Is Methaqualone (Quaaludes) legal in Solomon Islands?

Also known as: ludes

Legal status

Controlled. Methaqualone is named in the schedule to the proclamation of 21 September 1987 (LN 101 of 1987) that applies Part III of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98, reprint as in force 1 October 2009) under section 13(2): paragraph 1, printed page 2822, lists 'Methaqualone'. It is listed again in paragraph 6 on page 2823 and in paragraph (e) of LN 6 of 1988 on page 2824, read from the page images. Paragraph 2 of the 1987 schedule extends Part III to 'Any stereoisomeric form of a substance specified in paragraph 1 not being dextromethorphan or dextrorphan', paragraph 3 to 'Any ester or ether' of such a substance, and paragraph 4 to 'Any salt'. Paragraph 5 reaches 'Any preparations or other product containing a substance' of paragraphs 1 to 4 'not being a preparation specified in Schedule 1'; no Schedule 1 appears in the pages read, so which preparations stand outside the control is not established. LN 6 of 1988 paragraphs (d) and (h) (printed page 2824) refer instead to 'the Schedule to the Proclamation referred to in paragraph (a)', so 'Schedule 1' in LN 101 paragraphs 5 and 9 may mean the paragraph 1 list of that Schedule; no instrument read states that reading. The second list is paragraph 6 on printed page 2823 and paragraph (e) of LN 6 of 1988 on printed page 2824, both of which repeat the name; what the second list adds to a name already in paragraph 1 is not stated in the instruments read. The margin note on printed page 2824 reads LN 61/1988 while the heading on page 2821 and the 2025 Rules cite LN 6 of 1988, and paragraph (g) is absent between (f) and (h) on that page; both were seen on the image. No other instrument read names it as a dangerous drug, and the named entry governs. Methaqualone is a single compound with its own entry and is not reached through any class. It is also printed in the Fourth Schedule to the Poisons Rules (page 3033), which is a sale restriction and does not change the drug control above. It is not in the Poisons List in Schedule B, and the 2025 Rules apply to methylamphetamine only.

Consequences if caught

Methaqualone as a Part III drug through the proclamations. Personal possession: section 20 makes it an offence against the Act when a Part III drug is found in a person's possession or kept in any place other than the appointed store, unless he can prove that it was obtained under the authority of the Act, or in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner, or from a person having authority to sell it, or was deposited there without his knowledge or consent. The burden of proof is on the accused and section 20 sets no quantity threshold. Possession for supply and trafficking: the Act's text states no separate offence of possession for supply or of trafficking for Part III drugs. Sale and distribution: these are matters for rules the Minister may make under section 15(1)(b), and the only rules located are the 2025 methylamphetamine rules, which apply to methylamphetamine alone, so a sale offence for methaqualone is not verified beyond the general offence in section 39(1)(a) of contravening the Act or a rule under it. Import and export are two separate offences: section 14 prohibits them except in accordance with sections 22 to 30, section 3 limits entry and exit to an approved port, and a person exporting in contravention is also liable under section 35(2) to forfeit treble the value of the goods or 2,000 penalty units, at the option of the Comptroller of Customs and Excise. Manufacture: section 15(1)(a) lets rules prohibit manufacture except on licensed premises, and the Act's text states no manufacture offence itself. Cultivation: the instruments read state no cultivation offence for methaqualone; the plant offences in sections 7 and 8 concern the opium poppy, Indian hemp and coca leaf plants only. Use or consumption: the instruments read state no separate offence of use for Part III drugs, so possession under section 20 is the exposure. Administrative offences: section 39(1)(b) and (c) cover breach of licence conditions and false statements to obtain a licence or authority. Penalty: no penalty is otherwise prescribed, so section 39(2) applies to each offence. On conviction by the court sitting with assessors the fine is 100,000 penalty units, or imprisonment for ten years, or both; on summary conviction the fine is 5,000 penalty units, or imprisonment for six months, or both; and in every case all articles in respect of which the offence was committed are forfeited. Fine and imprisonment may be cumulative ('or to both such fine and imprisonment'). Section 39(4) gives attempting, soliciting and inciting the same punishment, and section 39(3) requires the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for proceedings under section 39(1)(a). The Act's drug provisions read state no death penalty. The Act does not state the value of a penalty unit and none is converted here.

If prescribed or medical

The medical route is in the Dangerous Drugs Act itself. Section 15(1)(c) lets the Minister make rules regulating the issue by medical practitioners of prescriptions containing a Part III drug and the dispensing of them, and section 15(2) requires the rules to authorise a pharmaceutical chemist or chemist and druggist to retail, dispense or compound such drugs in the ordinary course of business. Section 19 limits withdrawal from the store to a registered medical practitioner, licensed pharmacist, registered dentist, qualified veterinary surgeon, a hospital attendant approved at a plantation hospital, or a person approved for recognised Mission medical work. Section 20 lets a person found with the drug prove that it was obtained in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner. Section 39(3) bars imprisonment without the option of a fine, and caps the fine at 100 penalty units, for an inadvertent breach of the rules on keeping books or on prescriptions. Rules under section 15 other than the 2025 methylamphetamine rules were not located, so detailed prescription rules for methaqualone are not verified. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105, reprint as in force 5 February 2024) also speaks to prescriptions for these drugs in its own text. Section 36(4) reads 'A prescription which does not comply with the provisions of this section shall not be accepted by any pharmacist as authority for the sale or supply of any medicine or drug'. Section 37(2) reads that every prescription 'containing any of the drugs to which any Act as to the sale of dangerous drugs, for the time being in force, relates, shall be retained in the custody of the pharmacist dispensing the same for a period of two years and filed in the pharmacy'. Section 38(c) provides that a pharmacist shall not 'permit any person, other than a registered pharmacist, to dispense or compound any prescription or supply any medicine or drugs containing any of the dangerous drugs to which subsection (2) of section 37 relates'. The Fourth Schedule to the Poisons Rules lists 'Methaqualone' with no exception (printed page 3033), immediately after 'Methandriol' and before 'Metharbitone'. Rule 11(1) of the Poisons Rules (printed page 3004) reads 'It shall not be lawful to sell any poison included in the Fourth Schedule to these Rules except on and in accordance with the prescription given by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist or a qualified veterinary surgeon in the form provided by this rule'. Rule 11(2) applies it to a sale even where the sale is exempted by section 57 of the Act, but not to a sale exempted by section 58 (wholesale dealing, and sales to a practitioner for his profession). Under rule 11(3) a prescription must be in writing, signed with the usual signature and dated, give the prescriber's address, give the name and address of the person treated (or of the person to whom the medicine is delivered, if given by a veterinary surgeon), and indicate the total amount to be supplied and the dose to be taken. Under rule 11(4) it may not be dispensed more than once unless the prescriber states that it may, the dispenser must note the seller's name, address and date on it, and it must be kept on the premises for two years. Section 2 of the Act reads 'poison includes the several substances mentioned in the poisons list in Schedule B', and rule 2(1) of the Poisons Rules (printed pages 3000 and 3001) defines 'poisons list' as 'the Poisons List contained in Schedule B of the Act'. Rule 11 is a sale rule under the pharmacy law and is separate from drug control under the Dangerous Drugs Act. The Poisons Rules were read as printed in the 1996 Revised Edition with margin notes amended to LN 63 of 1988; whether they were amended later or are still in force is not established, and the 2024 reprint of the Act does not print them.

Documentation

Importing methaqualone as a Part III drug requires an import authorisation in Form C granted by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Medical Services under section 26, and section 28 provides that no dangerous drug shall be imported unless the person to whom it is consigned holds a valid and subsisting import authorisation. Section 29 requires an export authorisation or diversion certificate from a country party to the Convention to accompany the drug, and section 31 sets the transit conditions. Section 3 limits import and export to a port approved by notice; the notice printed at page 2821 of the 1996 edition (LN 41 of 1968, dated 24 September 1968) approves Honiara port and Henderson aerodrome, and later notices were not read. The only quantity exemption in the transit rules is section 31(5), for quantities that bona fide form part of the medical stores of a ship or aircraft. The sections read state no exemption for a traveller's personal supply, so none is established, and the Convention as defined in section 2 names only the 1912, 1925 and 1931 instruments. Under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act section 52(1) forbids importing 'any poison' except under a licence issued by the Board, with a proviso for qualified practitioners, registered pharmacists, veterinary surgeons and dentists importing for bona fide treatment; the proviso does not mention a traveller. The Customs and Excise Act was not read. A Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2025 is reported as before Parliament; it was not read, and a Bill is not law.

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