Is Cathinone legal in Singapore?

Legal status

Controlled — cathinone (khat's natural principal alkaloid) is a 1971 Convention SCHEDULE I psychotropic and is a Class A controlled drug in the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap. 185). Mechanism: 1971 Sch-I transposition, named. As the parent compound it is DISTINCT from the khat PLANT (Catha edulis, which the CNB separately lists as a plant containing a controlled drug) and from the synthetic cathinones (mephedrone, added to Class A in 2010) that derive from it; cathinone is the named Class-A alkaloid, cathine the milder metabolite (1971 Schedule III). It sits BELOW the capital tier: the MDA Second Schedule mandatory-death thresholds are drug-specific (diamorphine, meth, cocaine, cannabis etc.) and do not include cathinone — no death exposure.

Consequences if caught

Class A: possession and trafficking of the alkaloid carry imprisonment and possible caning, but cathinone is not a Second-Schedule capital-quantity drug — not death-eligible.

If prescribed or medical

1971 Schedule I / Class-A substance with no accepted medical use and no lawful prescription route for the isolated alkaloid.

Documentation

No licit personal-carry or import route for a Class A drug.

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