Is Opium legal in South Africa?

Legal status

Controlled as a dangerous dependence-producing substance under Schedule 2 Part II of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992.

Consequences if caught

Two printed entries carry this row. The first is "Opium and opiates and any salt, compound, derivative or preparation of opium or opiates, whether obtained directly or indirectly by extraction from material or substances obtained from plants, or obtained independently by chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, except mixtures containing not more than 0,2 per cent of morphine, calculated as anhydrous morphine." The second is "Opium-poppy and poppy straw, whether obtained directly or indirectly by extraction from material or substances obtained from plants, or whether obtained independently by chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis." Between them they reach the raw material, the plant and the poppy straw, whether extracted or synthesised, subject to one concentration exception at 0,2 per cent of morphine. Section 4 (b) forbids the use or possession of any dangerous dependence-producing substance or undesirable dependence-producing substance. Section 13 (d) makes that an offence and section 17 (d) fixes the penalty at such fine as the court may deem fit to impose, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years, or both. Dealing is section 5 (b), made an offence by section 13 (f) and punished under section 17 (e) by imprisonment for a period not exceeding 25 years, or by both that imprisonment and such fine as the court may deem fit to impose. The reader should note how wide dealing is: section 1 defines deal in to include transhipment, importation, cultivation, collection, manufacture, supply, prescription, administration, sale, transmission and exportation. Capital exposure: none, and life exposure: none. Section 17 sets out the whole penalty scale of this Act and its highest figure is 25 years for dealing; no provision of the Act carries a death sentence or a sentence of life imprisonment.

If prescribed or medical

The Act's own lawful route is the set of exceptions in section 4, paragraphs (i) to (vi). A patient falls outside section 4 only where the substance was acquired from a medical practitioner, dentist or practitioner acting in a professional capacity and in accordance with the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act 101 of 1965, or from a pharmacist on that person's oral instruction or written prescription, and is used for medicinal purposes under that person's care or treatment. Section 2 states that this Act applies in addition to, and not in substitution for, the Medicines Act. The Medicines Act schedules themselves are not held in this repository and were not read for this cell, so no medicine schedule number is stated here. An opium-derived medicine is inside the section 4 exceptions only through the practitioner route. The 0,2 per cent exception is a limit on the concentration of morphine in a mixture and is not a traveller allowance. The Act's own lawful route is the set of exceptions in section 4, paragraphs (i) to (vi). A patient falls outside section 4 only where the substance was acquired from a medical practitioner, dentist or practitioner acting in a professional capacity and in accordance with the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act 101 of 1965, or from a pharmacist on that person's oral instruction or written prescription, and is used for medicinal purposes under that person's care or treatment. Section 2 states that this Act applies in addition to, and not in substitution for, the Medicines Act. The Medicines Act schedules themselves are not held in this repository and were not read for this cell, so no medicine schedule number is stated here.

Documentation

Search record. The terms searched were opium, opiate, poppy, poppy straw and papaver. Two printed entries, both reproduced above in full. The first entry spans a page break in the published text and is joined here across the publisher footer; every other quotation in this batch is a single unbroken span. The dossier quotes the opening clause of the first entry only and stops before the synthesis clause and the exception. The text read for this cell is the Juta consolidation of the Act downloaded on 29 May 2025, taken from the Department of Justice copy at justice.gov.za whose sha256 begins bc1216a3. It carries the substitution of Schedules 1 and 2 by section 2 of Act 14 of 2022 with effect from 14 December 2022, and it marks section 7 of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act 7 of 2024, the provision that would amend Schedule 2 again, as not yet put into operation by proclamation. The schedules are stated as at that consolidation and this does not rule out a later amendment made or commenced since. The Schedule and the Part named in this cell are read from the Act itself at the lines quoted; they are nowhere printed in the verbatim quotation supplied for this row.

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