Is Ketamine legal in Trinidad and Tobago?

Also known as: ket, special k

Legal status

Ketamine is a dangerous drug under Chap. 11:25 from 3 February 2020. Legal Notice No. 345 of 2019, by clause 3(c), which its clause 2(2) brought into operation on that date, inserted a third table in the Second Schedule headed «OTHER PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES:», and its only row prints the international non-proprietary name «KETAMINE», the other names «KETALAR», «KETASET» and «KTMIN», and the chemical name «2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)cyclohexan-1-one». The same clause closes the Schedule with lines extending it to «The salts of the substances listed in this Schedule» and to their stereoisomers, which reaches the hydrochloride. Ketamine was absent from the consolidation updated to 31 December 2016.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. No section of Chap. 11:25, and nothing in Act No. 24 of 2019, prints death as a penalty. Ketamine has a presumption of its own in section 5(9)(h), inserted by Act No. 24 of 2019: a person «other than a person referred to in subsection (2)» found in possession of more than «five grammes of ketamine» is deemed to have it for the purpose of trafficking unless the accused proves otherwise. Section 5(9)(f) speaks of a drug listed in «Schedule I or Schedule II of the Second Schedule»; reading «Schedule I» and «Schedule II» there as the two Second Schedule tables headed by those Schedules of the 1971 Convention, which is a reading and not printed text, because the Second Schedule has no parts of those names, ketamine's «OTHER PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES:» table falls outside limb (f), and limb (h) is the one that names it. Possession under section 5(1) is punishable upon summary conviction by a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and imprisonment for five years, and upon conviction on indictment by a fine of one million dollars and imprisonment for fifteen years, the figures section 6(a) of Act No. 24 of 2019 put in («two hundred and fifty» in paragraph (a); «one million dollars and to imprisonment for fifteen years» in paragraph (b)). Trafficking, or possession for the purpose of trafficking, is an offence under section 5(4), and section 5(5) as printed in the consolidation makes the offender «liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine of one hundred thousand dollars or, where there is evidence of the street value of the dangerous drug, three times the street value of the dangerous drug, whichever is greater, and to imprisonment for a term of twenty-five years to life»; section 6(f) of Act No. 24 of 2019 substitutes «three million» for «one hundred thousand» and «ten» for «three», and deletes «a term of twenty-five years to». Section 61 provides that section 68(2) and (3) of the Interpretation Act apply only to «the penalties prescribed for possession of dangerous drugs under this Act»; section 68 was not read for this cell.

If prescribed or medical

The Schedule row itself names «KETALAR» and «KETASET», but no instrument read sets out how ketamine may be prescribed or carried. The exemption that covers a patient is section 5(2)(c), a dangerous drug obtained for medicinal purposes on the prescription of a medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon, and section 5(2)(b) covers a veterinary surgeon holding it for a medicinal purpose. A pharmacist may supply only on a written order or prescription under section 8(1), which section 9 of Act No. 24 of 2019 amended. Section 5(2)(c) speaks of a prescription of a medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon, and section 3 defines each by registration under a Trinidad and Tobago Act: a medical practitioner «means a person registered under the Medical Board Act», a dentist is registered under the Dental Profession Act and a veterinary surgeon under the Veterinary Surgeons (Registration) Act. The Act says nothing about a prescriber registered abroad, and those three registration Acts were not read. The only Regulations under section 57 among the instruments read, the Dangerous Drugs (Fixed Penalty Notice) Regulations, 2019 (Legal Notice No. 395 of 2019), prescribe the form of a fixed penalty notice and say nothing on prescriptions or medicinal possession.

Documentation

Section 11(1) makes it an offence for a medical practitioner to prescribe, administer, give, sell or furnish a dangerous drug, or sign a prescription or order for one, unless it is «required for medicinal purposes or is prescribed for the medical treatment of a person who is under professional treatment by a medical practitioner», and section 11(3) makes the offender liable «upon conviction on indictment» to a fine of one hundred thousand dollars or, where there is evidence of the street value of the dangerous drug, three times that value, whichever is greater, and to imprisonment «for a term which shall not be less than twenty-five years». Section 11(2) makes the same conduct an offence for a dentist or veterinary surgeon who acts otherwise than in accordance with the Regulations, and section 20 puts the proof of the medicinal purpose on the practitioner charged. For a person carrying ketamine the parallel rule is section 29A: whoever relies on an authorisation must prove it.

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