Are Benzodiazepines legal in New Zealand?

Legal status

Resolved member by member, and every member this table names lands in the same place. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 defines a controlled drug as any substance, preparation, mixture or article specified or described in Schedule 1, 2 or 3, so a class name is not itself an entry and the question has to be put to each molecule. Put to the six this table carries, the answer does not vary: diazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam, lorazepam, etizolam and nimetazepam are each named or described in Schedule 3 as Class C controlled drugs, reaching the relevant salts and preparations, and etizolam is a thienodiazepine rather than a true benzodiazepine yet sits in the same class. A benzodiazepine not named in Schedule 3 is reached, if at all, through the section 2 controlled-drug-analogue limb, which is also treated as Class C, so both routes converge. Zolpidem is often grouped with these drugs, is not one of them, and has its own row here.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. New Zealand has no death penalty. All six named members sit in Schedule 3, where section 6 caps dealing at 8 years, subject to the Act's adult-supply distinctions, and section 7 caps possession at 3 months. A benzodiazepine reached through the analogue limb instead is also Class C, so the 8 year figure is the ceiling on either route. Nothing in this class reaches the 14 year Class B ceiling or the Class A life ceiling. Passing tablets to another person is dealing under section 6 even when the tablets were lawfully dispensed.

If prescribed or medical

Not established for a traveller. This dossier carries no country-level rule for entering New Zealand with a prescribed medicine: it records that medicines status has to be checked alongside the analogue exclusions and the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 route, and that a court-grade conclusion can turn on the medicine exclusions, but it states no declaration requirement, no permit, no quantity allowance and no carry limit at the border, and none was researched for this cell. What is established is the placement, and for every benzodiazepine this table names it is Class C under Schedule 3, the lowest of the Act's three classes, carrying an 8 year dealing ceiling and a 3 month possession ceiling. A prescribed benzodiazepine is not a Class A drug in New Zealand and carries no life exposure, and any page that says otherwise is wrong. Do not read that placement as a ruling on a lawfully prescribed and lawfully carried supply, which is a different question this cell does not answer. Settle the border question with the Ministry of Health, whose classification order implementation page this dossier cites, and with the New Zealand border authority, before travelling.

Documentation

Carry the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 consolidation current at 20 September 2026 and read Schedule 3 for the individual molecule, because the word benzodiazepine will not be found there as an entry. Read the six member rows in this table, diazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam, lorazepam, etizolam and nimetazepam, since each was resolved separately and all six agree. Carry the classification chain this finding was read against as well: the 2022 and 2025 Classification and Presumption of Supply Orders with their commencement orders, the 2024 pseudoephedrine amendment, and the 2026 Order, which was made but is not treated as law in this dossier because its own section 2 leaves commencement to the Governor-General and no commencement instrument was located by the horizon. Carry the date as well, 20 September 2026, because in New Zealand a classification order can move a substance between classes without a word of the Act changing.

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