Is Nicotine legal in Finland?

Legal status

Not a narcotic in Finland. Nicotine is not named in any annex of valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina pidettävistä aineista, valmisteista ja kasveista 543/2008 and is not named in the annex to valtioneuvoston asetus 1130/2014, as those annexes stand after 651/2026, 1119/2025 and 650/2026. It is a medicine question instead. The Finnish Medicines Agency decision on the medicines list, 230/2025, names it in annex 1, where the Finnish column of the row reads «Nikotiini». The row gives its Latin, Swedish and English columns as Nicotinum, Nikotin, Nicotine. Section 2 subsection 1 of that decision supervises the annex 1 substances, their salts and their esters as medicines under section 3 subsection 1 or 2 of lääkelaki 395/1987. Section 1 of the decision states that the list is not exhaustive and that not every product containing a listed substance meets the medicine definition, so an individual product's status turns on its own classification. Tupakkalaki 549/2016 governs nicotine products separately, and its section 53 subsection 1 forbids selling or passing on nicotine liquids and smokeless nicotine products to a person under 18. A quantity ceiling applies to smokeless nicotine products. Section 25 a of tupakkalaki 549/2016 forbids selling or otherwise supplying to a consumer a smokeless nicotine product containing «nikotiinia enemmän kuin 16,6 milligrammaa grammassa tuotetta;» and the same section bars a ready dose unit weighing under 0.5 grams or over 1 gram. Sections 2, 44, 53 and 62 of that Act carry the definitions, the retail licence, the age limit and the distance selling ban. Stated in English that ceiling is 16.6 mg of nicotine per gram of product, the same 16.6 mg per gram figure the live Finland cell carried.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Criminal Code chapter 44 section 5 carries the medicines offence. It sets a fine or up to one year for manufacturing, importing, storing, keeping for sale or supplying medicines contrary to the Medicines Act or the European Union medicines regulations, unless a heavier penalty is provided elsewhere. Chapter 50 of the Criminal Code (39/1889) carries the narcotics offences. Section 1 sets a fine or up to two years for a huumausainerikos covering manufacture, cultivation, import, export, transport, sale, supply, distribution and possession. Section 2 sets one to ten years for a törkeä huumausainerikos where the object is a very dangerous narcotic or a large quantity, or substantial gain is sought, or the act is part of an organised group, or serious danger to life or health is caused to several people, or the drug is spread to minors. Section 2 a sets a fine or up to six months for a huumausaineen käyttörikos, unlawful use or possession of a small quantity for own use. Section 3 sets a fine or up to two years for preparation and section 4 the same for promotion, while section 4 a sets four months to six years for aggravated promotion. Section 7 allows the charge or the sentence to be waived where the quantity, the circumstances and the use situation make the act minor as a whole, or where the suspect has entered approved treatment. The live Finland cell recorded the same three provisions and asserted no custodial term at all, and every provision it named is carried here: Criminal Code (39/1889) chapter 50, the substantive prohibitions in Narcotics Act 373/2008 section 5 with the lawful exceptions in section 3, and the consumer market conduct offence in Criminal Code chapter 44 section 5 a. The bands stated above are new to this pass and were read off the Criminal Code itself, not carried from that cell. This row is placed outside that regime, so they are recorded as Finland's published drug penalties and not as this substance's exposure. This row in particular. It is not named in either decree and that is a measured absence, not an assumption. The Finnish forms put to both texts for this row were «Nikotiini», «nikotin», «Nicotiana», «tupakka». Against the consolidated 543/2008, whose annexes carry 196 entries in Liite I, 192 in Liite II, 11 in Liite III, 70 in Liite IV and 1 in Liite V, and against the annex to 1130/2014 as substituted by 650/2026, no form returned an entry of its own. What the search did return is a near miss rather than a hit: in Liite I the longer entry «Nikomorfiini (3,6-dinikotinyylimorfiini)»; and in Liite I the longer entry «Nikodikodiini (6-nikotinyylidihydrokodeiini)», which contains the searched form inside a different molecule's name and is not this row. The bands stated above are the narcotics bands and they are reproduced because the live cell named chapter 50. They describe the lane this row would fall into if it were listed, and on the text read here it is not.

If prescribed or medical

This row's whole answer is the prescription route, and whether an authorised product exists in a given form is a product by product question that this cell does not settle. Sections 3 and 6 of lääkelaki 395/1987 are the provisions the live Finland cell named for this route and they are kept. Where a substance is a medicinal ingredient rather than a listed narcotic, it is handled through the Medicines Act 395/1987, in particular the conduct and import rules in section 3 and the medicinal substances list, and its status turns on individual product classification. This row in particular. The list that does name this row is the medicines list, Finnish Medicines Agency decision 230/2025. Its Liite 1 carries the row at printed line 2563 of the annex text Finlex serves, and the printed row reads «Nikotiini Nicotinum Nikotin Nicotine». In the printed order of that annex the line above it reads Nikorandiini Nicorandilum Nikorandil Nicorandil and the line below it reads Nikotinyylimetyyliamidi Nicotinylmethylamidum Nikotinylmetylamid Nicotinyl methylamide.

Documentation

Section 24 of huumausainelaki 373/2008 is written for convention listed narcotics and does not describe this row, so the ordinary medicines rules are what apply. Carry any prescribed medicine in its dispensed packaging with the prescription. Finland's personal import rules for medicines sit in the Medicines Act 395/1987 and were not read for this cell, so no traveller allowance is stated here. This row in particular. The search behind the absence stated for this row was run in Finnish and the forms were «Nikotiini», «nikotin», «Nicotiana», «tupakka». Section 24 of huumausainelaki 373/2008, the provision that would otherwise carry a traveller's own medicine past the Act's import and export rules, reaches only products «joita matkustaja käyttää henkilökohtaiseen lääkitykseensä» that contain a substance in one of the convention lists, and this row is in none of them. The list that does name this row is the medicines list, Finnish Medicines Agency decision 230/2025. Its Liite 1 carries the row at printed line 2563 of the annex text Finlex serves, and the printed row reads «Nikotiini Nicotinum Nikotin Nicotine». In the printed order of that annex the line above it reads Nikorandiini Nicorandilum Nikorandil Nicorandil and the line below it reads Nikotinyylimetyyliamidi Nicotinylmethylamidum Nikotinylmetylamid Nicotinyl methylamide. Provenance for this row. The consolidated 543/2008 read here is the Finlex text carrying amendments up to 25.6.2026/651, the version Finlex identifies as data.finlex.fi/eli/sd/2008/543/ajantasa/2026-06-26/fin, in force from 10 July 2026, read on 21 September 2026; the consolidated 1130/2014 read here is the Finlex text whose annex was substituted by 650/2026 with effect from 10 July 2026, read on 21 September 2026; and where the medicines list is cited it is the Finnish annex text to decision 230/2025 served by Finlex, read on 21 September 2026.

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