Is Methadone legal in Cyprus?

Legal status

Controlled under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law of 1977 (Law No. 29/1977, as amended; Classes A/B/C). Methadone is a Class A drug: Part I, Class A of the First Schedule to the Law as substituted by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Controlled Drugs) (Amending) Order of 2025, K.Δ.Π. 367/2025, published in Official Gazette No. 5985 on 5 December 2025 lists «Methadone», in Greek «Μεθαδόνη». Under section 30 and the Third Schedule, possession carries up to 12 years' imprisonment, and possession with intent to supply, supply, production, import and export carry up to life imprisonment, in each case or a fine, or both; taking any controlled drug in any way is a section 10 offence carrying up to life imprisonment or a fine, or both, whatever its class.

Consequences if caught

Methadone is controlled in Cyprus under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law of 1977 (Law No. 29/1977, as amended), as a Class A drug in Part I, Class A of the First Schedule to the Law as substituted by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Controlled Drugs) (Amending) Order of 2025, K.Δ.Π. 367/2025, published in Official Gazette No. 5985 on 5 December 2025. Section 30 and the Third Schedule set the penalties. Possessing a controlled drug, under section 6(2), carries up to 12 years' imprisonment for a Class A drug, 8 years for Class B and 4 years for Class C, or a fine, or both. Possessing one with intent to supply under section 6(3), producing or supplying it under section 5(2), and importing or exporting it under section 4(1) carry up to life imprisonment for Class A and Class B and up to 8 years for Class C, or a fine, or both. Section 10(δ) makes it an offence «να λαμβάνει με οποιοδήποτε τρόπο οποιοδήποτε ελεγχόμενο φάρμακο», to take any controlled drug in any way, and the general column of the Third Schedule sets life imprisonment or a fine, or both, for a section 10 offence whatever the class. The proviso to section 30(2) limits imprisonment to two years for a person convicted of an offence of use, possession or transport of a controlled drug for personal use who was under 25 when it was committed and has no previous conviction under the Law or its Regulations. Section 30A presumes, unless the person satisfies the court otherwise, that possession or transport was for supply at 30 g or more of cannabis or its derivatives, 10 g or more of prepared opium or prepared cocaine or their derivatives, or 20 g or more in solid form or 20 cubic centimetres or more in liquid form of any controlled drug, and that cultivation was for supply at three or more cannabis plants, twenty or more opium poppy plants or five or more coca plants. The Law provides no death sentence; the longest term in its Third Schedule is life imprisonment, and the EMCDDA's Cyprus Country Drug Report 2019 states that «a life term has never been imposed».

If prescribed or medical

Regulation 9(2) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Regulations of 1979 (K.Δ.Π. 160/1979) lets any person possess a drug in the Second or Third Schedule to those Regulations «διά χορήγησιν δι' ιατρικούς, οδοντιατρικούς ή κτηνιατρυχούς σκοπούς, συμφώνως προς τάς οδηγίας ιατρού,...», as the scan prints it, for administration for medical, dental or veterinary purposes in accordance with the directions of a doctor, dentist or veterinary surgeon, and regulation 2 defines a doctor as a person registered as one under the Cyprus Medical Registration Law. The proviso to regulation 9(2) withdraws that protection from a person who obtained the drug from one doctor without disclosing a supply from another, or by a false statement. Methadone is in the Second Schedule to the 1979 Regulations as published in 1979. Importing a controlled drug is prohibited by section 4(1) of the Law unless Regulations under section 8 exempt it or the Minister licenses it under section 4(2). Regulation 3(1) lifts sections 4(1) and 6(1) only for the low strength preparations in the First Schedule to the Regulations; apart from that, no provision lifting section 4(1) for a traveller's own supply was found in the scanned text of the 1979 Regulations read, which is imperfect. The Regulations have been amended at least eight times and only K.Δ.Π. 282/2003 and K.Δ.Π. 105/2021 were read in full, so a later change cannot be ruled out. Carry the prescription and confirm with the Ministry of Health before travel.

Documentation

Part I of the First Schedule as substituted by K.Δ.Π. 367/2025 lists «Methadone», in Greek «Μεθαδόνη». The Second Schedule to the 1979 Regulations lists it with the English name «(Methadone)». The Law is cited as Law 29/1977 because that is how the CyLaw consolidation and the Gazette print it; earlier text on this page gave it as 29(I)/1977. The CyLaw consolidation runs to Law 159(I)/2020, and K.Δ.Π. 367/2025 recites the Laws of 1977 to 2020. The First Schedule printed inside that consolidation is still the 1977 text and is not the list in force. This is stated as at K.Δ.Π. 367/2025, published on 5 December 2025. Paragraph 3 of that Order replaces the whole First Schedule and paragraph 4 revokes every earlier Controlled Drugs Order. It is the latest Controlled Drugs Order in the CyLaw index of regulatory administrative acts read on 4 October 2026, which lists acts published up to 25 September 2026, and section 3(2) of the Law lets the Council of Ministers amend the First Schedule by Order, so this does not rule out a later amendment.

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