Are Barbiturates legal in Hong Kong?

Also known as: barbs

Legal status

Two barbiturates are dangerous drugs in Hong Kong and the rest are Part 1 poisons and prescription-only medicines. Part I of the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 134), in the version in force from 18 July 2025 (last amended by L.N. 172 of 2025) as read in the Department of Justice consolidation dated 12 June 2026, paragraph 1(a), names «Barbitone (巴比妥)» and «Quinalbarbitone (速可巴比妥)».

Consequences if caught

Barbiturates are a class, answered member by member. Barbitone (barbital) and quinalbarbitone (secobarbital) are dangerous drugs. No other barbiturate is in the First Schedule: searching it for phenobarbital returned 0, phenobarbitone returned 0, pentobarbital returned 0, amobarbital returned 0, butalbital returned 0, barbituric returned 0 matches. Every barbiturate is reached by the Poisons List in the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations (Cap. 138A, consolidated at 3 July 2026), Part 1, Division A: «Barbituric acid; its salts; its derivatives; their salts; any compound with any substance falling within this item», an entry repeated in Schedule 3, the prescription-only list. Under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138, consolidated at 14 May 2026), section 23(1) provides «No person shall have in his possession any poison included in Part 1 of the Poisons List otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, the proof whereof shall lie upon him». Section 21 provides «Subject to sections 28 and 32, no poison included in Part 1 of the Poisons List shall be sold except on premises duly registered under this Ordinance as premises of an authorized seller of poisons by a registered pharmacist or in his presence and under his supervision». Section 33(1) provides «Any person who contravenes section 21, 23, 26, 27, 28 or 28A shall be guilty of an offence», and section 34 sets the penalty «liable on conviction to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 2 years» (level 6 is $100,000). Section 23(2) provides «Nothing in this Ordinance shall prohibit the possession by any person of any poison included in Part 1 of the Poisons List where such poison is obtained in the circumstances set out in section 28(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d)». Section 23(2) protects possession only of a poison obtained in the circumstances in section 28(1)(a) to (d): supply by a registered medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon, by a clinic practitioner under the Medical Clinics Ordinance, or by an authorized seller of poisons on premises registered under the Ordinance, and section 2 defines registered by Hong Kong's own registration Ordinances. No provision of Cap. 138 in the text read covers a medicine obtained outside Hong Kong. Section 2 of Cap. 138 prints registered as, «in relation to a medical practitioner, a person duly registered or deemed to be registered under the Medical Registration Ordinance (Cap. 161)»; «in relation to a dentist, a registered dentist as defined by section 2(1) of, or a person deemed to be a registered dentist under, the Dentists Registration Ordinance (Cap. 156)»; «in relation to a veterinary surgeon, a person duly registered under the Veterinary Surgeons Registration Ordinance (Cap. 529)»; and «in relation to premises, such premises as are entered on the register of premises under section 13». For barbitone and quinalbarbitone: Trafficking: section 4(1)(a) forbids any person to «traffic in a dangerous drug» except under the Ordinance or a licence, and section 2 says trafficking «includes importing into Hong Kong, exporting from Hong Kong, procuring, supplying or otherwise dealing in or with the dangerous drug, or possessing the dangerous drug for the purpose of trafficking», so bringing it into Hong Kong falls within trafficking, whatever the amount. Section 4(3) sets the maximum «on conviction on indictment, to a fine of $5,000,000 and to imprisonment for life», and «on summary conviction, to a fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for 3 years». Manufacture: section 6(2), «liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of $5,000,000 and to imprisonment for life». Supply to a person not authorised to possess it: section 5(2), on indictment «to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 15 years». Possession and consumption are each an offence under section 8: section 8(1) forbids a person to «have in his possession» or to «smoke, inhale, ingest or inject» a dangerous drug, and section 8(2) sets «on conviction upon indictment to a fine of $1,000,000 and, subject to section 54A, to imprisonment for 7 years», or «on summary conviction to a fine at level 6 and, subject to section 54A, to imprisonment for 3 years»; level 6 is $100,000. Section 54A requires the court to consider a report of the Commissioner of Correctional Services before passing a custodial sentence for possession, except where section 54A(1A) applies: the person is in the same proceedings sentenced for another offence to imprisonment for more than 9 months, or is already serving a term of more than 9 months. Each of these provisions joins the fine and the imprisonment with the word and, so both may be imposed; the figures are maxima. Imprisonment for life is the highest penalty the Ordinance states. The Ordinance sets no quantity below which possession is lawful, and section 47 is not a quantity rule: a person proved to have had in physical possession «anything containing or supporting a dangerous drug», or the keys of a container holding one, «shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have had such drug in his possession», and is presumed to have known its nature. This is stated as at the consolidations named in this cell, and for the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance as at the consolidation dated 12 June 2026. Section 50(1) provides that «The Chief Executive may by order published in the Gazette amend the First and Third Schedules», so this does not rule out a later amendment. The Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 2026, made by the Chief Executive on 24 September 2026 under section 50(1) and scheduled for gazettal on 2 October 2026, adds N-pyrrolidino isotonitazene, N-desethyl etonitazene and MDMB-FUBINACA to Part I, and its section 1 reads «This Order comes into operation on 27 November 2026.» Those three additions are therefore not in force on 2 October 2026.

If prescribed or medical

Section 25(1) authorises a person to possess a dangerous drug «lawfully supplied by a registered medical practitioner» or «lawfully supplied on a prescription lawfully given by a registered medical practitioner or a registered dentist or a registered veterinary surgeon», section 22 gives practitioners and pharmacists their own authority, and section 31 sets the conditions on which a dangerous drug may be supplied on a prescription. Section 2 of Cap. 134 defines a registered dentist and a registered veterinary surgeon by Hong Kong's own registration Ordinances (Cap. 156, Cap. 529), so a prescription from a dentist or vet not registered in Hong Kong is not a prescription under section 25(1)(b); registered medical practitioner is not defined in Cap. 134 and its definition for that Ordinance is not in the text read, nothing in the text read says a prescription from a doctor not registered in Hong Kong qualifies, and section 25 authorises possession, not import. Phenobarbital and the other barbiturates not in Part I are sold only on a prescription under regulation 9 and Schedule 3 of Cap. 138A.

Documentation

Section 4 makes import part of trafficking unless done «under and in accordance with this Ordinance or a licence granted by the Director», and section 10(1) provides that «The Director may issue an import licence authorizing the person named therein to import into Hong Kong» a specified quantity of a dangerous drug. The Director is the Director of Health. No exemption for a traveller carrying a dangerous drug prescribed abroad appears in the consolidation read. Regulation 6(1)(c)(i) of the Import and Export (General) Regulations (Cap. 60A, consolidated at 14 May 2026) lifts only the import and export licensing requirement of the Import and Export Ordinance for medicines «imported or exported in the accompanied personal baggage of a person entering or leaving Hong Kong and which is for his personal use», in «a quantity which is reasonable having regard to the purpose»; it does not authorise anything under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. Ask the Department of Health about an import licence before travelling with any medicine containing this substance.

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