Is Cathinone legal in Ireland?
- Legal status
- Controlled — cathinone (khat's natural principal alkaloid) is a 1971 Convention SCHEDULE I psychotropic and is a scheduled controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and its regulations. Mechanism: 1971 Sch-I transposition, named. As the parent compound it is DISTINCT from the khat PLANT (Catha edulis leaves, separately brought under the MDA) and from the synthetic cathinones (mephedrone, caught by a generic cathinone control and the blanket 2010 PSA) that derive from it; cathinone is the named Sch-I alkaloid, cathine the milder Schedule-III metabolite.
- Consequences if caught
- Controlled drug: possession and supply of the isolated alkaloid prosecuted under the MDA. No death penalty in Ireland.
- If prescribed or medical
- 1971 Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use and no lawful prescription route for the isolated alkaloid.
- Documentation
- No licit personal-import route for a controlled drug.
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