Is Codeine legal in Guyana?

Legal status

Controlled. The term the dossier records for this row against the First and Second Schedules to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, Cap. 10:10 is «codeína», which is the term the Act was searched under rather than an entry the Act prints, and the dossier records the row as verified on that basis rather than against a class label. The substance searched for is the named opiate. Preparation and concentration exceptions are a real feature of codeine control in most systems, and the dossier does not record whether Cap. 10:10 prints one, so the low dose compound analgesic question is open rather than answered. Placement is all the schedule settles. Authorisation, purpose, preparation exceptions and the conduct charged all stay open, and this dossier resolves none of them. The entry was read on 20 September 2026.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Guyana's Cap. 10:10 carries no death penalty at any tier; section 5(1) sets the indictable trafficking ceiling at life imprisonment, so the worst outcome this Act reaches is a life sentence. No per-substance number is printed for this row, so the schedule supplies the placement and section 5(1) supplies the ceiling: there is no weight band, no tariff and no quantity threshold attached to «codeína» itself. A finished product has to be tied to the printed entry before the trafficking ceiling is in play, and the strength of the preparation may be the fact that decides it. What the ceiling does not do is say where inside it a case lands, and the dossier records no sentencing range, no minimum and no fine figure for this row.

If prescribed or medical

Deferred, and the deferral is the honest answer. The dossier carries no Guyanese prescription rule, no import permit route, no personal medicine allowance and no Ministry authorisation procedure at all, so there is no traveller rule here to state and none is invented. What is established is the placement: «codeína» sits in the First and Second Schedules to Cap. 10:10, which is what any authorisation would have to be granted against. Codeine is sold over the counter in some countries and dispensed on prescription in others, so the exemption question a traveller cares about is exactly the one the dossier leaves unresolved. Settle the medical route with the Guyanese authorities before travelling rather than from this cell.

Documentation

Carry the pack that states the codeine strength per unit, because the strength is what any preparation exception would turn on. Carry any controlled medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a prescriber's letter naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose and the treatment period, because the schedule is read against the active ingredient and not against the product name. Nothing in the dossier confirms that Guyana accepts any of that, so treat it as the minimum a traveller can show and not as a permission. The First and Second Schedules were read for this row on 20 September 2026 and the entry the dossier recorded was «codeína».

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