Hydrocodone

As of October 6, 2014, all hydrocodone products are designated Schedule II controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act.⁷⁵ Prior to this date, combination products containing 15 mg or less per dosage unit were classified as Schedule III.⁷⁵ Prescriptions cannot be refilled and require a new written prescription for each fill.⁷⁵

Regulated under the Austrian Suchtmittelgesetz (SMG) in a similar manner to Germany.⁷ Since 2002, hydrocodone products from Germany and elsewhere in the European Union have been available under Article 76 of the Schengen Treaty.

Controlled under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.¹⁴ Available only by prescription, both as a single-ingredient formulation and in proprietary combinations with NSAIDs or paracetamol.

Finland's current Annex I lists Hydrokodoni (dihydrokodeinoni) as a narcotic. Section 5 of the Narcotics Act prohibits the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, distribution, trade, handling, possession, and use of narcotics, subject to separately provided medical, research, supervisory, and industrial exceptions.

ANSM's consolidated schedule explicitly places Hydrocodone in annexe I, and the Service-Public page current on 21 August 2026 identifies the arrêté of 22 February 1990 as the list of drugs. The official Ministry/ANSM public medicines database, updated 3 August 2026, lists no hydrocodone medicine as marketed, including within its three-year scope. An ordinary French hydrocodone medicine is therefore not practically available, although an exceptional named-patient, import, or other authorization pathway may be legally possible. If an authorized hydrocodone medicine were supplied, the ANSM narcotic-prescription framework would require a secured prescription with the general 28-day ceiling unless a specific reduced-duration rule applies; hydrocodone is not named in the ANSM table of 14-day and 7-day exceptions. Illicit use of a scheduled narcotic remains a criminal offence: the current Service-Public page states a maximum of one year imprisonment and €3,750 fine, while its current fixed-fine section states €400 reduced, €500 standard and €1,000 increased amounts. These are statutory and general administrative penalties.

Listed under Anlage III of the Betäubungsmittelgesetz (Narcotics Act) as a Suchtgift.²⁹ Can only be prescribed using a special narcotic prescription form (Betäubungsmittelrezept).³⁰

Classified as a List I substance under the Opium Law (Opiumwet).⁴⁴ Hydrocodone is not available for medical use and possession without a prescription or license is illegal.

New Zealand's current Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 lists hydrocodone (dihydrocodeinone) as a Class B controlled drug in Schedule 2, Part 3. Sections 5 and 6 make unauthorised possession, use, manufacture, supply, and administration of controlled drugs offences, subject to the Act's stated authorisations and exceptions. The Schedule 2 listing does not itself establish that hydrocodone is prescription-only.

Classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under Russian drug control legislation.⁵³

South Korea lists 히드로코돈 (Hydrocodone) in Annex 1 to the current Enforcement Decree as a narcotic. Under Article 4 of the Narcotics Control Act, a person who is not a narcotics handler may not possess, own, use, transport, manage, import, export, manufacture, dispense, administer, transfer, sell, solicit a sale of, or provide a narcotic; limited statutory exceptions include possession after administration by a narcotics-handling medical practitioner or acquisition from a narcotics retailer. Hydrocodone is therefore prohibited outside the Act's authorized pathways, rather than merely a product-specific prescription-only medicine.

Listed as a Class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971⁷³ and Schedule 2 under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations.⁷² Hydrocodone is not available for medical use in the UK; dihydrocodeine formulations are commonly used as alternatives.

Indonesia's current Ministry of Health classification lists Hidrokodona (dihidrokodeinona) as item 33 of the Group II narcotics schedule. The regulation describes Group II narcotics as medicines used as a last option that may be used in therapy and/or scientific development and that have a high potential for dependence; it does not itself establish the availability or dispensing conditions of a particular hydrocodone product.

The Schedule II narcotic listing remains current, while the official current registry provides no hydrokodon medicine result. The last remaining formulation's deregistration in 1967 is not established. Läkemedelsverket's searchable deregistration records cover 2004 onward, and its separate historical list covers 1900–2003. Unlawful possession, use or other handling is criminalized, but the statute's 'olovligen' qualifier preserves lawful authorized handling.

Ukraine lists hydrocodone in Table II, List No. 1 of its official narcotic-drugs schedule. The list describes narcotic drugs and plants whose circulation is restricted; this schedule text establishes a controlled-substances restriction but does not itself state a prescription-only exception.

Hydrocodone is no longer available for medical use in Belgium.

ANVISA's current controlled-substances update lists hidrocodona at item 44 of Lista A1, the list of narcotic substances subject to Notificação de Receita A. Hydrocodone is therefore subject to Brazil's special prescription-control regime.

Dihidrocodeinona (hidrocodona) and its salts are listed as narcotics in Chile. Their sanitary control is governed by the Reglamento de Estupefacientes.

Hydrocodone (氢可酮) is item 14 of China's current Medicinal Narcotic Drugs Catalogue. The current narcotic-drug regulation places listed medicinal narcotic drugs under state control and limits prescribing to qualified physicians in authorized medical institutions using special prescriptions.

Denmark lists Hydrocodon INN at item 227 of Liste B in the current order on euphoriant substances. Liste B substances may be used only for medical and scientific purposes; the order permits patient receipt under a valid prescription or requisition and controls other handling through the regulatory framework.

Hydrocodone is listed in Schedule 2 to Ireland's Misuse of Drugs Regulations. Its possession, supply, and prescribing are regulated under Ireland's controlled-drugs framework.

Japan's Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act lists dihydrocodeinone (also known as hydrocodone), its esters, and their salts in Appended Table I. Article 2 defines substances in that table as narcotics, and Article 27 reserves narcotic prescriptions and administration for licensed narcotic practitioners, subject to the Act's stated exceptions. A narcotic practitioner may perform those acts only for treatment of disease except where the Act provides otherwise.

Luxembourg’s controlled-substances regulation expressly lists Hydrocodonum (dihydrocodéinone) at item 37 as a stupéfiant. The Health Portal (last update 29 January 2026) states that narcotic drugs may only be prescribed on a secure prescription from a prescription pad, not a standard prescription; such prescriptions are valid for 21 days, with dosage written in full. The official 2025 narcotic-medicines marketing-authorisation workbook contains no matching row for Hydrocodone/Biocodone. The consolidated narcotics text records the 14 July 2023 amendment as its latest listed modifier and the official amendment itself entered into force on publication, 21 July 2023; no later Legilux amendment to this narcotics list is recorded through 28 August 2026. Illicit personal use, transport, possession or acquisition is punishable under 1973 Law article 7(1) by 8 days to 6 months’ imprisonment and/or a €251–€2,500 fine; illicit cultivation, production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, import/export, sale, offering, circulation, or supply to others is covered by article 8(1) with 1–5 years’ imprisonment and/or a €500–€1,250,000 fine. These penalties apply to illicit conduct and do not negate the secure-prescription route for lawful medicinal handling.

Requires a valid prescription for legal acquisition. Not available over-the-counter despite contrary rumors.

Hydrocodone is listed in the Philippine Schedules of Dangerous Drugs. It is regulated under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act framework.

The International Narcotics Control Board's Yellow List identifies hydrocodone (dihydrocodeinone) as a substance in Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention. Under Spain's Law 17/1967, substances in that Schedule are narcotics; preparations for human or veterinary use may be sold or dispensed to the public only through licensed pharmacies on official therapeutic-dose prescriptions.

Listed as a controlled substance under Verzeichnis A of Swiss narcotics legislation.⁶⁷ Medicinal use is permitted with appropriate authorization.

Hydrocodone (dihydrocodeinone) is listed in Cetvel I (Schedule I) of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs published with Turkey’s accession decision No. 6/7732. The Convention limits the production, manufacture, import, export, distribution, trade, use, and possession of listed drugs to medical and scientific purposes. Law No. 2313 confines the retail sale of narcotic drugs to pharmacies against a prescription.

Classified as a controlled drug requiring a prescription. Schedule 8 substances are considered drugs of addiction with recognized therapeutic use.

Hidrocodona is named in Tabela I-A of the controlled-substances tables republished by Lei n.º 25/2021. Under article 2(1) of Lei n.º 30/2000, consumption and acquisition or possession for personal use of substances in Tables I to IV are administrative offences; since Lei n.º 55/2023, an amount above ten days' average individual use is evidence that the purpose may not be personal use, but does not automatically exclude that regime. The personal-use rule does not remove hydrocodone from Tabela I-A or authorize trafficking or other unauthorized handling.