Is Methylphenidate legal in Malaysia?

Also known as: ritalin

Legal status

Methylphenidate is a psychotropic substance under the Poisons Act 1952, named in the Third Schedule and in the Poisons List as «Methylphenidate; its salts», with «Ethylphenidate» named in the Third Schedule beside it. It is NOT in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, so section 39B and the death penalty cannot reach it, and the amphetamine presumption weight in section 37(da) does not apply to it either. Amphetamine and methamphetamine are in that Schedule, so a stimulant prescription does not have one answer in Malaysia.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Methylphenidate is not in the First Schedule to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. «Amphetamine» and «Methamphetamine» are, in Part III, and both carry 50 gramme presumption weights at section 37(da)(xii) and (xvi), and none of that reaches methylphenidate, which is a different substance and not an isomer, ester, ether or salt of either. Section 39B is the only capital provision in Malaysian drug law, and section 39B(1) prohibits trafficking in «a dangerous drug», which section 2 defines as «any drug or substance which is for the time being comprised in the First Schedule». A substance outside that Schedule cannot be trafficked within the meaning of section 39B however much of it there is, the section 37(da) presumption weights do not reach it, and neither do the section 39A enhanced penalties. What applies instead is section 30 of the Poisons Act 1952, which provides at subsection (3) that «no person shall import, export, manufacture, compound, mix, dispense, sell, supply, administer, possess or use any psychotropic substance otherwise than in accordance with any regulations applicable thereto», and at subsection (5) that a contravention is punishable «to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both». Section 30(4) carries a possession presumption of its own: a person found with the substance in his custody or control «shall be deemed to have been in possession of the substance and to have known the nature of the substance, until he proves to the contrary». Four years and ten thousand ringgit against death. That is the single largest cliff in Malaysian drug law and it turns entirely on which of two schedules a substance sits in. And the ground can move under it: section 45A of the Dangerous Drugs Act lets the Minister add a substance to the First Schedule by order, and section 30(2) of the Poisons Act lets him amend the Third Schedule the same way.

If prescribed or medical

This is a prescription-supply question and not a trafficking one. Methylphenidate is a psychotropic substance under the Poisons Act 1952, named in terms, appearing in the Third Schedule as «Methylphenidate» and in the Poisons List as «Methylphenidate; its salts». Section 30(1) provides that «In this section, “psychotropic substance” means any of the substances specified in the Third Schedule», and section 30(3) then prohibits importing, exporting, manufacturing, compounding, mixing, dispensing, selling, supplying, administering, possessing or using such a substance «otherwise than in accordance with any regulations applicable thereto made under this Act». Those regulations are the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989, and regulation 3 is the one a patient stands on: possession is prohibited unless «he is authorised to be in possession of such psychotropic substance under these Regulations» and the substance is for a lawful purpose and obtained under them. Regulation 3(2)(l) places a person lawfully supplied «in accordance with a prescription lawfully given by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist Division I of a veterinary surgeon» inside that authority, the wording of that paragraph being the publisher's. «Ethylphenidate» is named in the same Third Schedule beside it and is a different substance.

Documentation

Carry the prescription and the dispensing label with the medicine, in its original packaging. The entry the prescription has to answer to is «Methylphenidate» in the Third Schedule, with «Methylphenidate; its salts» in the Poisons List beside it. Regulation 4(2)(a) of the Poisons (Psychotropic Substances) Regulations 1989 is the traveller provision and it fixes a figure the Dangerous Drugs Act never does: a person arriving in or leaving Malaysia who carries, as part of personal luggage and solely for personal or family use, a prepared or packaged medicine containing a psychotropic substance is outside the import authorisation requirement, provided the quantity is «not exceeding such quantities as may be reasonably required for one month's use by one person» and it has been lawfully supplied by or on the prescription of a qualified medical practitioner. This substance carries an extra requirement that most do not. It is named in the Second Schedule to those Regulations, and regulation 9 provides that a psychotropic substance in that Schedule imported into Malaysia, or brought in transit from a country party to the 1971 Convention, «shall be accompanied by a valid and subsisting export authorisation duly issued by the competent authority of the country from which it is exported», to be produced on demand to a Drug Enforcement Officer, a police officer not below the rank of Inspector or a senior officer of Customs. Section 30(4) presumes possession and knowledge from custody or control: a person found with the substance «shall be deemed to have been in possession of the substance and to have known the nature of the substance, until he proves to the contrary». The prescription is what rebuts it. The penalty under section 30(5) is «a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both». The control is the Poisons Act 1952 and its regulations rather than the Dangerous Drugs Act, so the trafficking regime and its presumptions are not in play for methylphenidate.

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