Is Xylazine legal in Brazil?
- Legal status
- Xylazine (cloridrato de xilazina) is regulated in Brazil as a veterinary medicine subject to special control by MAPA: it is listed among substances of veterinary use under special control (Instrução Normativa SDA/MAPA nº 35/2017, Anexo I; framework updated 2025), dispensed via controlled veterinary prescription, and is not scheduled as a human narcotic/psychotropic under ANVISA's Portaria SVS/MS 344/1998.
- Consequences if caught
- Unauthorised trade in xylazine is a veterinary-products / sanitary offence under MAPA special-control rules rather than a human narcotics offence, as it is not on the ANVISA human controlled-substances lists.
- If prescribed or medical
- Sold only on a special-control veterinary prescription (receita de controle especial) for sedation/analgesia in animals; xylazine has no human authorisation.
- Documentation
- Xylazine veterinary products are registered with MAPA and, as a special-control substance, require credentialed veterinary prescription and record-keeping.
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Brazil’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately — not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →