Is Methadone legal in Maldives?

Legal status

Controlled narcotic under the Drug Act (Act No. 17/2011, as amended by the Third Amendment ratified 6 December 2025). Methadone is a 1961 Single Convention Schedule I opioid.

Consequences if caught

The Third Amendment to the Drugs Act, ratified 6 December 2025, raises Schedule 1 trafficking to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of MVR 75,000 to MVR 7,500,000, and permits elevation to the death penalty where the quantity brought into the country at the point of entry exceeds 350 g of cannabis, 250 g of diamorphine or 100 g of any other Schedule 1 drug; execution requires the unanimous agreement of every justice of the Supreme Court sitting as a full bench. The Schedule 1 list is not reproduced in the ratification record, so this substance's Schedule 1 placement is left to confirmation.

If prescribed or medical

Available, and it is the substance the Maldives plans for above all others: the 2026 INCB estimated requirement for methadone is 10,506 g, against morphine at 724 g, pethidine at 507 g and fentanyl at 29 g. Methadone is more than fourteen times the country's morphine requirement, which is the signature of a national opioid substitution programme rather than of pain prescribing.

Documentation

Carry a prescription; controlled-medicine import can require prior permission - declare it or risk seizure. The Maldives Food and Drug Authority publishes the national rules but is not an allowlisted source for this project, so nothing is quoted from it here.

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