Is Xanax (Alprazolam) legal in Malaysia?

Legal status

Alprazolam is not named in either Act by its own name. It is caught by class, in the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952: «Diazepam and other substances structurally derived from 1, 4-benzodiazepine; their salts, unless specified elsewhere», and again in the Third Schedule as «Diazepam and other subtances structurally derivated from 1,4-benzodiazepine except flumazenil and pirenzepine». Alprazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine and is structurally derived from 1,4-benzodiazepine, which is a fact of chemistry rather than a resemblance judgment. It is NOT in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. Two benzodiazepines are, which is why a single answer for the whole family would be wrong: see the benzodiazepines entry.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Alprazolam is not in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. Two benzodiazepines are, «Flunitrazepam» and «Nimetazepam», both in Part III, and alprazolam is neither of them nor an isomer, ester, ether or salt of either. Section 39B is the only capital provision in Malaysian drug law, and section 39B(1) prohibits trafficking in «a dangerous drug», which section 2 defines as «any drug or substance which is for the time being comprised in the First Schedule». A substance outside that Schedule cannot be trafficked within the meaning of section 39B however much of it there is, the section 37(da) presumption weights do not reach it, and neither do the section 39A enhanced penalties. What applies instead is section 30 of the Poisons Act 1952, which provides at subsection (3) that «no person shall import, export, manufacture, compound, mix, dispense, sell, supply, administer, possess or use any psychotropic substance otherwise than in accordance with any regulations applicable thereto», and at subsection (5) that a contravention is punishable «to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both». Section 30(4) carries a possession presumption of its own: a person found with the substance in his custody or control «shall be deemed to have been in possession of the substance and to have known the nature of the substance, until he proves to the contrary». Four years and ten thousand ringgit against death. That is the single largest cliff in Malaysian drug law and it turns entirely on which of two schedules a substance sits in. And the ground can move under it: section 45A of the Dangerous Drugs Act lets the Minister add a substance to the First Schedule by order, and section 30(2) of the Poisons Act lets him amend the Third Schedule the same way.

If prescribed or medical

This is a prescription-supply question and not a trafficking one. Alprazolam is a psychotropic substance under the Poisons Act 1952, reached by class and not by name, alprazolam being a triazolobenzodiazepine structurally derived from 1,4-benzodiazepine, appearing in the Third Schedule as «Diazepam and other subtances structurally derivated from 1,4-benzodiazepine except flumazenil and pirenzepine» and in the Poisons List as «Diazepam and other substances structurally derived from 1, 4-benzodiazepine; their salts, unless specified elsewhere». Section 30(1) provides that «In this section, “psychotropic substance” means any of the substances specified in the Third Schedule», and section 30(3) then prohibits importing, exporting, manufacturing, compounding, mixing, dispensing, selling, supplying, administering, possessing or using such a substance «otherwise than in accordance with any regulations applicable thereto made under this Act». Those regulations are the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989, and regulation 3 is the one a patient stands on: possession is prohibited unless «he is authorised to be in possession of such psychotropic substance under these Regulations» and the substance is for a lawful purpose and obtained under them. Regulation 3(2)(l) places a person lawfully supplied «in accordance with a prescription lawfully given by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist Division I of a veterinary surgeon» inside that authority, the wording of that paragraph being the publisher's. The two spellings in that Third Schedule entry are the publisher's and are reproduced as printed. Because the substance is caught by a class formula rather than an entry, the authority to hold it attaches to the class.

Documentation

Carry the prescription and the dispensing label with the medicine, in its original packaging. The entry the prescription has to answer to is «Diazepam and other subtances structurally derivated from 1,4-benzodiazepine except flumazenil and pirenzepine» in the Third Schedule, with «Diazepam and other substances structurally derived from 1, 4-benzodiazepine; their salts, unless specified elsewhere» in the Poisons List beside it. Regulation 4(2)(a) of the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989 is the traveller provision and it fixes a figure the Dangerous Drugs Act never does: a person arriving in or leaving Malaysia who carries, as part of personal luggage and solely for personal or family use, a prepared or packaged medicine containing a psychotropic substance is outside the import authorisation requirement, provided the quantity is «not exceeding such quantities as may be reasonably required for one month's use by one person» and it has been lawfully supplied by or on the prescription of a qualified medical practitioner. Section 30(4) presumes possession and knowledge from custody or control: a person found with the substance «shall be deemed to have been in possession of the substance and to have known the nature of the substance, until he proves to the contrary». The prescription is what rebuts it. The penalty under section 30(5) is «a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both». The control is the Poisons Act 1952 and its regulations rather than the Dangerous Drugs Act, so the trafficking regime and its presumptions are not in play for alprazolam.

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