Is Cathinone legal in New Zealand?
- Legal status
- Controlled — cathinone (khat's natural principal alkaloid) is a 1971 Convention SCHEDULE I psychotropic and is a Class C controlled drug in Schedule 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. Mechanism: 1971 Sch-I transposition, named. As the parent compound it is DISTINCT from the khat PLANT (Catha edulis leaf, itself Class C) and from the synthetic cathinones (mephedrone etc., separately controlled) that derive from it; cathinone is the named Class-C alkaloid, cathine the milder Schedule-III metabolite.
- Consequences if caught
- Class C controlled drug: possession of the isolated alkaloid up to 3 months, supply/dealing up to 8 years under the MODA 1975. No death penalty in New Zealand.
- 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 Class C controlled drug.
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