Is Nicotine legal in Denmark?

Legal status

Not a euphoriant under the Danish euphoriants legislation: it is not named in liste A, B, C, D or E of bekendtgoerelse nr. 405 af 26. marts 2026 om euforiserende stoffer as in force on 29 March 2026.

Consequences if caught

The search was run on the Danish spellings Nikotin and Nicotin as well as the English one, and returns nothing from the numbered entries. The plant it comes from is not placed either, although this instrument does place six plants and fungi by name, so the absence is a line in the scheme rather than an oversight. What governs it is the Danish tobacco and nicotine products legislation, including the age limit on sale and the rules on nicotine pouches and electronic cigarettes, and that was not read for this cell. Section 1 extends the lists to possible salts and simple derivatives with euphoriant effect of a placed substance, giving esters and ethers as its examples, and to all preparations containing or made from one. This row is not such a salt, derivative or preparation of anything on the lists, so that clause does not reach it either. The offence is not in the bekendtgoerelse. Section 30 says a breach of it is punished under section 3 and sections 3 a to 3 d of lov om euforiserende stoffer, and that where the circumstances in section 191 of straffeloven apply the breach is punished under that provision instead. Section 3(1) of the Act sets the ordinary penalty as a fine. The same sentence sets the custodial ceiling at imprisonment for up to 2 years. In fixing the penalty, including a fine, the court must weigh the harmful effects of the substance and, since 1 July 2025, its dangerousness. Section 191 of straffeloven raises the ceiling to imprisonment for up to 10 years where a person transfers euphoriant substances to a larger number of people, or for significant payment, or under other particularly aggravating circumstances. That ceiling rises again to imprisonment for 16 years where the transfer concerns a significant quantity of a particularly dangerous or harmful substance, or where the transfer of such a substance was otherwise of a particularly dangerous character. Section 191(2) applies the same band to importing, exporting, buying, delivering, receiving, manufacturing, processing or possessing such substances with intent to transfer. Section 3(2) of the Act treats four things as significantly aggravating, and lov nr. 724 af 20. juni 2025 added the last two of them: repeated sales of a particularly harmful or dangerous substance, sale or free transfer for later sale at restaurants including discotheques or at concerts or music festivals or other events mainly attended by children or young people, sale or free transfer for later sale through social media, and sale or free transfer for later sale in shops carrying on retail trade. Section 3 c, in force since 1 July 2025, allows a motor vehicle used in a serious breach to be confiscated, and requires confiscation where the vehicle's owner committed an offence falling under section 191, unless special grounds exceptionally tell against it. Section 3 d lets a court disqualify a person from retail shop work for supplying euphoriant substances from a shop, and impose an area ban whose breach carries imprisonment for up to 2 years. Denmark is widely described as refusing warnings for personal possession, and that description now rests on a repealed sentence. The rule that a warning could in general not be given was section 3(1) third sentence, and lov nr. 667 af 11. juni 2024 repealed it with effect from 1 July 2024. In its place section 3(4) says that a withdrawal of the charge shall be given for possession of euphoriant substances for own use where social circumstances speak for it and the possession is due to a strong dependence on hard euphoriant substances following prolonged and sustained misuse, and it says that this applies in repeat cases as well. These are Denmark's general drug penalties rather than a tariff for this substance. This row is placed outside that regime, so they are recorded as Denmark's published drug penalties and not as this substance's exposure. Read against bekendtgoerelse nr. 405 af 26. marts 2026 om euforiserende stoffer as in force on 29 March 2026, which repealed bekendtgoerelse nr. 2446 af 12. december 2021 at its section 33(2), and against lov om euforiserende stoffer as consolidated on 9 December 2019 and amended by lov nr. 667 af 11. juni 2024 and lov nr. 724 af 20. juni 2025, all read at retsinformation.dk on 22 September 2026. The minister may add a substance to the lists at any time under sections 1 and 2 of the Act, so a placement and an absence are both statements about the lists as they stood on that date.

If prescribed or medical

Nicotine replacement products are sold in Denmark under the medicines and consumer product rules rather than under this bekendtgoerelse, and those rules were not read for this cell.

Documentation

Declare any controlled medicine on arrival, carry it in its original dispensed container, and carry the prescription or a doctor's letter naming the substance, the dose and the patient. Within the Schengen area a doctor's certificate under Article 75 of the Schengen Convention is the usual document for a controlled medicine. Confirm requirements with the Danish Medicines Agency and with your embassy before travel.

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