Is Cathinone legal in Australia?
- Legal status
- Controlled — cathinone (khat's natural principal alkaloid) is a 1971 Convention SCHEDULE I psychotropic and is a Schedule 9 (prohibited substance) in the Poisons Standard and named in the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 Sch 4. Mechanism: 1971 Sch-I transposition, named. As the parent compound it is DISTINCT from the khat PLANT (Catha edulis leaf, import-banned via the ODC permit regime) and from the synthetic cathinones (mephedrone etc., separately Schedule 9) that derive from it; cathinone is the named Sch-9 alkaloid, cathine the milder Schedule-III metabolite.
- Consequences if caught
- Schedule 9 prohibited substance: import and supply of the alkaloid are serious offences under Commonwealth/State law. No death penalty in Australia.
- If prescribed or medical
- 1971 Schedule I / Poisons Standard Schedule 9 substance with no accepted therapeutic use and no lawful prescription route.
- Documentation
- No licit personal-import route for a Schedule 9 substance.
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