Is DXM legal in Australia?

Also known as: robo, dextromethorphan

Legal status

Pharmacy medicine at low dose, prescription only above it; its Commonwealth criminal drug status is conditional. F2026L01327 places dextromethorphan in Schedule 2 «when supplied in a pack containing 600 mg or less of dextromethorphan and with a recommended daily dose of 120 mg or less of dextromethorphan», and otherwise in Schedule 4: «DEXTROMETHORPHAN (excluding its stereoisomers) except when included in Schedule 2.» The Criminal Code Regulations 2019 list «Methorphan, but not including dextromethorphan» at Schedule 1 item 160 and Schedule 2 item 124, and the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 list «139 Methorphan, but not including dextromethorphan», so neither item lists it. The same Regulations list its mirror image without any exclusion: «148 Levomethorphan» at Schedule 1 item 148 (commercial 2.0 kg, marketable 250.0 g, trafficable 2.0 g) and Schedule 2 item 112 (2.0 kg, 2.0 g). Criminal Code s301.9(1)(a) makes a primary drug analogue of a listed drug «(i) a stereoisomer», and dextromethorphan is the stereoisomer of levomethorphan. s301.9(3) takes out of the analogue definition only «a substance that is itself a listed controlled drug» (and, for border controlled drugs, one that is itself a listed border controlled drug), which dextromethorphan is not, because items 160 and 124 exclude it. On the words, therefore, the stereoisomer route makes it a drug analogue of levomethorphan, and the express exclusion in item 160 does not by itself displace that route. Against it, the exclusion shows the Regulations meant dextromethorphan to stay outside Part 9.1, and a court may decline to read limb (a) so as to restore what the listing leaves out; the Regulations repeat the pattern for dextrorphan, its metabolite, which items 150 and 197 exclude («Levorphanol, but not including dextrorphan» and «Morphan, but not including dextrorphan») although it is the stereoisomer of levorphanol. The Prohibited Imports Regulations raise the same question at the border: they list «117 Levomethorphan but not including dextromethorphan» and methorphan with the same exclusion, but also «216 Racemethorphan», the racemic mixture of which dextromethorphan is one half, with no exclusion, and regulation 5(20) makes a drug include «an isomer or a mixture of isomers of a chemical or compound referred to in paragraph (a)». On the words dextromethorphan is an isomer of a listed chemical, so whether it is a prohibited import is conditional on the same question. The method used for every row is a reading, not a rule the Act states: a modification that limb (a) or limb (c) plainly describes is treated as making a drug analogue; one contestable modification (a swap within one paragraph of s301.9(2), or a core ring replaced), a single limb (d) change from the listed drug, or an express exclusion or different listing in the Regulations is treated as making the exposure conditional; anything more, including adding or removing a ring, is treated as outside s301.9. Because s301.9(1)(c) allows a modification «obtained in one or more of the following ways», the tier this gives can depend on how a change is described, and nothing read settles which description governs. On that method the Criminal Code exposure is conditional. No court decision or prosecution applying s301.9 to dextromethorphan was read for this cell. The Poisons Standard read is the Poisons Standard October 2026 (Federal Register of Legislation F2026L01327, made 28 September 2026, registered 30 September 2026, in force from 1 October 2026 under its s2, replacing the June 2026 issue; no later issue was registered when it was read). This cell states Commonwealth law only. The Poisons Standard has effect through adoption by each state and territory: its Reader's guide, which s5(1) of the instrument says is not part of it, states «The scheduling of poisons is implemented through relevant State and Territory legislation.» Most personal possession and use offences are state and territory law, which differs by jurisdiction, and Criminal Code s300.4 keeps those laws running concurrently with Part 9.1. Read as in force on 2 October 2026 against F2026L01327, the Criminal Code Act 1995 at Compilation No. 174 (compilation date 30 June 2026, C2026C00243), the Criminal Code Regulations 2019 at Compilation No. 6 (compilation date 13 December 2025, F2025C01260) and the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 at Compilation No. 147 (compilation date 13 July 2026, F2026C00751). The Criminal Code Regulations schedules are made by the Governor-General and the Poisons Standard by a delegate of the Secretary under Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 s52D, so a later instrument can change any of this, and this reading does not rule out a later amendment.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. The highest penalty anywhere in Part 9.1 of the Criminal Code is imprisonment for life, and Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 s6 provides «The punishment of death must not be imposed as the penalty for any offence referred to in subsection 3(2) or (3).» Two readings, stated in turn. If the express exclusion governs, no Commonwealth criminal offence reaches possession, sale, supply, manufacture or use of dextromethorphan, and a registered or listed dextromethorphan medicine is outside Part 9.2 by s320.2(2)(c). If the stereoisomer reading holds, dextromethorphan is a controlled drug and border controlled drug at levomethorphan's quantities: Trafficking dextromethorphan (s302.1: selling, preparing for supply, transporting, guarding or possessing with intent to sell) is s302.4, imprisonment for 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both. Trafficking a marketable quantity, 250.0 g or more under Schedule 1 item 148 of the Criminal Code Regulations, is s302.3, 25 years or 5,000 penalty units, or both. A commercial quantity, 2.0 kg or more, is s302.2, imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both. Under s302.5 a person who prepares, transports, guards or possesses a trafficable quantity, 2.0 g or more, is taken to have intended to sell unless they prove they had neither that intention nor belief, a legal burden (s13.4). Manufacturing dextromethorphan for a commercial purpose is s305.5, 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both (12 years or 2,400 penalty units if a child under 14 is exposed, s310.4); s305.4 for a marketable quantity, 25 years or 5,000 penalty units (28 years or 5,600 aggravated); s305.3 for a commercial quantity, imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both. Under s305.6 manufacturing a trafficable quantity presumes the commercial purpose, rebuttably. Import and export are offences of their own in Division 307 against the border controlled drug listing (Schedule 2 item 112), by s301.4(1)(b) as a stereoisomer of levomethorphan, if that reading holds: s307.3, imprisonment for 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both, with a defence if the person proves no intention or belief that any would be sold; s307.4, which needs no commercial intent, 2 years or 400 penalty units, or both; s307.2 for a marketable quantity (2.0 g or more), 25 years or 5,000 penalty units, or both; s307.1 for a commercial quantity (2.0 kg or more), imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both. Possessing an unlawfully imported quantity is s307.5 to s307.7 on the same thresholds, and possessing one reasonably suspected of unlawful import is s307.8 to s307.10. The Customs Act s233(5) leaves border controlled drugs to these offences rather than to the Customs Act smuggling offence. Possessing dextromethorphan as a controlled drug is s308.1, imprisonment for 2 years or 400 penalty units, or both, and s308.1(3) lets the court deal with the offender as if the offence were the state or territory possession offence, so diversion available there is available here. Supplying any quantity to a child is s309.2, 15 years or 3,000 penalty units, or both. If the Prohibited Imports Regulations reach it as an isomer of racemethorphan, an import outside a licence and permission or the traveller exemption in regulation 5(2)(b) is a prohibited import, punishable under Customs Act s233AB(2) by a fine only where s233 applies. On the stereoisomer reading the medicine routes still apply: pharmacy sale and prescribed possession are conduct justified under state and territory poisons law, outside Part 9.1 other than Division 307 by s313.1, and a traveller's import within the personal import rules rests on Criminal Code s10.5, «A person is not criminally responsible for an offence if the conduct constituting the offence is justified or excused by or under a law.» There is no Commonwealth offence of using or consuming a drug; use is left to state and territory law. A penalty unit is $364 for an offence committed on or after 1 July 2026 under the Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026 (F2026N00424), made under Crimes Act 1914 s4AA, so 400 penalty units is $145,600, 2,000 is $728,000 and 7,500 is $2,730,000; «or both» in each penalty means the prison term and the fine are available alternatively or together. Quantities are proved under s312.1 as in force on 2 October 2026, by the pure drug in a mixture. A substituted s312.1, enacted by the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Act 2026 (assented to 26 August 2026), Schedule 2 Part 2, will «treat the mixture as consisting wholly of the prohibited substance»; it commences on a day fixed by Proclamation or at the latest on 26 August 2027, and no Proclamation was found when this was read.

If prescribed or medical

Packs within the Schedule 2 limits are pharmacy medicines sold without prescription; larger packs or doses are Schedule 4. The Reader's guide, which is not part of the instrument, describes Schedule 4 as «Substances, the use or supply of which should be by or on the order of persons permitted by State or Territory legislation to prescribe and should be available from a pharmacist on prescription.» Lawful supply and possession on either footing are state and territory matters, and on the stereoisomer reading s313.1 keeps them outside Part 9.1 other than Division 307.

Documentation

Whether its import is prohibited by the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations is conditional, as the legal status explains. If it is not, personal import follows the rule in Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990 Schedule 5 item 1 (Compilation No. 130), which covers «therapeutic goods that are imported for therapeutic use in the treatment of the importer or the importer’s immediate family», limited to «not more than 3 months’ supply at the maximum dose recommended by the manufacturer» in one importation. If it is, a passenger may still carry prescribed dextromethorphan under the regulation 5(2)(b) exemption, which needs a drug that «is required for the medical treatment of the person or of another passenger under the care of the person» and «was prescribed by a medical practitioner for the purposes of that treatment», and a non-prescription pharmacy pack falls outside that exemption. The Therapeutic Goods Administration and Office of Drug Control traveller pages (tga.gov.au, odc.gov.au) did not respond from this network on 2 October 2026 (curl timeout after 60 seconds, twice, and a second fetcher timed out), so nothing in this cell rests on them.

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