Legality
Methadone legal status by country
Countries where the legal status of Methadone 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 Methadone in that country, including consequences and the primary source.
- Aceh (Indonesia)Methadone is governed in Aceh by national law as a Narkotika Golongan II (Law No. 35/2009) — death-eligible...
- AustraliaMethadone is a Schedule 8 (Controlled Drug / drug of addiction) medicine under the Poisons Standard (SUSMP)...
- BahrainMethadone is a controlled narcotic drug in the First Group of Bahrain's Decree-Law No. 15 of 2007 on Narcotic...
- BangladeshMethadone is explicitly named in Category 'A' (Ka) of the Narcotics Control Act 2018 — death-eligible for...
- BrazilMethadone is a narcotic in Lista A1 (entorpecentes) of Portaria SVS/MS 344/1998 — dispensed on the yellow...
- BruneiMethadone is a Class A controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap. 27), but it is absent by name from...
- CambodiaMethadone is a controlled narcotic under Cambodia's Law on Drug Control (2011); OST is minimal — available...
- CanadaMethadone is a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (the federal methadone...
- ChinaMethadone is a scheduled narcotic in China; trafficking is death-eligible via the 'other narcotic drugs in...
- EgyptMethadone is a controlled narcotic under Law No. 182 of 1960 (as amended); Law 182/1960 (with Law 122/1989)...
- FranceMethadone is a stupéfiant under the Code de la santé publique (liste I des stupéfiants) — dispensed on a...
- GermanyMethadone is listed in Anlage III of the Narcotics Act (BtMG) — a full narcotic requiring a special narcotics...
- GreeceMethadone is a scheduled narcotic under Law 4139/2013 (the Drug Code) — full narcotic control.
- IndiaMethadone is a narcotic under the NDPS Act 1985, reclassified an 'Essential Narcotic Drug' by the 2014...
- IndonesiaMethadone is a controlled narcotic (Narkotika Golongan II) under Law No. 35/2009 — death-eligible for...
- IranMethadone is a controlled narcotic medicine under Iran's Health Ministry regulations; being fully synthetic...
- IraqMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the Narcotics & Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017; Art....
- IrelandMethadone is a Schedule 2 controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 — full narcotic control,...
- ItalyMethadone is a narcotic in the Tabella dei medicinali of DPR 309/1990 — strong narcotic control on a...
- JapanMethadone is a narcotic under the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act, but Japan has NO...
- JordanMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Law No. 23 of 2016;...
- KuwaitMethadone is a controlled narcotic under Kuwait's narcotics law (Law No. 74 of 1983, as amended); as a...
- LaosMethadone is a controlled narcotic under Laos's Narcotics Law (No. 10/NA, as amended); it is NOT named in the...
- MalaysiaMethadone is a scheduled, controlled dangerous drug under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952; s.39B trafficking is...
- MaldivesMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the Drug Act (Law No. 17/2011); whether it sits in the...
- MexicoMethadone is a narcotic under the General Health Law (Ley General de Salud); it is legally registered and...
- MyanmarMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law 1993 (ss.20–21,...
- NetherlandsMethadone is an Opiumwet List I ('hard drug') narcotic, and is also a prescription medicine under the...
- New ZealandMethadone is a Class B controlled drug (Misuse of Drugs Act 1975), also regulated under the Medicines Act...
- NigeriaMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the NDLEA Act (Cap. N30); the NDLEA Act carries NO death penalty —...
- OmanMethadone is a Controlled Drug on the narcotic tier under Oman's Royal Decree 17/99 (Law on Combating...
- PakistanMethadone is a Schedule-I controlled narcotic under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997 (s.9); the...
- PhilippinesMethadone is a controlled dangerous drug under RA 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act 2002); the death...
- PolandMethadone is a narcotic (środek odurzający, group I-N) under the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction (2005) —...
- PortugalMethadone is a narcotic in Tabela I of Decreto-Lei 15/93 — full control; personal possession is...
- QatarControlled narcotic under Law 9/1987 (amended 16/2023), Table 1 (controlled narcotic and dangerous...
- Saudi ArabiaMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the Law of Combating Narcotics (Royal Decree M/39, 2005); as a...
- SingaporeMethadone is a Class A controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, but it is NOT listed in the...
- South KoreaMethadone is a narcotic under the Narcotics Control Act, but South Korea has NO methadone-maintenance...
- South SudanMethadone is a controlled medicine under South Sudan's Drug and Food Control Authority framework; the only...
- SpainMethadone is a narcotic in List I of the 1961 Convention under Ley 17/1967 (lista de estupefacientes) — full...
- Sri LankaMethadone is a controlled narcotic in Sri Lanka; it is NOT among the four capital-manufacture drugs named in...
- SwedenMethadone is a narcotic in förteckning II under the Narcotics Control Act (1968:64) — full narcotic control.
- SwitzerlandMethadone is a controlled narcotic under the Narcotics Act (BetmG, SR 812.121) — full narcotic control.
- TaiwanMethadone is a Category 2 (Schedule 2) controlled drug under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act — a...
- ThailandMethadone is a Category 2 narcotic under the Narcotics Code — and is the OST medicine available in Thailand...
- TurkeyMethadone is a controlled narcotic in Turkey, but there is NO methadone-maintenance programme — methadone is...
- United Arab EmiratesMethadone is a controlled narcotic under Federal Decree-Law 30/2021; it is death-eligible where the act is...
- United KingdomMethadone is a Class A controlled drug (Misuse of Drugs Act 1971) placed in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs...
- VietnamMethadone is a controlled List II narcotic in Vietnam (used in the national MMT programme); Vietnam abolished...
Not individually verified
For these 174 countries the governing national drug law is known and cited, but we have not verified that Methadone 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
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa (US)
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla (UK)
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba (Netherlands)
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bermuda (UK)
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- British Virgin Islands (UK)
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cameroon
- Caribbean Netherlands (BES)
- Cayman Islands (UK)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curaçao (Netherlands)
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- DR Congo
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands (UK)
- Faroe Islands (Denmark)
- Fiji
- Finland
- French Polynesia (France)
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Gibraltar (UK)
- Grenada
- Guam (US)
- Guatemala
- Guernsey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Holy See
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Isle of Man (UK Crown Dependency)
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jersey (UK Crown Dependency)
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Montserrat (UK)
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Caledonia (France)
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Northern Mariana Islands (US)
- Norway
- Palau
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico (US)
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Helena (UK)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- State of Palestine
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
- Tuvalu
- U.S. Virgin Islands (US)
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe