Is Cocaine legal in Solomon Islands?

Also known as: coke, blow

Legal status

Controlled. Cocaine is a named Part III drug of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98), reprint as in force at 1 October 2009. Section 13(1)(d) applies Part III to 'cocaine (including synthetic cocaine) and ecgonine and their respective salts and the esters of ecgonine and their respective salts', and section 13(1)(e) reaches dilutions, solutions and preparations containing cocaine (for admixtures, 'not less than... one-tenth per centum of cocaine or of ecgonine'). The proclamation of 21 September 1987 (LN 101 of 1987), page 2821 of the 1996 Revised Edition, also lists 'Cocaine' and, on page 2822, 'Ecgonine, and any derivative of ecgonine which is convertible to ecgonine or to cocaine'. The coca plant is separate: Part I applies to 'coca leaf' (section 4(1)), defined in section 2 as the leaf of Erythroxylon coca and Erythroxylon novogranatense and other species of the genus from which cocaine may be extracted, and crude cocaine is defined as any extract of the coca leaf usable for making cocaine. The named entries govern and no generic clause is needed. Schedule B Part I of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act lists 'Cocaine', 'Coca, alkaloids of' and 'Ecgonine; its esters' as poisons, which is a sale restriction and separate from drug control. The Poisons Rules (1996 Revised Edition) also print 'Cocaine' in the First Schedule (printed page 3013) and in the Fourth Schedule (printed page 3024), described in the prescription field.

Consequences if caught

Cocaine as a Part III drug: Part III drugs carry these provisions. Personal possession: section 20 makes it an offence against the Act where a Part III drug is found in a person's possession or kept in any place other than the appointed store, unless he can prove that it was obtained under the authority of the Act, or in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner, or from a person having authority to sell it, or was deposited there without his knowledge or consent. The burden of proof is on the accused, and the section sets no quantity threshold. Possession for supply, sale and trafficking: the Act's text states no separate offence for these for Part III drugs. Sale and distribution are left to rules the Minister may make under section 15(1)(b), and the only rules located are the 2025 methylamphetamine rules, so for this substance a sale offence is not verified beyond the general offence in section 39(1)(a) of contravening the Act or a rule under it. Import and export: sections 14, 23, 25, 28 and 30 prohibit them except in accordance with sections 22 to 30, and section 3 limits entry and exit to a port approved by notice; a person exporting in contravention is also liable under section 35(2) to forfeit treble the value of the goods or 2,000 penalty units at the option of the Comptroller of Customs and Excise. Manufacture: section 15(1)(a) lets rules prohibit manufacture except on licensed premises, and no manufacture offence is stated in the Act's text itself. Cultivation: the coca plant is a Part I matter, dealt with below. Use or consumption: the instruments read state no separate offence of use for Part III drugs, so possession under section 20 is the exposure. Administrative offences: section 39(1)(b) and (c) cover breach of licence conditions and false statements to obtain a licence. Penalty: no penalty is otherwise prescribed, so section 39(2) applies to each offence, namely on conviction by the court sitting with assessors a fine of 100,000 penalty units or imprisonment for ten years or both, and on summary conviction a fine of 5,000 penalty units or imprisonment for six months or both, with forfeiture of all articles in respect of which the offence was committed. Fine and imprisonment may be cumulative ('or to both'). Section 39(4) gives attempting, soliciting and inciting the same punishment, and section 39(3) requires the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for proceedings under section 39(1)(a). The Act's drug provisions state no death penalty. The Act does not state the value of a penalty unit and none is converted here. Coca leaf, which is the plant, is under Part I and is treated separately: section 7 forbids cultivating the coca leaf plant, section 8(a) makes growing it an offence 'whether for private use or otherwise', section 8(b) makes it an offence to be found in possession of or selling or having given or sold any substance to which Part I applies, and section 4(2) and section 5 prohibit import and export of the leaf and of coca seed. Those Part I offences state no penalty of their own, so section 39(2) above applies to them.

If prescribed or medical

The medical route is in the Dangerous Drugs Act itself. Section 15(1)(c) lets the Minister make rules regulating the issue of prescriptions containing a Part III drug and their dispensing, and section 15(2) requires the rules to authorise a pharmaceutical chemist or chemist and druggist to retail, dispense or compound them in the ordinary course of business. Section 19 limits withdrawal from the store to a registered medical practitioner, licensed pharmacist, registered dentist, qualified veterinary surgeon, an approved plantation hospital attendant, or a person approved for recognised Mission medical work. Section 20 states possession in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner as a matter the accused may prove. Section 39(3) caps the punishment for an inadvertent breach of the prescription or book keeping rules at a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units without imprisonment. Rules under section 15 other than the 2025 methylamphetamine rules were not located, so the detailed prescription rules are not verified. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105, reprint as in force 5 February 2024) also speaks to prescriptions for these drugs in its own text. Section 36(4) reads 'A prescription which does not comply with the provisions of this section shall not be accepted by any pharmacist as authority for the sale or supply of any medicine or drug'. Section 37(2) reads that every prescription 'containing any of the drugs to which any Act as to the sale of dangerous drugs, for the time being in force, relates, shall be retained in the custody of the pharmacist dispensing the same for a period of two years and filed in the pharmacy'. Section 38(c) provides that a pharmacist shall not 'permit any person, other than a registered pharmacist, to dispense or compound any prescription or supply any medicine or drugs containing any of the dangerous drugs to which subsection (2) of section 37 relates'. The Poisons List in Schedule B Part I of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (as in force 5 February 2024) also lists 'Cocaine', 'Coca, alkaloids of' and 'Ecgonine; its esters', which restricts retail sale to authorised sellers (section 56(1)(a), (2)); that is a pharmacy sale control and is separate from the drug control above. Section 57 of that Act exempts a medicine supplied by a qualified medical practitioner for treatment or dispensed by a registered pharmacist at his place of business, subject to the labelling and prescription book requirements in section 57(2) to (5). The Poisons Rules add entries of their own. The Fourth Schedule prints 'Cocaine' (printed page 3024) and 'Ecgonine' (printed page 3026), each with no exception, and the First Schedule prints 'Cocaine, except substances containing less than 0.1 per cent of cocaine' (printed page 3013). Rule 11(1) of the Poisons Rules (printed page 3004) reads 'It shall not be lawful to sell any poison included in the Fourth Schedule to these Rules except on and in accordance with the prescription given by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist or a qualified veterinary surgeon in the form provided by this rule'. Current force is the open point for this Fourth Schedule entry. The Rules were read in the 1996 Revised Edition only. The 2024 reprint of the Act has section 61 (rules) and endnotes showing repeals by Act No. 5 of 1997 and amendments in 2009 and 2023, does not print the Rules, and nothing read says they were amended or revoked.

Documentation

Importing requires an import authorisation in Form C granted by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Medical Services under section 26, and section 28 provides that no dangerous drug shall be imported unless the person to whom it is consigned holds a valid and subsisting import authorisation. Section 29 requires an export authorisation or diversion certificate from a country party to the Convention to accompany the drug, and section 31 sets the transit conditions. The only exemption from the transit rules for quantities is in section 31(5), for quantities that bona fide form part of the medical stores of a ship or aircraft. The sections read state no exemption for a traveller's personal supply, so none is established, and the Convention as defined in section 2 names only the 1912 and 1925 and 1931 instruments. Coca leaf and coca seed are Part I substances, and section 4(2) and section 5 prohibit their import and export without stating any authorisation route. A reported Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2025 was not read.

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