Is Nicotine legal in Solomon Islands?

Legal status

Restricted as a poison, with sale by an authorised seller of poisons or the holder of a Poisons Licence, on registered premises. Nicotine is a listed Part II poison, and the nicotine in tobacco is carved out. The Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105), reprint as in force 5 February 2024, Schedule B (the Poisons List) Part II, names 'Nicotine; its salts.' Part II poisons may be sold only by an authorised seller of poisons on registered premises, or by the holder of a Poisons Licence on registered premises (section 56(1)(b)). The Poisons Rules (1996 Revised Edition, margin notes amended to LN 63 of 1988) list 'Nicotine.' in the First Schedule (printed page 3014), the schedule of substances in the Poisons List 'to which special restrictions apply'. Rule 5 (printed page 3002) extends section 56(2) of the Act 'to all substances included in the First Schedule to these Rules whether or not the poison sold is a poison included in Part I of the Poisons List', and rule 13(1) (printed pages 3005 and 3006) provides that no licensed seller of poisons 'shall be entitled by virtue of being a licensed seller of Part II poisons to sell' any poison other than ammonia, hydrochloric acid, methylated spirits, nitric acid, potassium quadroxalate and sulphuric acid 'except in a closed container as closed by the manufacturer or other person from whom the poison was obtained', or 'any substance included in the First Schedule to these Rules unless the sale is effected by himself or by a responsible deputy'. Group II of the Third Schedule (printed page 3017) lists the poison 'Nicotine.' against the article 'Tobacco.', and rule 10(b) provides that nothing in Part VI of the Act or the Rules applies to the articles named opposite a poison in Group II, so the poison rules do not apply to tobacco. Tobacco products are regulated by the Tobacco Control Act 2010 (as in force 5 February 2024), which was read; see the tobacco answer for that regime. Nicotine is not named in either proclamation list read and is not in the Fourth Schedule (neighbouring entries 'Nicotinaldehyde Thiosemicarbazone', 'Nicocodinone' and 'Nicomorphine' on page 3034 are different substances), so it is a sale restriction and not drug control and not a prescription only medicine on the pages read. The Tobacco Control Act defines 'tobacco' as 'any preparation of dried leaves of the nicotiana tabacum plant of the nightshade family' and 'tobacco product' as any product from tobacco; whether it reaches nicotine that is isolated from the leaf or made, for example in liquids or gum, is not stated, and no instrument read mentions electronic cigarettes or nicotine replacement products. 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. The list that carries this entry can move and the text read may be out of date: under section 52(3) and (4) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act the Minister may by order add an article to the Poisons List, effective three months after Gazette publication, and the reprint read is as in force at 5 February 2024, incorporating amendments only up to the Legislation Amendment, Repeal and Validation Act 2023 (No. 17 of 2023); this text does not rule out a later order or amendment.

Consequences if caught

Possession and use: the instruments read state no offence of possession or use of nicotine as such. Sale of nicotine or its salts: a Part II poison may be sold only as section 56(1)(b) allows, by an authorised seller or a Poisons Licence holder on premises registered under section 55, in a container labelled with the name of the poison, the word 'poison' and the seller's name and address (section 56(1)(c)). Section 52(2) makes it unlawful to sell or deal in a Poisons List article except in the manner the Act prescribes. Penalty: section 52(5) gives a penalty of 5,000 penalty units, and for a continuing offence a further 300 penalty units a day after conviction, for acting in contravention of section 52. For a breach of section 56 with no specific penalty stated, section 62(1) gives not more than 3,000 penalty units and a further 600 a day. Which figure governs a particular sale is not settled by the pages read. The Act does not state the value of a penalty unit and none is converted here. Import: section 52(1) forbids importing any poison except under a Board licence, with a proviso for qualified practitioners, pharmacists, veterinary surgeons and dentists importing for bona fide treatment; the Tobacco Control Act separately requires a licence to import a tobacco product (section 15). Possession for supply, trafficking, export, manufacture and cultivation of nicotine itself: the instruments read state no separate offence. The Dangerous Drugs Act penalty in section 39(2) is not shown to apply, and the drug provisions read state no death penalty. For tobacco products the offences and penalties are in the Tobacco Control Act (see the tobacco answer).

If prescribed or medical

No prescription route is stated for nicotine. It is not in the Fourth Schedule to the Poisons Rules, so rule 11 does not apply to it by name, and the pages read do not say that nicotine sold as a medicine needs a prescription. Section 57 exempts a medicine supplied by a qualified practitioner or dispensed by a registered pharmacist from the poison sale rules if the labelling and prescription book requirements are met. Whether a nicotine medicine sold by a pharmacist is a 'medicine' under section 57 is not stated. 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

No traveller or personal import permit rule for nicotine was found. Section 52(1) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act forbids importing any poison except under a licence issued by the Board, with a proviso for bona fide treatment that covers qualified practitioners, pharmacists, veterinary surgeons and dentists and does not mention a traveller. Tobacco carried by a traveller is a separate question under section 15(1) of the Tobacco Control Act, which says 'No person shall manufacture, sell, distribute, import or export... any tobacco product except with a licence'; the Act states no personal allowance, and the Customs and Excise Act was not read. The position for a traveller carrying nicotine liquids or gum is not established.

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.