Is Methaqualone (Quaaludes) legal in Lesotho?

Also known as: ludes

Legal status

Methaqualone is a high-risk drug under the Drugs of Abuse Act No. 5 of 2008, printed as 'Methaqualone' in Schedule 2, printed page 811, in the block taken from Schedule II of the 1971 Convention. 'Mecloqualone' is printed next to it as its own entry. Because s3 defines a high-risk drug as a substance listed in Schedule 2, methaqualone is a drug of abuse under the Act, listed in Schedule 2.

Consequences if caught

Anyone who manufactures, acquires or administers to another person a drug of abuse without an operator's licence breaches s9(1)(b), and s9(6) prints imprisonment not less than 5 years or a fine not less than M20,000 or both. Selling, delivering, transporting, importing or exporting it is trafficking under s43(1): not less than 20 years or a fine not less than M1,000,000 or both. Under s87, if the drug is found on a person or in a place under the accused's control, possession is presumed until the contrary is proved. For Part III offences, s51(1) lets a court suspend the whole or part of the penalty where the convicted person is aged 14 to 18, a first offender, a drug abuser or drug dependent. The printed clauses give minimums only.

If prescribed or medical

Section 10 is the traveller provision: 'any person undergoing treatment of a medical condition, who is entering, leaving or passing through Lesotho, may possess such quantities of a drug of abuse (where prescribed) as may be reasonably expected for the purposes of such treatment.' The Act defines two words that could fill the bracket: 'prescribed by regulations' and 'a written direction by a practitioner that a stated amount of a drug of abuse be dispensed for the person named on it'. It does not choose, and no regulation under s10 was found. A prescription must meet s29(5): prescribed form, legible, practitioner's name, address, qualifications and registration number, patient's name and address, the drug's name, quantity, form and strength, signed and dated. Oral prescriptions need written confirmation within 24 hours (s29(6)); supplying on one issued over 3 months earlier is an offence (s44(6)(b)). Foreign prescriptions are not addressed.

Documentation

Based on s3, s9, s10, s29, s43, s44, s51, s87 and Schedule 2, printed page 811 of the Drugs of Abuse Act No. 5 of 2008. The Schedules were read as printed in the gazette of 27 May 2008 and no later amendment was found as at 2 November 2026. Not established here: any published guidance on medical use of methaqualone, the commencement notice under s1, and any judgment applying the Act.

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