Is DXM legal in Antigua and Barbuda?

Legal status

Not controlled, and this is the one row in the set where the Act names the substance in order to exclude it. Paragraph 2 of Part I of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap. 283 extends Class A to 'Any stereoisomeric form of a substance for the time being specified in paragraph 1 above not being dextromethorphan or dextrorphan'. Dextromethorphan is therefore expressly carved out of the only rule that would otherwise have caught it. Stated as at Parts I, II and III of the First Schedule as printed in the Revised Edition read on 22 September 2026, whose amendment list ends at Act 18 of 1989.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. No provision of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap. 283 imposes a capital penalty. The heaviest term printed anywhere in it is 14 years, in the General column of the Second Schedule against section 10, and section 26 gives 10 years on conviction on indictment for import or export of a Class A or Class B drug. The carve out matters because the substance it protects would otherwise be caught. 'Levomethorphan.' and 'Racemethorphan.' are both printed Class A entries, and dextromethorphan is the dextrorotatory stereoisomer of levomethorphan, so paragraph 2 of Part I would have brought it into Class A had the closing words not been there. The same words exclude dextrorphan, which is the dextrorotatory isomer of the listed 'Levorphanol.' This is an exclusion and not a silence, which is why this row does not rest on absence. This Part placement is not printed in the dossier quotation, which cites only 'First Schedule, Parts I to III' as a search scope; it is read from the Act's own First Schedule. No offence under sections 4, 5, 6 or 8 is engaged by a substance that is not a controlled drug, so none of the Second Schedule punishments applies to it. This is stated from the consolidated text of Cap. 283 in the Revised Edition of the Laws of Antigua and Barbuda, whose printed amendment list runs 21 of 1973, 5 of 1975, 10 of 1979, 9 of 1982, 11 of 1987 and 18 of 1989, read on 22 September 2026. Section 3(2) provides that the Minister may by Order make such amendments to the First Schedule or any part thereof as may be necessary, so an Order made after that consolidation is not excluded by this cell.

If prescribed or medical

Section 9 builds the prescribing and dispensing regime around a controlled drug, and this substance is not one on the text read here, so no section 9 route applies to it. Any medicines control on it would come from the Medical Act and the pharmacy law rather than from Cap. 283, and neither was read for this cell. Carry any prescribed medicine in its original pharmacy packaging with the prescription.

Documentation

Antigua and Barbuda is not in the Schengen area, so a Schengen certificate is not the relevant document, and no local traveller certificate was established from Cap. 283. Carry a prescribed medicine in its original pharmacy packaging with the prescribing document.

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