Is Codeine legal in Samoa?

Legal status

Codeine is named as item 3 of the Third Schedule, Class C narcotics, to the Narcotics Act 1967, the official version as at 31 December 2023: "CODEINE (3-methylmorphine); its isomers, esters, and ethers, if any; its salts, and the salts of its isomers, esters, or ethers, if any; and any substance, preparation or mixture containing any proportion of the said substance or of any such isomer, ester, ether, or salt." Item 75 of the same Schedule expressly narrows this: a preparation containing codeine (or acetyldihydrocodeine, dihydrocodeine, ethylmorphine or pholcodine) is not a Class C narcotic where it is compounded with one or more other pharmacologically active ingredients in a way the codeine cannot be recovered from by readily applicable means or in a yield that would risk health, and contains not more than 100 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit at a concentration not exceeding 2.5 percent in undivided preparations. The named Class C entry governs full strength codeine; item 75's exclusion applies only to compounded low dose preparations meeting that test.

Consequences if caught

Section 18 of the Act makes it an offence to deal in, possess, sell, give, supply, administer, procure, consume, smoke or otherwise use a Class C narcotic, with liability on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years. Section 18A sets the same 7 year maximum for unlawfully manufacturing a Class C narcotic, and section 17 sets the same 7 year maximum for illegally importing or exporting one. Where the Judge is satisfied the contravention was not wilful, or was merely a procedural breach relating to books, prescriptions or similar matters, section 18's proviso substitutes a fine not exceeding 5 penalty units or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years, or both. On conviction, articles connected with the offence are liable to forfeiture under section 25. The Act does not provide a death penalty for a Class C narcotics offence; life imprisonment under sections 17, 18 and 18A is reserved for Class A narcotics, which this substance is not. A preparation meeting item 75's compounding and dosage limits falls outside the Class C definition entirely and so outside sections 17, 18 and 18A for that preparation specifically.

If prescribed or medical

Section 7(2)(c) of the Act exempts a person from the possession and use prohibition in section 7(1) where the narcotic was supplied for the person's use, or prescribed, by a person licensed under section 11 to supply or prescribe narcotics; a licence to deal in codeine under section 11 is granted by the Chief Executive Officer. Dispensing by a pharmacist is separately governed by the Pharmacy Act 2007, and the Drugs Act 1967 supplies a general medicines framework rather than a substance by substance prescription list for codeine. 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. A traveller carrying a prescribed quantity of codeine into or out of Samoa should carry the original packaging and the prescription; import and export of codeine otherwise require a licence granted by the Chief Executive Officer under section 10(2) of the Act. 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.