Is Methaqualone (Quaaludes) legal in Germany?

Also known as: ludes

Legal status

Methaqualone sits in Anlage II of the Betäubungsmittelgesetz, the marketable but not prescribable tier. The dossier records the row as „Methaqualon | - | 2-Methyl-3-(2-methylphenyl)chinazolin-4(3H)-on“. The third column is a quinazolinone, which puts the substance outside the barbiturate and benzodiazepine families it is usually grouped with in general accounts, and the German table reflects that by giving it a line of its own rather than folding it into a sedative class. Placement is under BtMG § 1 Abs. 1. The middle tier is a deliberate position: the substance can lawfully exist in trade for permitted purposes while remaining outside any prescription, which matches a medicine that was withdrawn from therapeutic use rather than one that never had any.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. The dossier's penalty column records that no death-penalty regime applies. The penal provisions are BtMG §§ 29 bis 30a and the recorded figure is the ceiling: not less than five years under § 30a Abs. 1, with a determinate sentence capped at fifteen years by StGB § 38 Abs. 2. No ordinary band is recorded and none is stated. The tier shapes the defence rather than the maximum: since no prescription can exist, a claim of medical use cannot be made good, and lawful handling would have to rest on a permitted purpose under the Act.

If prescribed or medical

Anlage II is the marketable but not prescribable tier of the three, read at gesetze-im-internet.de on 21 September 2026, which settles the question directly: no German prescription is available for this substance, so nothing a traveller carries can be a German prescription for it and a foreign one has no counterpart. The dossier records no traveller rule, so this cell states the tier and defers on the border documentation.

Documentation

There is no prescription to hold. Historic medical use in another country is not a document and does not answer the German tier, which excludes prescribing altogether. The entry was read on 20 September 2026.

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