Is LSA (Morning Glory) legal in Malaysia?

Legal status

Lysergic acid amide is not named under that name or as ergine in either Act, and the settled part of the answer is that it is not in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, so it is not a dangerous drug. Lysergide is in Part III of that Schedule, and ergine and lysergide are both amides of the same acid rather than isomers, esters, ethers or salts of one another, which are the only generic extensions Part III carries. The Poisons List separately carries «Lysergic acid; its salts» as a poison, and the LSD entry there extends to «its derivatives»; how far that reaches an amide of the parent acid is a question the Poisons List does not answer. What is settled is the absence from the dangerous drugs schedule.

Consequences if caught

Capital and life exposure. There is none. Lysergic acid amide is not in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, and that is the whole of the answer. Section 39B, which is the only capital provision in Malaysian drug law, bites on «a dangerous drug», and section 2 defines that as «any drug or substance which is for the time being comprised in the First Schedule». A substance outside that Schedule cannot be trafficked within the meaning of section 39B however much of it there is, the section 37(da) presumption weights do not reach it, and neither do the section 39A enhanced penalties. What applies instead is section 30 of the Poisons Act 1952, which provides at subsection (3) that «no person shall import, export, manufacture, compound, mix, dispense, sell, supply, administer, possess or use any psychotropic substance otherwise than in accordance with any regulations applicable thereto», and at subsection (5) that a contravention is punishable «to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both». Section 30(4) carries a possession presumption of its own: a person found with the substance in his custody or control «shall be deemed to have been in possession of the substance and to have known the nature of the substance, until he proves to the contrary». Four years and ten thousand ringgit against death. That is the single largest cliff in Malaysian drug law and it turns entirely on which of two schedules a substance sits in. And the ground can move under it: section 45A of the Dangerous Drugs Act lets the Minister add a substance to the First Schedule by order, and section 30(2) of the Poisons Act lets him amend the Third Schedule the same way.

If prescribed or medical

The prescription question for lysergic acid amide has no clean answer under either statute. Neither lysergic acid amide nor ergine is named in either Act. Lysergide is in Part III of the First Schedule, and ergine and lysergide are both amides of the same acid rather than isomers, esters, ethers or salts of one another, which are the only generic extensions Part III carries, so the settled part of the answer is that it is not a dangerous drug. The Poisons List separately carries «Lysergic acid; its salts» as a poison, and its LSD entry extends to derivatives; how far a derivatives limb reaches an amide of the parent acid is a question that list does not answer. It is not in the Third Schedule, so section 30 and the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989 do not apply to it by name. What this cell does not state is whether it is a registered product, an unregistered product or a prohibited import under the medicines and customs instruments, because none of those instruments was read for it.

Documentation

No documentation requirement can be stated for lysergic acid amide, because the route through the two statutes is unsettled and the paperwork would depend on which route applies. The Poisons List entry «Lysergic acid; its salts» is the nearest thing to an entry for it, and an amide of the parent acid is not a salt of it, so nothing in that entry tells a traveller what to carry. Carry any prescription and the original packaging as a matter of course. Product registration with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and the customs prohibited imports orders are separate regimes and neither was read for this cell. If the Poisons Act route is the right one, the one month personal import allowance in regulation 4(2)(a) of the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989 and the section 30(5) penalty would be the provisions in point. This cell does not assert that they apply.

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