Is Amyl Nitrite legal in Solomon Islands?

Also known as: isoamyl nitrite

Legal status

Restricted as a poison, with sale by or under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Amyl nitrite is listed in Schedule B Part I (the Poisons List) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105), reprint as in force at 5 February 2024, as 'Amyl nitrite.' Section 2 defines 'poison' as including 'the several substances mentioned in the poisons list in Schedule B', and section 52(2) makes it unlawful to sell or deal in a listed article except in the manner the Act prescribes. This is a pharmacy sale control and not a drug control entry. Amyl nitrite is not named in the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98, reprint as in force at 1 October 2009) or in the two proclamations (LN 101 of 1987 and LN 6 of 1988) as read from the page images, and no generic clause there reaches it. Because the Dangerous Drugs Act is delegated, with Part III extendable by proclamation under section 13(2) and later proclamations not all read, this is a finding about the Poisons List regime only and not a finding that the Dangerous Drugs Act does not apply. A reported Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2025 was not read. The margin of printed page 2824, where the second proclamation is printed, reads LN 61/1988, while the heading on page 2821 and the 2025 Rules cite LN 6 of 1988.

Consequences if caught

Sale and dealing: section 52(2) states 'It shall not be lawful for any person to sell or deal in any of the several articles included in Schedule B hereto hereinafter referred to as the Poisons List, except in the manner prescribed in this Act', and section 56(1)(a) allows a Part I poison to be sold only by an authorised seller of poisons, on premises registered under section 55, by or under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Section 56(2)(a) requires the buyer to be certified or known to be a person to whom the poison may properly be sold, with the proviso that no poison is sold or delivered to a person under twenty one years, and section 56(2)(b) requires a Poisons Book entry signed by the purchaser. Section 54(c) bars any Poisons Licence for Part I poisons. Import: section 52(1) makes importing any poison unlawful except under a licence issued by the Board, with a proviso for qualified medical practitioners, registered pharmacists, qualified veterinary surgeons and qualified dentists importing for bona fide treatment. Penalty: section 52(5) states 'Any person acting in contravention of this section shall be liable to a penalty of 5,000 penalty units', and for a continuing offence a further 300 penalty units for each day after conviction. A breach of section 56 with no specific penalty falls under section 62(1), 'a penalty of not more than 3,000 penalty units', and 600 penalty units a day for a continuing offence. These are fines stated without imprisonment. Possession and use by a member of the public: the Pharmacy and Poisons Act as read states no offence of possessing or using a poison. Manufacture, cultivation and export: no offence is stated beyond the general rule making power in section 61. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act states no death penalty. The Act does not state the value of a penalty unit and none is converted here. These are the Pharmacy and Poisons Act penalties only. Whether a proclamation not read applies the Dangerous Drugs Act to this substance is not established.

If prescribed or medical

The medicines route is in the Pharmacy and Poisons Act. Section 57(1) states that the poisons sale restrictions do not apply 'to a medicine which is supplied by a qualified medical practitioner for the purposes of medical treatment' or 'to a medicine which is dispensed by a registered pharmacist at his place of business', or to a poison forming part of the ingredients of such a medicine, subject to the labelling and prescription book requirements in section 57(2) to (5). Section 61(1)(b)(ii) lets the Board make rules prohibiting retail sale of Part I poisons except on a prescription. The Poisons Rules in the 1996 Revised Edition were read for this substance: rule 11(1) requires a prescription for a poison in the Fourth Schedule, but the Fourth Schedule (printed pages 3019 to 3042) does not print amyl nitrite, and the names either side of it on printed page 3020, 'Amylobarbitone' and 'Amylocaine Hydrochloride', are separate entries. No prescription only rule for amyl nitrite was found. The current force of the Poisons Rules is not established: only the 1996 Revised Edition was read, the 2024 reprint of the Act has section 61 (rules) and endnotes showing repeals by Act No. 5 of 1997 and amendments in 2009 and 2023, does not print the Rules, and nothing read says they were amended or revoked.

Documentation

Section 52(1) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act makes importing any poison unlawful except under a licence issued by the Board, with a proviso for qualified medical practitioners, registered pharmacists, qualified veterinary surgeons and qualified dentists importing for bona fide medical, veterinary or dental treatment, and section 52(5) states the penalty of 5,000 penalty units. No traveller's personal supply exemption is stated in the sections read, so none is established. The import authorisation scheme of the Dangerous Drugs Act applies only to drugs to which Part III applies, which is not shown for this substance.

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.