Methylone

The DEA issued an emergency scheduling order on October 21, 2011,¹²² followed by a final rule permanently adding methylone to Schedule I on April 12, 2013.¹²³ Manufacturing, possession, and distribution without a DEA license is prohibited. Prior to federal action, numerous states including Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Pennsylvania enacted their own emergency bans on methylone as part of 'bath salts' legislation beginning in early 2011.

El Anexo I vigente del Decreto 560/2019, sustituido por el Decreto 122/2026, incluye individualmente a la metilona. El Decreto 122/2026 fue publicado el 2 de marzo de 2026 y entró en vigencia al día siguiente. Conforme al artículo 2 del Decreto 560/2019, las sustancias del Anexo I son estupefacientes a los efectos del artículo 77 del Código Penal; la Ley 23.737 regula y sanciona, sin autorización o con destino ilegítimo, la producción, fabricación, comercio, distribución, suministro y tenencia de estupefacientes.

Methylone is expressly listed as "METHYLONE * (MDMC)" in Schedule 9; the Index cross-references methylone to CAS No. 186028-79-5 and MDMC hydrochloride (CAS No. 186028-80-8), so this is direct control of the substance rather than analog or product-only coverage. The June 2026 Instrument is the current Poisons Standard, commenced on 1 June 2026, and repealed the February 2026 Instrument. Schedule 9 describes substances whose manufacture, possession, supply, or use should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or analytical, teaching, or training purposes with Commonwealth and/or State or Territory health-authority approval. The Standard says that State and Territory implementation may vary, so the applicable operational controls are implemented through the relevant jurisdiction's law.

Prohibited under the Suchtmittelgesetz (Narcotics Act) since June 26, 2019. Possession, production, and sale are illegal.

Methylone (bk-MDMA) is listed in Annexe IIB of Belgium's Royal Decree of 6 September 2017 regulating narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and soporific substances, in force from its publication on 26 September 2017. Importation, export, transport, manufacture, production, possession, sale, supply and acquisition require prior activity authorization; authorizations are limited to scientific or medical purposes.

Listed as a controlled substance under Portaria SVS/MS nº 344. Added to national controls on February 18, 2014, alongside several other synthetic cathinones and phenethylamines.

Methylone is not a standalone named entry in the current CDSA, and Health Canada's current classification page names it by chemical name as a cathinone. Methylone was already included in the then-Schedule III amphetamine-analogue entry. This amphetamine entry was repealed from Schedule III and placed in Schedule I, item 19 effective 2012-11-06, while the current Schedule I text retains the analogue wording. The current designation is Schedule I, item 19 by the express government statement and statutory continuity, not Schedule III item 19, which separately names cathinone. Statutory maximum penalties are subject to regulatory authorization and all fact-specific requirements.

Since 30 January 2016, methylone has been listed as a narcotic or psychotropic substance in Article 1 of Supreme Decree No. 867's regulation of Law No. 20,000. Under Law No. 20,000, unauthorised manufacture and trafficking—including import, export, transport, acquisition, transfer, supply, keeping, and carrying—of Article 1 substances are offences; small-quantity possession is exempt only when justified as personal, exclusive, and proximate use or medical treatment.

Reportedly outlawed in February 2011 under national drug control legislation.

Methylone, listed as Methylon (bk-MDMA), is a psychotropic substance in List No. 4 of Government Regulation No. 463/2013 Coll., on lists of addictive substances. Under the Addictive Substances Act, substances in Lists No. 3 and No. 4, and preparations containing them, may be used only for limited research, scientific, and very limited therapeutic purposes specified in a handling permit. The Act requires a handling permit unless it expressly provides otherwise, so unlicensed handling is prohibited.

Illegal since February 8, 2008, with exceptions permitted only for scientific and medicinal research purposes.

Added to Schedule I in February 2011 alongside several other cathinone derivatives and synthetic cannabinoids.

Listed on the Finnish controlled substances schedule in the hard-drug category, carrying penalties associated with serious drug offenses.

Listed under Anlage II of the Betäubungsmittelgesetz (Narcotics Act) as of July 2012.⁴⁴ Manufacturing, possession, import, export, purchase, sale, procurement, and dispensing without a license is illegal.

Methylone (beta-keto-MDMA) is a psychotropic substance listed in the Schedule to India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, by Notification S.O. 2374(E) of 12 July 2016. The Act prohibits production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, use, import, export, and transshipment of psychotropic substances except for medical or scientific purposes and as authorised by the Act, rules, or orders. The notification identifies methylone as (RS)-2-methylamino-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)propan-1-one.

Methylone is listed as Metilon (MDMC) in the Narkotika Golongan I schedule of Minister of Health Regulation No. 15 of 2025, which took effect on 28 November 2025. Group I narcotics may be used only for the development of science and are not used in therapy, placing methylone outside lawful therapeutic use.

Methylone is designated in Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (Controlled Drugs) (Designation) Order 2022 under the chemical name 2-Methylamino-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)propan-1-one. Manufacture, production, preparation, sale, supply, distribution, and possession are unlawful except for licensed research or other specified special purposes. Ireland first added this substance to the designated Schedule 1 list on 11 May 2010, and the current 2022 order continues that designation.

Japan designates methylone, 2-(methylamino)-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)propan-1-one, and its salts as narcotics under the Cabinet Order Designating Narcotics, Narcotic Raw Materials Plants, Psychotropics and Narcotic/Psychotropic Raw Materials. The designation took effect on 3 August 2012; the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act criminalizes unauthorized import, export, manufacture, transfer, acquisition, and possession of narcotics, subject to its licensed-handler regime.

Covered under the Medicine Act (Geneesmiddelenwet). Since methylone is not officially registered as an approved pharmaceutical, trading in the substance is prohibited. Previously available in smartshops until April 2005 when the Public Health Minister declared it illegal.

Methylone is expressly named in Schedule 2 Part 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 as a Class B2 controlled drug. The official Ministry of Health Cabinet paper and Cabinet minute identify methylone and mephedrone for Schedule 2 Part 2 (Class B2), and the 2022 classification Order inserted methylone into the Act; the commencement Order made that amendment effective 15 December 2022. The latest version of the consolidated Act is stated to be in force as at 10 July 2026. The subsequent 2026 classification Order was made 16 February 2026 but was not yet in force and does not list methylone among its proposed additions, so it does not displace the existing methylone entry. For conduct, section 6 supplies the serious dealing route: unauthorized import/export or production/manufacture, supply or administration of a Class B drug, and possession for a dealing purpose are subject to a maximum of 14 years' imprisonment. Section 7 covers ordinary procurement, possession, consumption, smoking or other use; for a non-Class-A drug such as methylone the maximum is 3 months' imprisonment and/or a NZ$500 fine. New Zealand Police's official summary gives Class B possession as 3 months and/or $500 and Class B supply or manufacture as 14 years. These are statutory maximums, not sentencing predictions; licensing, authorized medical/scientific handling, charge selection, evidence, quantity, and aggravating factors can affect a case. The 2022 classification materials set lower presumed-supply quantities for other substances (including ethylone/N-ethyl pentylone and PMMA), not methylone; no methylone-specific lower threshold is specified.

Methylone is listed as bk-MDMA in Norway's Narkotikalisten under P II, with the list directing it to section 5 of the narcotics regulation. Section 5 prohibits its manufacture, acquisition, supply, import, export, storage, possession, and use; methylone was added to the national list with immediate effect on 16 December 2013.

Methylone is expressly listed by name, with the synonyms 3,4-metylenodioksymetkatynon and bk-MDMA, as item 62 of the II-P psychotropic-substances schedule; this is direct scheduling of the substance, not analog coverage. It was moved from I-P to II-P by the 2019 amendment, which entered into force on 27 September 2019. Under Article 33(1) of the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction, II-P psychotropic substances may be used only for medical, industrial, or research purposes. The 2025 and 2026 schedule amendments do not alter item 62.

Classified as a Schedule I prohibited substance under Russian drug control legislation.⁸⁹

Singapore’s First Schedule classifies methylone as a Class A controlled drug through paragraph 16’s generic cathinone provision, which expressly gives methylone as an example and covers the listed compounds’ salts, stereoisomers, and preparations or products containing them. The provision took effect on 1 May 2014 and remains in the current consolidated Schedule. The Act makes unauthorised possession or consumption, trafficking, manufacture, and import or export of a controlled drug offences; Part 2A is not the basis because the Fifth Schedule excludes controlled drugs from its psychoactive-substance definition.

Controlled substance as of March 1, 2011, scheduled alongside other synthetic cathinones and cannabinoid receptor agonists.

Methylone is controlled as a methcathinone analogue under Annex 3, which implements the Act’s category 3(a) psychotropic drugs. The Annex’s structural definition covers methylone’s N-methylcathinone core and fused 1,3-benzodioxole aryl group. The current Decree is effective 1 February 2026, and the Narcotics Control Act prohibits an unlicensed person from possessing, using, importing, exporting, manufacturing, transferring, selling, or offering a psychotropic drug.

Classified as a Schedule I narcotic substance as of October 1, 2010.¹⁰⁴

Specifically named as a controlled substance under Verzeichnis D of Swiss narcotics legislation.

Methylone (เมทิโลน) is a Category 1 narcotic under the Ministerial Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Specifying Names of Category 1 Narcotics B.E. 2565 (2022). The notification took effect thirty days after its 25 October 2022 publication in the Royal Gazette. Unauthorized production, import, export, sale, or possession of a Category 1 narcotic is an offence; the Food and Drug Administration states that the ordinary unauthorized conduct carries up to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 1,500,000 baht.

Methylone (bk-MDMA) is an especially dangerous psychotropic substance in Table I, List No. 2 of Ukraine's national list, where circulation is prohibited. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 4 added methylone to that list and entered into force on 12 January 2011. Ukraine's Criminal Code criminalizes unlawful production, manufacture, acquisition, storage, transport, dispatch, and sale of psychotropic substances.

Methylone is listed under its chemical name, 1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-(methylamino)propan-1-one, in Schedule 5 to the United Arab Emirates’ Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021. In force from 2 January 2022, Article 10 prohibits its import, export, transfer, production, manufacture, bringing into the country, possession, acquisition, and other dealings, subject to the law’s controlled medical-use and scientific-research exceptions.

Controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as part of the cathinone catch-all clause.¹¹⁹ Import and sale restrictions took effect March 31, 2010, with full controls enacted April 16, 2010.

Colombia lists methylone (metilona) in Lista Verde, Lista II, of Anexo Técnico 1 to Resolución No. 000116 de 2026. The resolution, in force from 27 January 2026, places the substance in Colombia’s special-control and fiscalization regime; the resolution’s transitional provisions require registration for the regulated import, export, processing, synthesis, manufacture, distribution, purchase, sale, and use of substances newly incorporated in the annex.

El texto consolidado vigente del Real Decreto 2829/1977 enumera expresamente la metilona en la Lista II de su anexo I; la Orden SSI/748/2016 la añadió, junto con sus variantes estereoquímicas, racematos y sales cuando sea posible, y entró en vigor el 19 de mayo de 2016. La Lista II somete la fabricación, tráfico, importación y exportación a autorización y registro, y la dispensación farmacéutica de la sustancia a receta para fórmula magistral; las actuaciones sin la autorización o inscripción exigida se tipifican como infracción muy grave. La prohibición general del artículo 2 se limita a las sustancias de la Lista I; la metilona está sujeta al control restringido de la Lista II, no a una prohibición general.

Lei n.º 7/2017 added the exact substance Metilona (beta-ceto-MDMA) to Tabela II-A of Decreto-Lei n.º 15/93, effective 3 March 2017. Consumption and acquisition or possession for personal use of substances in those tables are administrative offences under Lei n.º 30/2000; since Lei n.º 55/2023 took effect on 1 October 2023, an amount above ten days' average individual use is only evidence that the purpose may not be personal use, not a fixed exclusion from that regime. If exclusive personal use is established above that amount, the judicial authority must dismiss, decline to indict, or acquit as applicable and refer the person to the dissuasion commission. The personal-use rule does not remove methylone from Tabela II-A or legalize trafficking or other unauthorized handling.