Is Codeine legal in Lesotho?

Legal status

Codeine is a high-risk drug under the Drugs of Abuse Act No. 5 of 2008, printed as "Codeine" in Schedule 2, printed page 811, under the heading taken from Schedule II of the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs. That makes it a drug of abuse by s3. The same block prints Acetyldihydrocodeine, Dihydrocodeine, Ethylmorphine, Norcodeine and Pholcodine. The Act applies to the entire territory of Lesotho under s2(1), and by s5(1) a preparation takes the control of the drug of abuse it contains.

Consequences if caught

Manufacturing, acquiring or administering a drug of abuse without an operator licence is an offence under s9(1)(b), and s9(6) prints "imprisonment not less than 5 years or a fine not less than M20,000 or both". Selling, delivering, transporting, importing or exporting falls under s43(1), which prints "imprisonment for a period not less than 20 years or a fine not less than M1,000,000 or both". Section 87 presumes possession where a drug of abuse is found on a person or in a place under the accused's control, until the contrary is proved. After a conviction for a Part III offence such as trafficking, s50(3) lets the court order a foreigner's deportation or bar re-entry. The penalty clauses printed in the Act set minimums and name no maximum.

If prescribed or medical

For codeine, s10 reads: "any person undergoing treatment of a medical condition, who is entering, leaving or passing through Lesotho, may possess such quantities of a drug of abuse (where prescribed) as may be reasonably expected for the purposes of such treatment." Section 3 defines "prescribed" as "prescribed by regulations" and "prescription" as "a written direction by a practitioner that a stated amount of a drug of abuse be dispensed for the person named on it". No regulation under s10 was found and the Act picks neither sense. Section 29(5) requires the prescribed form, legibility, the practitioner's name, address, qualifications and registration number, the patient's name and address, the drug's name, quantity, form and strength, and the practitioner's signature and date. Under s29(6) an urgent oral prescription stands only if written confirmation follows within 24 hours, and s44(6)(b) makes supplying on a prescription issued more than 3 months before presentation an offence. The Act does not say whether a prescription written abroad meets s29(5).

Documentation

Drawn from s2, s3, s5, s9, s10, s28, s29, s43, s44, s50 and s87 of the Act, and from Schedule 2, printed page 811. The Schedules were read as printed in the gazette of 27 May 2008; no later amendment was found as at 2 November 2026, but s6 lets the Minister amend them and a missing amendment is not proof that none exists. The Act does not say whether a low dose codeine preparation is exempt; no regulation under s5(2) and no exemption under s98 was found.

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