Is Methaqualone (Quaaludes) legal in Saint Lucia?

Legal status

Controlled, and printed twice under two misspellings in two different classes. The correctly spelled word methaqualone appears nowhere in the act. Part II, Class B, prints 'Metahatoqualone', and Part III, Class C, prints 'Mathaqualone'. Both are corruptions of methaqualone and both appear identically in the 31 December 2008 revision and in the Revised Edition showing the law as at 31 December 2021, so neither is an extraction artefact. Part II also prints 'Mecloqualone', which is a different compound and correctly spelled. On ordinary construction the Part II entry governs, because it is the closer rendering and because the United Kingdom act this schedule follows places methaqualone in Class B, so methaqualone is treated here as a Class B drug, but the point is not free from doubt and the Class C entry has never been removed. Section 4(2) lets the Minister amend Schedule 2 by statutory instrument after consultation with or on the recommendation of the Advisory Council, and section 49 lets the Minister amend the Schedules by order, so the printed schedule is not the last word. No statutory instrument later than the Revised Edition showing the law as at 31 December 2021 was read here, and no index of Saint Lucia statutory instruments could be enumerated, so that is a real limit on this cell and not a form of words.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. The class question is close to academic on the sentence and not on the record. The Class A and Class B columns of Schedule 3 are identical, but the Class C column is lower: possession on indictment is 5 years or $100,000 as a Class C drug against 7 years or $200,000 as a Class B drug, and supply on indictment is 10 years against 14 years. Which entry a court applies therefore changes the maximum. No section 8(4) quantity presumption attaches. Schedule 3, which section 37 brings into effect, sets every punishment and it graduates by class rather than by substance. The Class A and Class B columns carry identical figures in every row of Schedule 3, so the class split makes no difference to the sentence. Importation or exportation under section 5(3) and production or being concerned in production under section 6(2) each carry, on summary conviction, 3 years or $100,000, and on indictment 14 years and $200,000. Supplying or offering to supply under section 6(3) carries the same figures. Possession under section 8(2) carries, on summary conviction, 3 years or $100,000, and on indictment 7 years or $200,000. Possession with intent to supply under section 8(3) carries, on summary conviction, 3 years and/or $100,000, and on indictment 14 years and/or $200,000. For completeness the Class C figures are: possession under section 8(2), 2 years or $75,000 summarily and 5 years or $100,000 on indictment. Section 25(1) is a separate trafficking ceiling and it does not graduate by substance at all: on summary conviction a fine of $100,000 or, where there is evidence of the street value of the controlled drug, 3 times that street value whichever is the greater, together with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years but which shall not be less than 5 years; on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for life. Section 2 defines drug trafficking to reach producing, supplying, transporting, storing, importing and exporting a controlled drug. The act provides no death penalty and the words death, capital and sentenced to death appear nowhere in it. Section 12(1) makes possession of any controlled drug in or within a radius of one hundred yards of school premises unlawful in itself and section 12(4) deems that possession to be for supply unless the contrary is proved. Section 25(3) separately deems possession in any school premises to be for drug trafficking unless the contrary is proved. Section 38 requires forfeiture on conviction.

If prescribed or medical

Section 10(3) obliges the Minister to exercise the regulation making power in section 10(1) so as to secure that it is not unlawful under section 6(1) for a doctor, dentist or veterinary practitioner acting in his or her capacity as such to prescribe, administer, manufacture, compound or supply a controlled drug, and not unlawful under section 8(1) for a doctor, dentist, veterinary practitioner, druggist or person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business to possess one for that purpose. Section 10(4) lets the Minister take a named drug back out of that protection by statutory instrument. Section 21(2)(g) empowers regulations regulating the issue of prescriptions containing controlled drugs. Whether regulations under sections 10 and 21 of this act have been made, and whether there is an authorised medicinal form of this substance in Saint Lucia, was not established here.

Documentation

Carry a prescribed controlled medicine in its original pharmacy packaging with the prescription. The act puts no documentation duty on a private traveller: section 21(2)(b) and (c) put documentation of transactions and record keeping on the trade, and sections 15 to 18 govern controlled drugs brought into Saint Lucia in transit under an export authorisation or diversion certificate, which is consignment traffic and not personal carriage. No local traveller permit scheme was established here.

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