Is 4-AcO-DMT legal in Tonga?

Also known as: psilacetin

Legal status

NAMED, by the Schedule 1 chapeau's extension to esters of a listed drug. Schedule 1's opening words apply the schedule to the listed drugs "designated by their international non-proprietary names or the names used in international conventions in force their isomers, esters and ethers, their salts, including the salts of any such isomer, ester or ether, and any preparations including any such substances". Schedule 1, Class A, from Schedule I of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971 (page 21), names "Psilocine, psilotsin". 4-AcO-DMT (4-acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, also called O-acetylpsilocin or psilacetin) is the acetate ester of psilocine's 4-hydroxyl group, so it falls within Schedule 1 directly as an ester of a named drug rather than only as an analogue. The analogue drugs clause inserted by the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) Act 2020, Act 15 of 2020, section 2(a), has its own proviso excluding "a substance that is itself specified in Schedule 1", confirming that 4-AcO-DMT is reached through the chapeau rather than needing that clause. Under the displacement principle, the named entry governs and carries the full Class A bands. Two further amending Acts dated 2024 could not be retrieved this session (see documentation); if either changed the chapeau or the psilocine entry, that is not verified here.

Consequences if caught

4-AcO-DMT is reached as an ester of psilocine, a Class A drug, so sections 3 and 4 apply directly rather than through the analogue clause. Under section 3, as substituted by Act 15 of 2020 section 3, unlawful import or export of a Class A drug is liable, for less than 1 gram, to a fine not exceeding 10,000 pa'anga or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both; for 1 gram or more, to a fine not exceeding 1,000,000 pa'anga or imprisonment for any period not exceeding life or both; and for 28 grams or more, to life imprisonment. Under section 4, as amended by Act 15 of 2020 section 4 and Act 19 of 2021 section 3, the same bands apply to possession, manufacture, cultivation, use or supply, except the top band is 5 kilograms or more; section 4(2) deems 0.25 grams or more to be supplying.

If prescribed or medical

No entry for 4-AcO-DMT or psilocine was located in the Therapeutic Goods Act 2001, No. 3 of 2001, or the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 2011, 2020 Revised Edition; neither instrument prints a name specific schedule for this substance.

Documentation

Searched against Illicit Drugs Control Act 2003 Schedule 1, pages 21 to 23, for "4-AcO-DMT" and "4-acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine"; Psilocine (psilotsin) is named at page 21 among the entries from Schedule I of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971, and the Schedule 1 chapeau extends coverage to esters of the listed drugs. Also searched against the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) Act 2020 section 2, the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) Act 2021, the Drugs and Poisons Act 1930 Schedule A and Part III, the Therapeutic Goods Act 2001, and the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 2011; none names 4-AcO-DMT. Two further amending Acts, the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) (No.1) Act 2024 and the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2024, are listed in the Attorney General's legislation index but their PDFs returned HTTP 404 from the official portal checked independently in this session on 2026-10-07. Section 6 of the Act exempts a travelling medical patient for up to one month with written doctor authority; section 7 exempts a lawful occupation and the Ministry of Health.

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