Flunitrazolam

Belgium lists FLUNITRAZOLAM by name in Annex IVB of the Royal Decree of 6 September 2017 regulating narcotic, psychotropic and soporific substances. Article 6 requires prior activity authorization to import, export, transport, manufacture, produce, possess, sell, offer, supply, dispense, or acquire products covered by the decree, and limits authorization to scientific or medical purposes. The AFMPS current consolidated Annex IV identifies the substance, while the agency notes that only annexes and amendments published in the Moniteur belge have official legal force.

UNODC classifies flunitrazolam as a benzodiazepine-type new psychoactive substance in the sedatives/hypnotics group, whose substances are central-nervous-system depressants. Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act defines a psychoactive substance by its capacity to produce a psychoactive effect and excludes only substances specified in the Fifth Schedule; CNB states that unlisted NPS with that capacity are treated as psychoactive substances. Sections 11H and 11I make unauthorised import or export and possession or consumption of a psychoactive substance offences, subject to statutory authorisation and the legitimate non-human-consumption defence.

The current MFDS Notice No. 2026-391 consolidates the prior temporary-narcotic designation notices into a single full list. Its consolidated list identifies flunitrazolam as item 64, Group 2, with the chemical name 1-Methyl-8-nitro-6-(2-fluorophenyl)-4H-(1,2,4)triazolo(4,3-a)(1,4)benzodiazepine and the effective period 14 August 2025 through 31 March 2028. Under the current Narcotics Control Act Article 5-2, Group 2 temporary narcotics are subject to the statutory prohibitions on cultivation, extraction, manufacture, import/export, possession or ownership for those purposes, sale or transfer and related possession, possession, use, transport, management, administration, storage, and provision of facilities or means for prohibited conduct, subject to the statutory approval and official-duty exceptions.

The current Swissmedic List e directory (status 19 November 2024) identifies the exact substance Flunitrazolam, CAS 2243815-18-9, as entry 237 in the BetmVV-EDI. Industrial and scientific use are exempt from control, but private use is not exempt. Fedpol states that the substances added to the Narcotics List with effect from 13 March 2026 are subject to the Narcotics Act and that their manufacture, trade and use are illegal and subject to penalties; the exact List e entry therefore corrects the legacy claim that Flunitrazolam was legal and unscheduled.

Australia’s current Poisons Standard places “BENZODIAZEPINE derivatives except when separately specified in these Schedules” in Schedule 4, the prescription-only category. Flunitrazolam (FNTZ; flunazolam) is not individually named, while the instrument separately lists FLUBROMAZOLAM and FLUNITAZENE in Schedule 9; as a triazolobenzodiazepine, flunitrazolam is captured by the Schedule 4 benzodiazepine-derivative group entry. Appendix D clause 5 additionally identifies benzodiazepine derivatives as poisons that must not be possessed without authority, and the Standard explains that derivative classification carries the same scheduling requirements as the scheduled poison.

The current NpSG Annex 1 defines the benzodiazepine group to include 1,4- and 1,5-benzodiazepines and their triazolo and imidazolo derivatives, with a 600 u maximum molecular mass. Flunitrazolam is a triazolo-benzodiazepine with molecular mass about 337 u and therefore falls within the generic group. Section 3 prohibits trade, placing on the market, manufacture, import/export, acquisition, possession and administration, subject to the statutory scientific, industrial and official-use exceptions.

Flunitrazolam (also known as FNTZ and Flunazolam) is listed in Italy’s Tabella IV of the controlled-substances tables under Presidential Decree No. 309 of 1990. The 6 August 2021 ministerial decree adds the common name and the chemical designation 6-(2-fluorofenil)-1-metil-8-nitro-4H-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a][1,4]benzodiazepina. The amendment takes effect on the fifteenth day after publication in the Gazzetta Ufficiale and places the substance within Italy’s narcotics-control regime.

The current consolidated Act lists flunitrazepam in Schedule 2, Part I, and extends the listed dependence-producing substances to chemically related homologues that incorporate a similar structural fragment or exhibit similar pharmacodynamic properties. NIH PubChem identifies flunitrazolam as a triazolo[1,4]benzodiazepine, making it chemically related to the listed benzodiazepine flunitrazepam and covered by the homologue provision. Sections 4 and 5 prohibit unauthorized possession, use, and dealing in covered dependence-producing substances while preserving the Act's medicinal and other authorized exceptions.