Are Benzodiazepines legal in Puerto Rico (US)?

Legal status

The benzodiazepines is controlled federally and locally. Scheduled federally by individual substance under the Controlled Substances Act, the benzodiazepines are scheduled individually rather than as a class, most in Schedule IV at 21 CFR 1308.14(c), for example alprazolam at DEA code 2882, and separately controlled under the Ley de Sustancias Controladas de Puerto Rico, Ley Núm. 4 de 23 de junio de 1971, codified at 24 L.P.R.A. secs. 2101 and following.

Consequences if caught

The federal Controlled Substances Act applies here. 21 U.S.C. 802(26) defines the term State to mean 'a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States', so the federal schedules and the federal offences reach this territory directly. Federally, the benzodiazepines are scheduled individually rather than as a class, most in Schedule IV at 21 CFR 1308.14(c), for example alprazolam at DEA code 2882. Federal simple possession is 21 U.S.C. 844(a). A first offence carries 'a term of imprisonment of not more than 1 year, and shall be fined a minimum of $1,000, or both'. The Ley de Sustancias Controladas de Puerto Rico, Ley Núm. 4 de 23 de junio de 1971, codified at 24 L.P.R.A. secs. 2101 and following applies as well. Article 404(a) of that law, 24 L.P.R.A. sec. 2404, makes simple possession a felony. Read from the Puerto Rico government's own copy: 'Toda persona que viole este inciso incurrirá en delito grave y convicta que fuere será castigada con pena de reclusión por un término fijo de tres (3) años', in translation that anyone who violates this subsection commits a felony and on conviction is punished by a fixed term of three years. Aggravating circumstances raise the fixed term to a maximum of five years and mitigating circumstances lower it to a minimum of two. The court may add a fine of up to five thousand dollars. After a prior conviction under the same subsection the fixed term becomes six years, raisable to ten and reducible to four. So the same possession is a federal offence capped at one year and a Puerto Rico felony carrying a fixed three year term. The difference is which statute is charged, not what was possessed.

If prescribed or medical

This substance has authorised medicinal forms and is dispensed on prescription in the United States. A prescribed medicine carried with its prescription is lawful, subject to the federal controls on its schedule.

Documentation

Carry any prescribed medicine in its original packaging with the prescription. Bringing a controlled substance into this territory from the mainland United States or from abroad engages federal importation and customs provisions as well as the territorial law, and neither was read here.

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