Are Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2 / Spice) legal in India?

Legal status

Controlled in India. The matched entry reads «110G JWH-018; 110H AM-2201; 110U MDMB-CHMICA; 110V 5F-APINACA; 110W XLR-11; 110Z AB-CHMINACA; 110ZA 5F-ADB; 110ZB AB-PINACA; 110ZC UR-144; 110ZD 5F-PB-22; 110ZP ADB-FUBINACA; 110ZR CUMYL-4CNBINACA; 110ZU CUMYLPEGACLONE; 110ZV MDMB-4en-PINACA», at serial 110G, 110H, 110U, 110V, 110W, 110Z, 110ZA to 110ZD, 110ZG to 110ZI and 110ZP to 110ZV of the Act's Schedule, the list of psychotropic substances.

Consequences if caught

Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985, the NDPS Act, punishes a contravention in relation to psychotropic substances in three quantity bands. A small quantity carries rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 1 year. A quantity greater than small but less than commercial carries rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 10 years. A commercial quantity carries rigorous imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, and that lower figure is a statutory minimum rather than a starting point. The fine runs with the band: up to 10,000 rupees at small quantity, up to 1 lakh rupees in the middle band, and 1 lakh to 2 lakh rupees at commercial quantity, and the court may record reasons for a higher fine. Section 27 punishes consumption, with rigorous imprisonment up to 1 year and a fine up to 20,000 rupees for cocaine, morphine, diacetylmorphine and any substance notified in that behalf, and imprisonment up to 6 months and a fine up to 10,000 rupees for anything else. Every offence under the Act is cognizable, but the section 37 bail bar reaches only sections 19, 24 and 27A and offences involving a commercial quantity. Section 31 raises the ceiling to one and one half times after a previous conviction, and section 64A gives an addict charged under section 27 or with a small quantity immunity on completing recognised de-addiction treatment. The band for this row is set by the small and commercial quantity notification at serial 238L, 238M, 238ZD to 238ZF and 238ZO to 238ZZG: a small quantity is 0.002 g to 1 g and a commercial quantity is 0.1 g to 50 g. Note 4 of that notification applies the figure to the entire mixture or solution in dosage form and not to the pure drug content, so packaging weight and cutting agents count toward the band. Section 31A does not reach this row: its table names only opium, morphine, heroin, codeine, thebaine, cocaine, hashish, LSD, the listed THC isomers, methamphetamine, methaqualone and amphetamine, with their salts and preparations, and this row is not among them. The figures differ by two orders of magnitude across the family, from MDMB-CHMICA at 0.01 g and 0.5 g to XLR-11 at 1 g and 50 g, so the band depends on which compound it is. Those figures are given because they describe the offences that this row's placement brings into play.

If prescribed or medical

None of them is a licensed medicine anywhere, so no prescription covers any member of the family.

Documentation

The label covers many substances and India schedules them one at a time: at least twenty separate entries, from JWH-018 in 2016 to MDMB-4en-PINACA in 2022. There is no generic or analogue clause, so a compound outside the printed list is outside the Schedule until a notification adds it. These are chemical placements and have nothing to do with the plant-form cannabis definition, which reaches charas and ganja and leaves bhang outside. Each addition followed the compound's arrival in the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances or an Indian assessment of its abuse. India's essential narcotic drugs for medical and scientific use, notified under section 2(viiia) by S.O. 1181(E) of 5 May 2015, are codeine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, methadone, morphine and oxycodone; a traveller carrying one should carry the prescription with the original packaging, bring only a reasonable personal quantity and declare it at customs. Tramadol was added to the Act's psychotropic Schedule in 2018 and its commercial quantity is 250 g.

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