Is Cathinone legal in Canada?
- Legal status
- Controlled — cathinone (khat's natural principal alkaloid) is a 1971 Convention SCHEDULE I psychotropic and is listed by name at Schedule III item 19 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Mechanism: 1971 Sch-I transposition, named. As the parent compound it is DISTINCT from the khat PLANT (Catha edulis Forsk, separately at Schedule IV item 19 with cathine) and from the synthetic cathinones (mephedrone/MDPV etc.) that derive from it; cathinone is the named Schedule-III CDSA alkaloid, cathine the milder Schedule-IV / 1971 Schedule-III metabolite.
- Consequences if caught
- Schedule III CDSA: possession, trafficking and production of the alkaloid are offences; import/export prosecuted. No death penalty in Canada.
- If prescribed or medical
- 1971 Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use; not a marketed medicine and not prescribable.
- Documentation
- No licit personal-import route; importing the scheduled alkaloid is a CDSA offence.
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