Is Zolpidem legal in Latvia?

Legal status

Zolpidem is controlled in Latvia. The controlling instrument is Annex 2 to the law on the entry into force and application of the Criminal Law, and section 3(2) of the Circulation Law points to it expressly, which is why the former Cabinet Regulation No. 847 is not the current list. Annex 2 names zolpidem directly. The entry reads «zolpidēms», which is zolpidem. The entry sits at item 16(72) of Annex 2, in Schedule III, which covers dangerous psychotropic substances. Control extends to specified derivatives, isomers, structural analogues, active metabolites, salts, medicines, plant preparations and mixtures under Circulation Law sections 3(3)(5), 3(3)(6) and 3(4) read with Annex 2 paragraphs 2 and 3. This reading is stated as in force on 18 September 2026. Annex 2 identifies its current version as the 29 April 2021 text, as amended to 13 November 2025, with the cited 2025 change taking effect on 1 December 2025.

Consequences if caught

Capital and life exposure. Latvia has no death penalty and no life sentence for a drug offence, so neither is available for zolpidem. The ceiling is 15 years under subsection (3) of Criminal Law section 253 with a superscript one, which is reached by an organised group, a large amount, serious consequences, sale to a minor, or sale at specified public or educational venues. The scale runs from an administrative penalty to fifteen years. Circulation Law section 48(1) makes unauthorised acquisition or possession in a small amount, or unauthorised use, punishable by a warning or 10 to 56 fine units, and section 48(3) requires a written warning about criminal liability if it happens again within a year. Criminal Law section 253(1) covers handling without intent to sell at up to 3 years, and section 253(2) reaches 3 to 10 years for a group or a large amount. The sale provision, numbered 253 with a superscript one, covers sale-purpose conduct and sale at 2 to 8 years in its subsection (1), reaches 3 to 10 years in its subsection (2), and reaches 5 to 15 years in its subsection (3). Annex 2 prints the two cut-offs for this entry: the amount up to which a quantity is recognised as small is 0,6 g, and the amount from which a quantity is recognised as large is 10 g. The printed small ceiling and the printed large floor are not the same boundary. A quantity above the small ceiling but below the large floor is neither small nor large under those two columns, and falls into the ordinary band between them.

If prescribed or medical

There is a medical route for zolpidem and it runs inside the control regime rather than around it. Annex 2 places it in Schedule III, as a dangerous psychotropic substance, which is the schedule level that keeps a substance available for medical and scientific use under the Circulation Law licensing and prescribing rules. The prescribing and dispensing conditions themselves sit in the Latvian medicines and pharmacy regime, which this row did not audit, so treat the detail of the route as unread. The State Agency of Medicines of Latvia is the body that states it.

Documentation

Carry the prescription and the original dispensing packaging for zolpidem, and get the State Agency of Medicines of Latvia to confirm the position in writing before you travel rather than at the border. That is the carriage answer and it is short because no traveller permit scheme, declaration form or carriage allowance for zolpidem appears anywhere in what was read for this row, and an absence in what was read is not proof that no scheme exists. Provenance follows. The controlling text was read on likumi.lv, the official consolidated law portal of Latvia, on 18 September 2026: Annex 2 to the law on the entry into force and application of the Criminal Law, the Circulation Law, and the Criminal Law itself. The basis recorded for this row is a named entry. The instrument pages carry no separate reuse licence, so this row uses short attributed quotation and a link to the official text.

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