BY SYLVANA TEKUMAHA
Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr Paul Popora Bosawai has clarified the confusion surrounding licensing requirement related to methamphetamine after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a statement on Tuesday.
In practice, there is no licence for Meth, Mr Bosawai said.
Speaking to Island Sun on Tuesday, Bosawai said licensing is mentioned because some of the precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production is also used for medical purposes and these pre-cursors require licence to handle.
“If we do not put licence to methamphetamine and ban it, that means we are banning the use of precursors used for medical purposes,” he said.
There is a board that governs the issuing of licence called the ‘Drugs and Poisons Board’, chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Health, he is also the Chairman who provides permit.
“You cannot possess a licence until it goes through a process. The board can then grant you permit, moreover the board cannot issue licence unless it is strictly for medical use.
“In practice no one can have the licence for methylamphetamine, because our laws do not allow for a licence for specific drugs or medications,” he said.
He added that in order to have medication in the county, one will also need a permit to import and licence to dispense the medications.
“With the question as to why one with licence can possess methamphetamine or sell, it is solely for medical use,” he said.
Bosawai said that it is when one abuses it that the drug is called ‘illicit drugs’, otherwise it is still a dangerous drug covered under the Dangerous Drug and Poisons Act 1942.
“Rules and penalties were changed after November 5, 2025, but the overall law of the Drugs and Poisons Act were not in the amendment,” he said.
Director of the Public Prosecution Office (DPP) Andrew Kelesi explained to Island Sun that one reason those who were found linked to methamphetamine in the past years were not taken to court was because under the Dangerous Drug Act there were no laws to criminalise it.
“There were no amendments of the Dangerous Drug Act the past years and it leaves a lot of gap, that is why this is the new regulation in placed after November 5,” he said.
There will be a review of the Dangerous Act and is expected to be tabled in Parliament during its first meeting for 2025.
Bosawai acknowledges the concerns raised by the public however he advised there is also a need to understand the importance of precursors since it is still used for medical purposes.
Under the Dangerous Drugs (Methamphetamine) Rules November 2025, distribution, possessing, supplying and manufacturing of methamphetamine without proper licence breaches the Dangerous Act (Cap. 98) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 105).
