Is Amphetamine legal in Solomon Islands?

Legal status

Controlled. Amphetamine is named in both proclamations that apply Part III of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98, reprint as in force at 1 October 2009) under section 13(2). In the schedule to the proclamation of 21 September 1987 (LN 101 of 1987), printed page 2821, paragraph 1 lists 'Amphetamine' and also 'Dexamphetamine' and 'Dexedrine'. The second list in paragraph 6 on printed page 2823 prints the word 'Amohetamine' where the name should be, which is an apparent printing error on that page, so the verdict does not rest on it. It rests on paragraph 1 and on paragraph (e) of LN 6 of 1988 on printed page 2824 ('The following substances and products, namely:... Amphetamine...'). Paragraph 4 extends Part III to 'any salt of a substance specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 3', paragraph 2 to stereoisomeric forms, and paragraph 5 to 'Any preparations or other product containing a substance of product specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 4, not being a preparation specified in Schedule 1'; no Schedule 1 appears in the pages read, so which preparations stand outside the control is not established. LN 6 of 1988 paragraphs (d) and (h) (printed page 2824) refer instead to 'the Schedule to the Proclamation referred to in paragraph (a)', so 'Schedule 1' in LN 101 paragraphs 5 and 9 may mean the paragraph 1 list of that Schedule; no instrument read states that reading. The instruments read do not state what difference follows from a substance appearing in the second list; they state no separate penalty for it. The margin note on printed page 2824 reads LN 61/1988 while the schedule heading on page 2821 and the 2025 Rules cite LN 6 of 1988. Schedule B Part I of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (as in force 5 February 2024) also lists 'Amphetamines (beta-aminopropylbenzene and beta-amino-isopropylbenzene)' as a poison, which is a sale restriction and separate from drug control. The Dangerous Drugs (Methylamphetamine) Rules 2025 deal with methylamphetamine only and are not the rule for amphetamine.

Consequences if caught

Amphetamine as a Part III drug: Part III drugs carry these provisions. Personal possession: section 20 makes it an offence against the Act where a Part III drug is found in a person's possession or kept in any place other than the appointed store, unless he can prove that it was obtained under the authority of the Act, or in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner, or from a person having authority to sell it, or was deposited there without his knowledge or consent. The burden of proof is on the accused, and the section sets no quantity threshold. Possession for supply, sale and trafficking: the Act's text states no separate offence for these for Part III drugs. Sale and distribution are left to rules the Minister may make under section 15(1)(b), and the only rules located are the 2025 methylamphetamine rules, so for this substance a sale offence is not verified beyond the general offence in section 39(1)(a) of contravening the Act or a rule under it. Import and export: sections 14, 23, 25, 28 and 30 prohibit them except in accordance with sections 22 to 30, and section 3 limits entry and exit to a port approved by notice; a person exporting in contravention is also liable under section 35(2) to forfeit treble the value of the goods or 2,000 penalty units at the option of the Comptroller of Customs and Excise. Manufacture: section 15(1)(a) lets rules prohibit manufacture except on licensed premises, and no manufacture offence is stated in the Act's text itself. Cultivation: not applicable to a synthetic or manufactured substance. Use or consumption: the instruments read state no separate offence of use for Part III drugs, so possession under section 20 is the exposure. Administrative offences: section 39(1)(b) and (c) cover breach of licence conditions and false statements to obtain a licence. Penalty: no penalty is otherwise prescribed, so section 39(2) applies to each offence, namely on conviction by the court sitting with assessors a fine of 100,000 penalty units or imprisonment for ten years or both, and on summary conviction a fine of 5,000 penalty units or imprisonment for six months or both, with forfeiture of all articles in respect of which the offence was committed. Fine and imprisonment may be cumulative ('or to both'). Section 39(4) gives attempting, soliciting and inciting the same punishment, and section 39(3) requires the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for proceedings under section 39(1)(a). The Act's drug provisions state no death penalty. The Act does not state the value of a penalty unit and none is converted here.

If prescribed or medical

The medical route is in the Dangerous Drugs Act itself. Section 15(1)(c) lets the Minister make rules regulating the issue of prescriptions containing a Part III drug and their dispensing, and section 15(2) requires the rules to authorise a pharmaceutical chemist or chemist and druggist to retail, dispense or compound them in the ordinary course of business. Section 19 limits withdrawal from the store to a registered medical practitioner, licensed pharmacist, registered dentist, qualified veterinary surgeon, an approved plantation hospital attendant, or a person approved for recognised Mission medical work. Section 20 states possession in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner as a matter the accused may prove. Section 39(3) caps the punishment for an inadvertent breach of the prescription or book keeping rules at a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units without imprisonment. Rules under section 15 other than the 2025 methylamphetamine rules were not located, so the detailed prescription rules are not verified. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105, reprint as in force 5 February 2024) also speaks to prescriptions for these drugs in its own text. Section 36(4) reads 'A prescription which does not comply with the provisions of this section shall not be accepted by any pharmacist as authority for the sale or supply of any medicine or drug'. Section 37(2) reads that every prescription 'containing any of the drugs to which any Act as to the sale of dangerous drugs, for the time being in force, relates, shall be retained in the custody of the pharmacist dispensing the same for a period of two years and filed in the pharmacy'. Section 38(c) provides that a pharmacist shall not 'permit any person, other than a registered pharmacist, to dispense or compound any prescription or supply any medicine or drugs containing any of the dangerous drugs to which subsection (2) of section 37 relates'. The Poisons List in Schedule B Part I of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (as in force 5 February 2024) also lists 'Amphetamines', which restricts retail sale to authorised sellers (section 56(1)(a), (2)); that is a pharmacy sale control and is separate from the drug control above. Section 57 of that Act exempts a medicine supplied by a qualified medical practitioner or dispensed by a registered pharmacist, subject to section 57(2) to (5). The Poisons Rules add a prescription only sale rule for the substance. The Fourth Schedule prints 'Amphetamine' with no exception (printed page 3020), and 'Dexamphetamine' and 'Dexedrine' (printed page 3025). Rule 11(1) of the Poisons Rules (printed page 3004) reads 'It shall not be lawful to sell any poison included in the Fourth Schedule to these Rules except on and in accordance with the prescription given by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist or a qualified veterinary surgeon in the form provided by this rule'. Rule 11(2) applies it to a sale even where the sale is exempted by section 57 of the Act, but not to a sale exempted by section 58. This is a sale rule and is separate from drug control. Whether these Rules are still in force is not established: the copy read is the 1996 Revised Edition (margin notes to LN 63 of 1988), the 2024 reprint of the Act keeps the rule making power in section 61 but does not print the Rules, its endnotes record repeals of sections 16 to 26, 28 to 32 and 35 by Act No. 5 of 1997 and amendments in 2009 and 2023, and nothing read states that the Rules were amended or revoked.

Documentation

Importing requires an import authorisation in Form C granted by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Medical Services under section 26, and section 28 provides that no dangerous drug shall be imported unless the person to whom it is consigned holds a valid and subsisting import authorisation. Section 29 requires an export authorisation or diversion certificate from a country party to the Convention to accompany the drug, and section 31 sets the transit conditions. The only exemption from the transit rules for quantities is in section 31(5), for quantities that bona fide form part of the medical stores of a ship or aircraft. The sections read state no exemption for a traveller's personal supply, so none is established, and the Convention as defined in section 2 names only the 1912 and 1925 and 1931 instruments.

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