Is Scopolamine (Devil's Breath) legal in Solomon Islands?

Also known as: hyoscine

Legal status

Restricted as a poison, with sale by or under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. The instruments read never use the word scopolamine; they name hyoscine. The two names are one compound according to a chemical record and not according to any law read: the US National Library of Medicine MeSH concept M0553271 (descriptor D012601, Scopolamine) lists Hyoscine (term T037328) and Scopolamine (term T037329) as terms. Hyoscine is listed in Schedule B Part I (the Poisons List) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105), reprint as in force at 5 February 2024, among the alkaloids as 'Hyoscine.' Section 2 defines 'poison' as including 'the several substances mentioned in the poisons list in Schedule B', and section 56(1)(a) allows a Part I poison to be sold only by an authorised seller of poisons, on registered premises, by or under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. The Poisons Rules in the 1996 Revised Edition (margin notes to LN 63 of 1988) also list 'Hyoscine, except substances containing less than 0.15 per cent of hyoscine' in the First Schedule (printed page 3013) and 'Hyoscine; but if:' and 'Hyoscine Hydrobromide; but if:' in the Fourth Schedule (printed page 3029), each with printed exceptions for low strength internal preparations, inhalers and external preparations; that prescription rule is described in the prescription field, where its current force is stated as not established. Related entries are separate: 'Hyoscine Methobromide', 'Hyoscine Methonitrate', 'Hyoscine Butylbromide' (printed with a misspelling of the first word) and the 'Hyoscyamine' entries (pages 3029 to 3031) are printed as separate entries, and no instrument read states them to be the same compound as hyoscine, and 'Solanaceous alkaloids not otherwise included in this List' is a Part I class entry. This is a sale restriction under the pharmacy law. It is not drug control: hyoscine is not named in either proclamation list read, and because the Dangerous Drugs Act control is delegated and later proclamations were not all read, that is not a finding that it is outside that Act. Datura and other plant sources were searched by name and are not in any instrument held; no law of another country is imported. 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. A Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2025 is reported as before Parliament; it was not read, and a Bill is not law. 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. The Dangerous Drugs Act lists can move as well: under section 13(2) the Minister may by proclamation apply Part III to any other drug, the reprint read is as in force at 1 October 2009, incorporating amendments only up to Act No. 14 of 2009; this text does not rule out a later proclamation or amendment.

Consequences if caught

Possession and use: the instruments read state no offence of possession or use of hyoscine as such; rule 11 and the Poisons List concern sale. Possession is therefore not shown to be an offence, which is a gap in what was read and not a finding that it is lawful. Sale: hyoscine is a Part I poison, so section 56(1)(a) of the Act forbids sale unless the seller is an authorised seller of poisons, the sale is on registered premises and it is effected by or under the supervision of a registered pharmacist; a poisons licence cannot cover Part I poisons (section 54(c)); section 56(2)(a) requires the buyer to be certified or known to the seller and bars sale or delivery to a person under twenty-one years; and section 56(2)(b) requires an entry in the Poisons Book signed by the purchaser. 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, which forbids selling or dealing in a Poisons List article except in the manner the Act prescribes. For a breach of section 56 or of rule 11 with no specific penalty stated, section 62(1) gives not more than 3,000 penalty units and a further 600 a day. Which of the two figures 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, and section 49(3) penalises importing for retail sale a drug or medicine the importer is not licensed to sell. Manufacture, cultivation and export: the instruments read state no offence for hyoscine. The drug provisions read state no death penalty, and the Dangerous Drugs Act penalty in section 39(2) is not shown to apply.

If prescribed or medical

This is the medicines route and the pharmacy law is where it lives. The Fourth Schedule entries are on printed pages 3029 and 3030. Rule 11(1) of the Poisons Rules (printed page 3004) reads 'It shall not be lawful to sell any poison included in the Fourth Schedule to these Rules except on and in accordance with the prescription given by a registered medical practitioner, registered dentist or a qualified veterinary surgeon in the form provided by this rule'. Rule 11(2) applies it to a sale even where the sale is exempted by section 57 of the Act, but not to a sale exempted by section 58 (wholesale dealing, and sales to a practitioner for his profession). Under rule 11(3) a prescription must be in writing, signed with the usual signature and dated, give the prescriber's address, give the name and address of the person treated (or of the person to whom the medicine is delivered, if given by a veterinary surgeon), and indicate the total amount to be supplied and the dose to be taken. Under rule 11(4) it may not be dispensed more than once unless the prescriber states that it may, the dispenser must note the seller's name, address and date on it, and it must be kept on the premises for two years. Section 39 of the Act lets a medical practitioner, qualified veterinary surgeon or qualified dentist dispense or compound medicine for patients without becoming a registered pharmacist if a true record is kept in the prescription book, and section 57 exempts a medicine supplied or dispensed by a practitioner or registered pharmacist from the poison sale rules, but rule 11(2) applies the prescription requirement notwithstanding section 57. The exceptions in the Fourth Schedule entries refer to 'Schedule 1', which the pages read do not define, and 'ms', 'md' and 'mdd' are not defined either, so which low strength or external preparations avoid prescription only sale is not established. Section 2 of the Act reads 'poison includes the several substances mentioned in the poisons list in Schedule B', and rule 2(1) of the Poisons Rules (printed pages 3000 and 3001) defines 'poisons list' as 'the Poisons List contained in Schedule B of the Act'. Rule 11 is a sale rule under the pharmacy law and is separate from drug control under the Dangerous Drugs Act. Whether these Rules are still in force is not established: the copy read is the 1996 Revised Edition (margin notes to LN 63 of 1988), the 2024 reprint of the Act keeps the rule making power in section 61 but does not print the Rules, its endnotes record repeals of sections 16 to 26, 28 to 32 and 35 by Act No. 5 of 1997 and amendments in 2009 and 2023, and nothing read states that the Rules were amended or revoked. The Part I entry 'Hyoscine.' in the 2024 reprint of the Act is what the verdict in the status field rests on.

Documentation

No traveller or personal import permit rule for hyoscine 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 qualified medical practitioners, registered pharmacists, qualified veterinary surgeons and qualified dentists importing for bona fide treatment; the proviso does not mention a traveller. Section 49 (importing for retail sale) and section 51 (the Under Secretary (Health) may certify to the Comptroller of Customs and Excise that a drug brought in is or is likely to be injurious, with the same proviso for practitioners) were read, and neither addresses a traveller carrying a personal supply. The import authorisation scheme of the Dangerous Drugs Act applies only to dangerous drugs, and hyoscine is not shown to be one. The Customs and Excise Act was not read. The position of a person carrying it into Solomon Islands 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.