Is Oxycodone legal in Saint Lucia?

Legal status

Controlled. Class A drug under section 4(1)(b), specified in Part I of Schedule 2. The entry as printed is 'Oxycodone'. The nearest Part I entries read and kept distinct are 'Oxymorphone' and 'Thebacon'. The Dangerous Drugs (Cocaine, Morphine, etc.) Regulations reach the same compound under its older name: regulation 3(b) prints 'dihydrohydroxycodeinone'. Section 4(2) lets the Minister amend Schedule 2 by statutory instrument after consultation with or on the recommendation of the Advisory Council, and section 49 lets the Minister amend the Schedules by order, so the printed schedule is not the last word. No statutory instrument later than the Revised Edition showing the law as at 31 December 2021 was read here, and no index of Saint Lucia statutory instruments could be enumerated, so that is a real limit on this cell and not a form of words.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. Section 8(4) sets a deeming threshold for diacetylmorphine, cocaine, opium, morphine and cannabis only, and oxycodone is not among them, so no quantity presumption attaches to it and the ordinary possession offence in section 8(2) applies whatever the amount. Schedule 3, which section 37 brings into effect, sets every punishment and it graduates by class rather than by substance. The Class A and Class B columns carry identical figures in every row of Schedule 3, so the class split makes no difference to the sentence. Importation or exportation under section 5(3) and production or being concerned in production under section 6(2) each carry, on summary conviction, 3 years or $100,000, and on indictment 14 years and $200,000. Supplying or offering to supply under section 6(3) carries the same figures. Possession under section 8(2) carries, on summary conviction, 3 years or $100,000, and on indictment 7 years or $200,000. Possession with intent to supply under section 8(3) carries, on summary conviction, 3 years and/or $100,000, and on indictment 14 years and/or $200,000. Section 25(1) is a separate trafficking ceiling and it does not graduate by substance at all: on summary conviction a fine of $100,000 or, where there is evidence of the street value of the controlled drug, 3 times that street value whichever is the greater, together with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years but which shall not be less than 5 years; on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for life. Section 2 defines drug trafficking to reach producing, supplying, transporting, storing, importing and exporting a controlled drug. The act provides no death penalty and the words death, capital and sentenced to death appear nowhere in it. Section 12(1) makes possession of any controlled drug in or within a radius of one hundred yards of school premises unlawful in itself and section 12(4) deems that possession to be for supply unless the contrary is proved. Section 25(3) separately deems possession in any school premises to be for drug trafficking unless the contrary is proved. Section 38 requires forfeiture on conviction.

If prescribed or medical

Section 50 continues subsidiary legislation made under the repealed Dangerous Drugs Act, 1938 until regulations are made under this act, and the Dangerous Drugs (Cocaine, Morphine, etc.) Regulations, Statutory Instrument 35/1940, are printed with the revised edition. Regulation 3 fixes the drugs they apply to and this substance is inside that list. Regulation 6 requires a prescription to be in writing, dated and signed by the medical practitioner, dentist or veterinary surgeon with his or her usual signature and address, to specify the name and address of the person for whose use it is given and the total amount to be supplied, and it may not be given for the use of the prescriber. A dentist's prescription must be marked 'For local dental treatment only;' and a veterinary surgeon's 'For animal treatment only;'. Regulation 8(b) allows the drugs to be supplied once on the same prescription, or on up to three occasions if the prescription so directs. Regulation 23 requires prescriptions to be preserved for not less than 2 years. Section 10(3) of the act separately obliges the Minister to secure a practitioner exemption by regulations. Whether an authorised medicinal form exists in Saint Lucia was not established here.

Documentation

Carry a prescribed controlled medicine in its original pharmacy packaging with the prescription. For this substance the Dangerous Drugs (Cocaine, Morphine, etc.) Regulations add a trade record layer: regulation 11 and Schedule 1 to those regulations require a register of the drug purchased or otherwise obtained and of the drug sold or supplied, regulation 12 and Schedule 2 require an annual return, and regulation 10 governs the marking of packages or bottles. None of those duties falls on a private traveller. The act puts no documentation duty on a private traveller either: section 21(2)(b) and (c) put documentation and record keeping on the trade, and sections 15 to 18 govern drugs in transit rather than personal carriage. No local traveller permit scheme was established here.

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