Is Cocaine legal in Samoa?

Also known as: coke, blow

Legal status

Cocaine is controlled under the Narcotics Act 1967, the official version as at 31 December 2023. First Schedule item 5, Class A narcotics, names "COCAINE (methyl ester of benzoylecgonine), except when contained in a Class C controlled drug". The exception refers forward to Third Schedule item 76, Class C narcotics, "Preparations of cocaine containing not more than 0.1 percent of cocaine base, being preparations compounded with one or more other pharmacologically active ingredients", so a dilute compounded cocaine preparation at or below that concentration is Class C rather than Class A. Coca leaf itself is separately named at Third Schedule item 2, Class C, defining it as the leaf of any plant of any species of the genus Erythroxylon, except a leaf from which all ecgonine, cocaine and any other ecgonine alkaloids have been removed, so the whole leaf carries the lower Class C band while isolated or extracted cocaine above the item 76 threshold carries the Class A band. Second Schedule item 57, Class B, separately names "EGGONINE, its esters and derivatives which are convertible to ecgonine and cocaine, except when contained in a Class C controlled drug" (printed in the source as EGGONINE, an apparent typographical error for ecgonine, cocaine's biosynthetic precursor).

Consequences if caught

Dealing in, possessing, selling, supplying or using cocaine above the item 76 threshold is a Class A offence under section 18, carrying imprisonment for life, with the same exposure for import or export under section 17 and for unlawful manufacture under section 18A. A dilute compounded preparation at or below 0.1 percent cocaine base, or the coca leaf itself, instead carries the Class C band under section 18, imprisonment of up to 7 years, with the same maximum for import or export under section 17; section 18's proviso reduces a non-wilful or procedural contravention to a fine of up to 5 penalty units or imprisonment of up to 2 years, or both, at any class.

If prescribed or medical

Section 7(2)(c) exempts a person from the possession and use prohibition where the narcotic was supplied, or prescribed, by a licensee authorised under section 11 to supply or prescribe narcotics. Cocaine has a recognised, though narrow, medical use as a topical anaesthetic; no Samoa specific Pharmacy Act 2007 approval naming cocaine was located in the sources searched. Section 25B requires a medical practitioner, nurse, pharmacist, dentist or veterinarian who suspects illegal use of a narcotic to report it to a police officer, on pain of a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units.

Documentation

The Narcotics Act 1967 (1967 No. 3), the official version as at 31 December 2023, is the authority for the position stated. Whether a later Gazette amendment or a Head of State Order under section 5 of the Act has varied it since that date could not be established from the sources searched this session, so the position given is as at the version read and is not asserted as current beyond it. Import or export of cocaine at any class requires a licence granted by the Chief Executive Officer under sections 10(2) and 11; no Samoa specific traveller documentation requirement beyond this was located in the sources searched.

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