Is Diazepam legal in Belize?

Legal status

Diazepam is printed in Belize's Misuse of Drugs Regulations at Schedule IV paragraph 1, in the Misuse of Drugs Act Chapter 103 volume of the Subsidiary Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2020, which shows the subsidiary laws as at 31 December 2020. It is printed in the left column between Delorazepam and Estazolam, opposite Oxazepam. That schedule's heading reads «CONTROLLED DRUGS EXCEPTED FROM THE PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION, EXPORTATION AND, WHEN IN THE FORM OF A MEDICINAL PRODUCT, POSSESSION AND SUBJECT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF REGULATIONS 22, 23, 25 AND 26». The subsidiary law made under Chapter 103 therefore calls what it lists a controlled drug, and this substance is one of them. For a traveller that schedule is the answer rather than a technicality. Regulation 4(2)(a) provides that section 7(1) of the Act, which prohibits possession of a controlled drug, does not have effect in relation to a drug specified in Schedule IV which is contained in a medicinal product, and regulation 4(1) lifts the section 5(1) import and export prohibition for Schedules IV and V outright. Diazepam sits in the middle of the list rather than at either end, and the entry was read in place in the two column setting rather than matched on a substring. It is the most widely dispensed name on the list, and the practical question for a traveller is whether what is carried is still in the form of a medicinal product. What the volume cannot answer is how heavily this is punished. Section 27 takes the ordinary punishments from the Act's Third Schedule column by column according to class, and neither the Third Schedule nor the Second Schedule that assigns the class was in the material read. The schedule placement in this cell is read off the instrument and is not printed in the quoted dossier extract, which names the Act's schedules only as a range.

Consequences if caught

Section 7(1) of the Act makes it unlawful to have a controlled drug in your possession, section 7(2) makes that an offence, and section 7(3) makes possession with intent to supply a separate offence. Section 17 of the 1990 Act text sets one penalty for drug trafficking and for possession for the purpose of trafficking, and it does not vary by class. On summary conviction it is a fine of not less than twenty five thousand dollars rising to one hundred thousand, or three times the street value of the drug if that is greater, or imprisonment of not less than five years rising to ten, or both. On conviction on indictment it is a fine of not less than one hundred thousand dollars rising to five hundred thousand, or three times the street value, or imprisonment of not less than seven years rising to fourteen, or both. The ordinary possession maximum is not given here. Section 27 takes it from the Act's Third Schedule, column by column, according to whether the drug is Class A, Class B or Class C, and neither that schedule nor the Second Schedule that assigns the class was among the four instruments in the volume read. One caution about section numbers. The Act text read here is the Misuse of Drugs Act 1990, Act 22 of 1990, as UNODC holds it, and the current Chapter 103 has been renumbered since. The Cannabis Violation Tickets Regulations cite section 12 for the smoking offence the 1990 text puts at section 11, and section 18 for the school premises presumption the 1990 text puts at section 17, so the current numbering runs one ahead from about section 11. Section 7 is the possession section in both, which the ticket schedule confirms independently. The same amendments that renumbered the Act may also have changed what these provisions say, so every figure quoted here from the 1990 text is the figure as enacted in 1990 and its currency is not established.

If prescribed or medical

Schedule IV is where regulation 4(2)(a) does its work, and it is the most useful rule in the whole volume for a traveller. Section 7(1) of the Act, which prohibits possession of a controlled drug, does not have effect in relation to a drug specified in Schedule IV which is contained in a medicinal product. Regulation 4(1) separately disapplies the section 5(1) import and export prohibition for Schedules IV and V outright. So a dispensed medicinal product containing a Schedule IV drug is outside both prohibitions on the face of the Regulations. Regulations 22, 23, 25 and 26 still apply, and the exemption is written about the medicinal product form and not about loose material.

Documentation

Carry a prescribed medicine in the pharmacy's original labelled packaging with the prescription and a letter from the prescriber naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose, the quantity and the treatment period. Those papers evidence a therapeutic purpose; they are not an import authorisation, and the Regulations put import and export authorisations on the Minister's forms in Schedules VII to XI, issued to licence holders rather than to travellers. For this row the fact to carry is the printed entry itself: Diazepam, at Schedule IV paragraph 1. Diazepam returned two occurrences in the subsidiary volume, the entry and the index line, and none in the 1990 Act text. The volume was read on 22 September 2026.

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