Is Modafinil legal in Netherlands?

Also known as: provigil

Legal status

Modafinil is not named in lijst I, lijst IA or lijst II. No Opiumwet offence arises from it as such, and the instrument that governs it is named below.

Consequences if caught

Lijst IA carries four substance groups: substanties die zijn afgeleid van 2-fenethylamine, cannabimimetica en synthetische cannabinoïden, substanties afgeleid van 4-aminopiperidine, and benzimidazol opioïden, the nitazenen. Modafinil is a diphenylmethyl sulfinyl acetamide with no basic amine nitrogen at all, so the phenethylamine definition does not reach it. It is a prescription only medicine under the Geneesmiddelenwet, which is the instrument that governs it. 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. Article 11 carries the penalties for lijst II. Acting intentionally against article 3 under B, C or D carries imprisonment of up to 2 years, and up to 6 years where the person acts in the exercise of a profession or business. Intentionally bringing it into or out of the territory, article 3 under A, carries up to 4 years. Where the offence concerns a large quantity the two year and the four year cases both rise to 6 years. Article 1 of the Opiumwetbesluit fixes that large quantity at 500 gram hennep, 200 hennepplanten or 500 units of another lijst II substance. The fine is the fifth category, printed at 67.000 euro with an editorial note recording 110.000 euro from 1 January 2026. Article 2a carries the lijst IA prohibition and article 10b its penalties. Acting intentionally against it carries imprisonment of up to 6 years. Acting without intent carries hechtenis of up to 3 months. Where intentional import, export or presence concerns a small quantity for own use the ceiling is 6 months. Article 10c adds up to 3 years for preparatory acts. The fine is the fifth category on the intentional offence and the third category on the others, printed at 67.000 euro and 6.700 euro with editorial notes recording 110.000 euro and 11.000 euro from 1 January 2026. This row is placed outside that regime, so they are recorded as the Netherlands' published drug penalties and not as this substance's exposure. This is stated as at the Opiumwet consolidation in force from 17 September 2026, read at wetten.overheid.nl on 22 September 2026, and it does not rule out a later amendment. The reading these cells previously rested on was the Opiumwet consolidation in force from 9 July 2026, and the 17 September 2026 consolidation read here supersedes it. Article 3a of the Opiumwet lets substances be added to lijst I or lijst II by algemene maatregel van bestuur: under the first limb when they come under the Single Convention or the Psychotropic Substances Convention or must be brought under the Act under Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA or Decision 2005/387/JHA, and under the second limb when they are shown to affect human consciousness and can harm health and society. Under the fifth limb the Minister may designate a substance by ministerial regulation, for at most a year, where a ban cannot wait for that order. The lists can therefore move without an amendment to the Act.

If prescribed or medical

The Opiumwetbesluit prescription regime does not apply, because article 2 of that decree governs the prescribing of Opiumwet substances and this is not one. Carry any prescribed medicine in its original packaging with the prescription.

Documentation

No Opiumwet documentation requirement arises, because the Opiumwet documentation regime attaches to its own listed substances and this is not one. The live cell's advice to carry a Schengen certificate issued via the CAK is not repeated, because this reading did not establish that the certificate applies to a substance outside the Opiumwet. Carry the medicine in its original packaging in hand luggage with the prescription. The live cell recorded that for travel beyond Schengen a legalised English-language medical certificate valid 1 year should be carried, and that is carried forward from it and not verified here.

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.