Is DXM legal in Belize?

Legal status

Dextromethorphan is expressly excepted from Belize's list of controlled drugs. Schedule II Part I paragraph 1 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 103, prints «Levomethorphan.» and «Racemethorphan.», and Part I paragraph 2, which would otherwise bring in every stereoisomer, reads «Any stereoisomeric form of a substance for the time being specified in paragraph 1 not being dextromethorphan or dextrophan.» PubChem gives racemethorphan and dextromethorphan the same formula, C18H25NO, with dextromethorphan as the single (1S,9S,10S) isomer, so the exception is the only thing keeping it out, and it is printed. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations repeat the words «not being dextromethorphan or dextrophan» in their own Schedule II. Dextromethorphan returns nothing in the Chemists and Druggists Act Poisons List, Chapter 311, Revised Edition 2020, showing the substantive laws as at 31 December 2020. The Act read is Chapter 103 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2020, showing the substantive laws as at 31 December 2020, whose Schedule II carries the footnote «This Schedule was amended by Statutory Instrument No. 5 of 2014 and Statutory Instrument No 132 of 2020.» The two later amending Acts, No. 25 of 2023 and No. 26 of 2024, were read too: the first amends section 48(4) and the second repeals section 28B, and neither touches section 4, section 7, section 18, section 28 or any Schedule.

Consequences if caught

No possession or trafficking offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 103, attaches. Because it is not a controlled drug, the possession offences in section 7(1), section 7(2) and section 7(3) of the Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 103, and the drug trafficking penalties in section 18 do not reach it; the Misuse of Drugs Act 1990, Act 22 of 1990, as UNODC holds it, numbered those penalties section 17, punishment section 27 and the smoking offence, now section 12, section 11. Schedule III, which section 28 applies to every Act offence other than drug trafficking, attaches no punishment to it, and Regulation 4 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, which lifts the section 5(1) import and export prohibition for Schedules IV and V and the section 7 possession prohibition for a Schedule IV drug in a medicinal product and a Schedule V drug, has nothing to lift. Like every answer drawn from Schedule II, this one would change if an Order made after 31 December 2020 and not listed on the portal had added it. The Act read is the Revised Edition 2020; the 1990 text runs from section 1 and stops inside section 28, and carries none of its Schedules. Section 18(4) of Chapter 103 is the one provision that can still reach it: a person who supplies or offers to supply any substance other than a controlled drug which he represents or holds out to be a controlled drug commits an offence, on summary conviction a fine of up to one thousand dollars or imprisonment of up to one year. The Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Acts No. 25 of 2023 and No. 26 of 2024 were read and touch neither paragraph 2 of Part I nor section 18.

If prescribed or medical

Because it is not a controlled drug, the five schedules of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations do not apply to it, and the Chemists and Druggists Act Poisons List does not name it. Whether a dextromethorphan cough product needs a prescription in Belize is not decided by any instrument read for this row.

Documentation

Carry it in the original labelled packaging, and if it was prescribed, with the prescription and a letter from the prescriber naming the patient, the active ingredient, the dose, the quantity and the treatment period. For this row the fact to carry is the printed exception in Schedule II Part I paragraph 2 of the Act, «not being dextromethorphan or dextrophan». Read on 3 October 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.