Is Salvia divinorum legal in Sri Lanka?

Legal status

Dangerous drug under Sri Lanka's Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Chapter 218): Third Schedule, Part I, Group B, Section 3, clause 15(c), 「Salvia (Salvia divinorum)」. The plant is named by its botanical binomial in the clause 15 plant list. Salvinorin A, its active diterpene, is not separately named, and is reached as an extract of the named plant. The model: the list is inside the Ordinance and the power to change it is delegated, with a parliamentary lock on the delegation. Section 48 provides that 「the drugs, substances, articles or preparations, specified for the time being in Groups A, B, C, D and E in Part I of the Third Schedule, shall be deemed to be dangerous drugs」. Section 2(1) then provides that 「regulation」 means a regulation made under this Ordinance and published in the Gazette, 「and includes the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Schedules」, so the Third Schedule is itself a regulation. The empowering section is section 80. Section 80(2)(b) lets the Minister make regulations 「for adding any item to or deleting any item from, or altering, varying or amending in any other way, any of the lists or Groups of poisons and dangerous drugs set out in the First and Third Schedules」, and section 80(3) then provides that 「No regulation so made shall have effect unless it has been approved by Parliament and notification of such approval has been published in the Gazette」. So the delegation is real but it is locked to an affirmative vote, and in practice the 2022 changes were made by primary legislation rather than by regulation. The Act was last amended by the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, No. 7 of 2026, certified 6 March 2026. The Third Schedule was last amended by section 6 of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, No. 41 of 2022, certified 23 November 2022 and published as a supplement to Part II of the Gazette of 25 November 2022, which substituted Group B of Part I and the whole of Part III. Act No. 7 of 2026 does not touch the Third Schedule.

Consequences if caught

Section 54A(1) has four limbs and they do not carry the same exposure. Limb (a) punishes any person who 「manufactures any of the following dangerous drugs, namely heroin or cocaine or morphine or opium」 with 「a sentence of death or life imprisonment」, with no quantity stated. Limbs (b), (c) and (d) punish trafficking, importing or exporting, and possession, of 「any dangerous drug set out in Column II of Part III of the Third Schedule in excess of the amount set out in the said Column II」, with the penalty in Column III. Part III Column II is headed 「Pure Quantities」, and Column I is headed 「Traffics, possess, imports or exports」, so possession is inside the same ladder as trafficking. Section 54B extends the same punishment to abetting, attempting and acts preparatory to or in furtherance of a section 54A offence. Since Act No. 7 of 2026 a parallel section 54AA applies the same two structures on the high seas, aboard a ship registered in Sri Lanka or a stateless ship. For a dangerous drug that is not in Part III, section 54A never engages, because limbs (b), (c) and (d) operate only on a drug 「set out in Column II of Part III」. The charge is the general penalty in section 78(5): on summary conviction by a Magistrate a fine of one thousand to ten thousand rupees or up to five years or both, and on conviction before the High Court a fine of ten thousand to twenty five thousand rupees or six months to seven years or both. Section 78(6) requires the written consent of the Attorney-General before non-summary proceedings. A living plant is within the clause, which reaches 「Any part of the plant」. Salvia is sold as an ornamental in some markets and that is the practical exposure. Capital and life exposure. Neither reaches this substance, at any quantity, and the reason is structural rather than a matter of degree. The death and life penalties in this Ordinance live in exactly two places. Section 54A(1)(a) attaches them to the manufacture of 「heroin or cocaine or morphine or opium」 and names no other drug. Limbs (b), (c) and (d) attach the Column III penalties to 「any dangerous drug set out in Column II of Part III of the Third Schedule」, and Column II names only opium, 「Morphine, Cocaine, Heroin and Methamphetamine」, and cannabis. This substance is in none of those, so section 54A cannot engage however much of it is involved, and section 54AA cannot either, because it is built on the same two structures. Being a dangerous drug under section 48 is not the same thing as being in Part III, and the corpus this cell replaces repeatedly ran the two together.

If prescribed or medical

Neither the plant nor its diterpene has a licensed medicine or a prescribing route in Sri Lanka.

Documentation

No personal import route for seed, cutting or dried leaf.

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