substances recorded cocaine, mdma

    Source Rechtspraak.nl (Raad voor de rechtspraak)

  • A Rotterdam court found that in 2021 the accused prepared and held MDMA and carried out preparatory acts for cannabis cultivation, and separately held an electroshock weapon. The drug counts and the weapon count were proved together. The sentence was 120 hours of community service, reduced to 114 hours after credit for time spent in pre-trial detention.

    2021MDMA offences, cannabis cultivation preparation, and a weapon count

    Citation Charge or suit number 10-328631-21

    convicted of MDMA possession, cannabis cultivation preparation and a weapon offence; 120 hours community service, 114 hours remaining after credit

    Substances recorded mdma, cannabis

    Source Rechtspraak.nl (Raad voor de rechtspraak)

MDMA in related jurisdictions

Jurisdictions related to Netherlands by shared drug statute, shared regulator or constitutional link. Each has its own separately verified status; a relationship is not a shared answer.

Other substances confirmed in Netherlands

Same substance, other countries

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.

Before you travel

Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.

If you’re detained or arrested abroad

Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately, not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →

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