Is Methamphetamine legal in Trinidad and Tobago?

Also known as: meth

Legal status

Methamphetamine became a dangerous drug under Chap. 11:25 on 18 November 2019. Legal Notice No. 345 of 2019, clause 3(b), inserted the Second Schedule table headed «PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES LISTED IN SCHEDULE II OF THE CONVENTION ON PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES, 1971, VIZ:», which prints two rows for it: «METAMFETAMINE», «Methamphetamine», «(+)-(S)-N,α-Dimethylphenethylamine», and «METAMFETAMINE RACEMATE», «Methamphetamine racemate», «(±)-N,α-Dimethylphenethylamine». Both the dextro form and the racemate are therefore named. Neither row was in the consolidation updated to 31 December 2016. «Ephedrine» and «Pseudo ephedrine», which section 6A treats as precursor chemicals, are separate items 9 and 21 of the Fourth Schedule.

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. Section 5(9)(f), inserted by Act No. 24 of 2019, deems a person «other than a person referred to in subsection (2)» found in possession of more than «five grammes or twenty tablets of 3, 4 methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) or any drug listed in Schedule I or Schedule II of the Second Schedule of the Act» to have it for the purpose of trafficking unless the contrary is proved; 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, methamphetamine, in both its rows of the Schedule II table, is within 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». Under section 5(7A) the Director of Public Prosecutions may, with the accused's consent, proceed summarily, and section 5(7B) as printed makes the person «liable to a fine of fifty 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 ten years», in which section 6(i) of Act No. 24 of 2019 substitutes «seven hundred and fifty» for «fifty». Manufacture is itself trafficking under the section 3 definition, and supplying a Fourth Schedule substance «knowing or having reasonable grounds to suspect» that it is to be used in or for the unlawful production of a dangerous drug is a section 6A offence. 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

No instrument read lists a methamphetamine medicine or prescribes how one could be carried. The patient exemption in section 5(2)(c) depends on the drug being obtained for medicinal purposes on a prescription from a medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon, and the exemption for an authorised person in section 5(2)(d) depends on Regulations. 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 15 punishes the possession, «without lawful or reasonable excuse», of «any device, article or apparatus designed, generally used or specifically altered for the purpose of the illegal use of dangerous drugs», and section 29B(i) treats the evidence of a police officer above the rank of Sergeant or a senior Customs Officer that an article is for consuming a dangerous drug as sufficient until the contrary is proven, which bears on pipes found with methamphetamine. Section 29A puts the proof of any authority on the person claiming 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.