Is Opium legal in Barbados?

Legal status

Under the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act, Cap. 131, enacted as Act 1990-14 and commenced 15 August 1990, read in the L.R.O. 1991 revised edition, the entry that places it is in Part I of the First Schedule, the «list OF narcotic drugs under control», and it is printed «opium (whether raw, prepared or medicinal) the opium poppy». Part V of the First Schedule then defines the limbs of that entry: «medicinal opium» means raw opium adapted for medicinal use «in accordance with the requirements of the British Pharmocoposia», «opium poppy» means «the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L», «poppy-straw» means «all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing», and «raw opium» «includes powdered or granulated opium but does not include medicinal opium». The spelling of the pharmacopoeia is the scan's own. Part I then extends the list in five further paragraphs, reaching any stereoisomeric form other than dextromethorphan and dextrorphan, any ester or ether, any salt, any preparation or other product containing one, and any preparation designed for administration by injection. Section 3 makes a substance a controlled drug only by its presence in the First Schedule, and section 3(2) lets the Minister by order add to or remove from Parts I to III of that Schedule, after consultation with the Drug Formulary Committee under section 3(3) and subject to affirmative resolution under section 3(4). The edition read is the L.R.O. 1991 consolidation served by the Barbados law courts statute portal. No amending order or later revision was located on that portal, so anything made after that revision has not been read and is not asserted here.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. The Fourth Schedule, given effect by section 37, sets the punishment for every offence under the Act, and it was read row by row from the section 4(3) row to the section 35(3) row, which is its last. Not one row carries death. The heaviest punishment it prints anywhere is «Imprisonment for life» on indictment. Column 2 of the Second Schedule sets a trafficable quantity for this entry at «fifty-five grammes». Section 6(4) then deems a person found with a trafficable quantity to possess it for supply «unless the contrary is proved, the burden of proof being on the accused», so the quantity shifts the burden rather than merely raising the tier. Section 18(1) defines trafficking as importing, exporting, supplying or possessing a trafficable quantity, and the section 18(4) row of the Fourth Schedule punishes it summarily with «A fine of $250,000 or where there is evidence of the street value of the controlled drug three times the street value of the controlled drug, whichever is greater; and to imprisonment for 7 years», and on indictment with «Imprisonment for life». Fifty five grammes is by a wide margin the largest figure in column 2, some fifty five times the smallest, which is what one expects of a crude plant preparation measured against an isolated alkaloid. Simple possession under section 6(2) draws a fine of $250,000 or 5 years or both summarily, and $500,000 or 20 years or both on indictment, the same figures the section 6(3) possession with intent row carries. Section 21 adds its own tier for possession within a radius of one hundred yards of school premises, punished summarily by «A fine of $250,000 and imprisonment for 7 years» and on indictment by imprisonment for life. Barbados retains capital punishment for murder in its general criminal law. This Act is not part of that and provides no death penalty for any drug offence, which is why the opening sentence reads as it does.

If prescribed or medical

Section 6(1) makes possession of a controlled drug unlawful unless regulations under section 12 permit it, and section 12(3) requires the Minister to secure that a practitioner acting as such may prescribe, administer, compound or supply, and that a practitioner or pharmacist may possess for that purpose. The Act defines «doctor» as a medical practitioner registered in the Medical Register under the Medical Registration Act, Cap. 371, and «dentist» and «veterinary practitioner» by the equivalent Barbados registers, so the lawful route runs through a Barbados registration and not through a foreign one. Importation is a separate question under section 4(1), which an arriving traveller engages on their own account. The Act itself contemplates a medicinal grade, but that grade is defined in Part V and it does not create a private route: section 6(1) still makes possession unlawful except under the section 12 regulations.

Documentation

Carry the medicine in its original dispensing packaging with the prescription and a letter from the prescriber naming the patient, the active ingredient, the strength, the daily dose and the length of treatment, and settle the import question with the Barbados authorities before travelling rather than at the airport. Ask specifically whether the section 12 regulations permit a visitor to bring the drug in at all, because section 4(1) makes importation unlawful in its own right and a prescription answers the possession question rather than the import one. The entry was read in Part I and its four defined limbs in Part V, with the fifty five gramme figure at the Second Schedule. Read on 20 September 2026 from the PDF of the Act itself. The edition read is the L.R.O. 1991 consolidation served by the Barbados law courts statute portal. No amending order or later revision was located on that portal, so anything made after that revision has not been read and is not asserted here.

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