Is Heroin legal in Samoa?

Also known as: diacetylmorphine, smack

Legal status

Heroin is controlled under the Narcotics Act 1967, the official version as at 31 December 2023. First Schedule item 13, Class A narcotics, names "HEROIN (diacetylmorphine)" directly, pairing the common name with its chemical name.

Consequences if caught

As a Class A narcotic, dealing in, possessing, selling, supplying or using heroin carries imprisonment for life under section 18, with the same exposure for import or export under section 17 and for unlawful manufacture under section 18A; section 18's proviso reduces a non-wilful or procedural contravention to a fine of up to 5 penalty units or imprisonment of up to 2 years, or both.

If prescribed or medical

Section 7(2)(c) exempts a person from the possession and use prohibition where the narcotic was supplied, or prescribed, by a licensee authorised under section 11 to supply or prescribe narcotics. Section 8 separately permits the Chief Executive Officer to maintain a register of persons who became addicted to the quasi-medical use of opium before the Act's commencement and to supply medicinal opium to them, a narrow historical provision that does not itself extend to heroin. No Pharmacy Act 2007 approval naming heroin was located in the sources searched.

Documentation

The Narcotics Act 1967 (1967 No. 3), the official version as at 31 December 2023, is the authority for the position stated. Whether a later Gazette amendment or a Head of State Order under section 5 of the Act has varied it since that date could not be established from the sources searched this session, so the position given is as at the version read and is not asserted as current beyond it. Import or export of heroin requires a licence granted by the Chief Executive Officer under sections 10(2) and 11; no Samoa specific traveller documentation requirement beyond this was located in the sources searched.

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