Is Codeine legal in Solomon Islands?

Legal status

Controlled. The proclamation text carves out 'a preparation specified in Schedule 1', and what that phrase refers to is not clear. Codeine is named in both lists of the proclamations that apply Part III of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98, reprint as in force at 1 October 2009) under section 13(2). Paragraph 1 of the schedule to the proclamation of 21 September 1987 (LN 101 of 1987), printed page 2821 of the 1996 Revised Edition, lists 'Codeine'. Paragraph 6 on printed page 2823 and paragraph (e) of LN 6 of 1988 on printed page 2824 list it again as 'Codeine (Pure substance)'. Two provisions of the Act itself matter for codeine. Section 13(1)(h) takes 'methylmorphine, commonly known as codeine' out of the Act's own list of morphine esters, and section 21(3) lets the Minister apply Part III to codeine 'with such modifications as may be specified in the proclamation'. The proclamation pages read name codeine and print no modification, so on the reading taken here the exception in section 13(1)(h) does not prevent the proclamation from applying Part III to it, and what the second list adds is not stated in the instruments read. Paragraph 4 extends Part III to 'any salt of a substance specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 3', and paragraph 3 (esters and ethers) expressly does not reach substances specified in paragraph 6. Paragraph 5 of the 1987 schedule (and paragraph 9 for the second list) reaches 'any preparations or other product containing a substance' of the earlier paragraphs but excludes 'a preparation specified in Schedule 1'; no Schedule 1 appears in the pages read and no order under section 13(3) was read, so which preparations are outside the control is not established. LN 6 of 1988 paragraphs (d) and (h) (printed page 2824) refer instead to 'the Schedule to the Proclamation referred to in paragraph (a)', so 'Schedule 1' in LN 101 paragraphs 5 and 9 may mean the paragraph 1 list of that Schedule; no instrument read states that reading. The margin note on printed page 2824 reads LN 61/1988 while the heading on page 2821 and the 2025 Rules cite LN 6 of 1988, and paragraph (g) is absent between (f) and (h) on page 2824. Ethylmorphine and dihydrocodeine are listed beside codeine in both lists as separate entries and are not the answer for codeine. Codeine is also in Schedule B Part I of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (as in force 5 February 2024), among the alkaloids, which is a sale restriction and separate from drug control.

Consequences if caught

Codeine as a Part III drug through the proclamations: Personal possession: section 20 makes it an offence against the Act when 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 and trafficking: the Act's text states no separate offence of possession for supply or of trafficking for Part III drugs. Sale and distribution: these are left to rules the Minister may make under section 15(1)(b), and the only rules located are the 2025 methylamphetamine rules, so a sale offence for this substance is not verified beyond the general offence in section 39(1)(a) of contravening the Act or a rule under it. Import and export are two separate offences: sections 14, 23, 25, 28 and 30 prohibit them except in accordance with sections 22 to 30, section 3 limits entry and exit to a port approved by notice, and 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 the Act's text states no manufacture offence itself. Cultivation: no cultivation offence applies to codeine itself; the plant offences in sections 7 and 8 concern the opium poppy, Indian hemp and coca leaf plants and are not applied to codeine here. 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 or authority. 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 such fine and imprisonment'). 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. Section 21(1) forbids trade in, or manufacture for trade of, products from the phenanthrene alkaloids of opium that were not in medical or scientific use on 13 July 1931; whether it reaches codeine turns on that 1931 fact, which the instruments read do not give.

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 by medical practitioners of prescriptions containing a Part III drug and the dispensing of them, and section 15(2) requires the rules to authorise a pharmaceutical chemist or chemist and druggist to retail, dispense or compound such drugs 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 treats possession in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner as a matter the accused may prove. Section 39(3) bars imprisonment without the option of a fine, and caps the fine at 100 penalty units, for an inadvertent breach of the rules on keeping books or on prescriptions. Rules under section 15 other than the 2025 methylamphetamine rules were not located, so the detailed prescription rules for codeine 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 Rules (1996 Revised Edition) add a second route. The Fourth Schedule on printed page 3024 lists 'Codeine; but if: (a) in linctus for treatment of cough ms 0.3% Schedule 1; or (b) in compound analgesic preparations ms 10 mg as phosphate per unit dose, mdd 80 mg Schedule 1'. 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', and rule 11(2) applies the rule to a sale even where it is a transaction exempted by section 57 of the Act. The pages read do not say what 'Schedule 1' means in that entry or what rule then applies, and do not define 'ms' or 'mdd', so which low strength codeine products avoid prescription only sale is not established. The First Schedule (printed page 3013) separately lists 'Codeine, except substances containing less than 0.1 per cent of codeine'. Under rule 11(3) a prescription must be in writing, signed with the usual signature and dated, give the prescriber's address, give the name and address of the person treated, and indicate the total amount to be supplied and the dose to be taken; under rule 11(4) it may not be dispensed more than once unless the prescriber states that it may, and the dispenser must note the seller's name, address and date on it and keep it on the premises for two years. Rule 11 is a sale rule under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act and is separate from the Dangerous Drugs Act control above; section 57 of that Act exempts a medicine supplied by a qualified medical practitioner or dispensed by a registered pharmacist from the poison sale rules only so far as rule 11 does not apply. Whether these Rules are still in force is not established: the copy read is the 1996 Revised Edition (margin notes to LN 63 of 1988), the 2024 reprint of the Act keeps the rule making power in section 61 but does not print the Rules, its endnotes record repeals of sections 16 to 26, 28 to 32 and 35 by Act No. 5 of 1997 and amendments in 2009 and 2023, and nothing read states that the Rules were amended or revoked.

Documentation

Importing codeine as a Part III drug 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 quantity exemption from the transit rules is 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, 1925 and 1931 instruments. Under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, section 52(1) forbids importing 'any poison' except under a licence issued by the Board, with a proviso for qualified medical practitioners, registered pharmacists, qualified veterinary surgeons or qualified dentists importing for bona fide treatment; the proviso does not mention a traveller. 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.