s.2Interpretation
2
Section 2Part 0 —

Interpretation

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In this Act —
“authorised” means authorised by this or any other Law, and includes — (a) a person acting in the course of lawful duties as a medical practitioner, dentist, veterinary practitioner or pharmacist, any of whom prescribes, administers, manufactures, compounds or supplies a controlled drug; (b) a person lawfully conducting the business of a retail pharmacy or of an importer, acting in either case in the capacity as such; and (c) a person in possession of a controlled drug under a prescription, however, in relation to cannabis extracts and tinctures of cannabis an authorised person is — (i) a person acting in the course of lawful duties as a medical doctor licensed in accordance with the Health Practice Act (2026 Revision); (ii) a person acting in the course of lawful duties as a pharmacist licensed in accordance with the Health Practice Act (2026 Revision); (iii) a person lawfully conducting the business of a retail pharmacy or of an importer, acting in either case in the capacity as such; or (iv) a person in possession of cannabis extracts or tinctures of cannabis under a prescription issued by a medical doctor as part of a course of treatment for a person under that medical doctor’s care and in accordance with this Act;
“authorised possession” with respect to any drug means actual or constructive possession — (i) by the C.M.O. or any practitioner authorised by the C.M.O. in that behalf; (ii) by any person for the purpose of lawful administration thereof; or (iii) authorised by any regulation;
“cash” includes coins and notes in any currency;
“Cayman aircraft” means an aircraft registered in the Islands;
“Cayman Islands waters” means the sea or other waters within the seaward limits of the territorial sea of the Islands;
“Cayman ship” means a ship registered in the Islands;
“Chief Executive Officer”, in relation to the Maritime Authority, means the Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands appointed under section 9 of the Maritime Authority Act (2013 Revision);
“C.M.O.” means the Chief Medical Officer and any medically qualified person acting under the C.M.O’s authority;
“Coast Guard” means the Cayman Islands Coast Guard established under section 3 of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard Act, 2021 [Act 2 of 2021];
“Commandant” means the officer appointed by the Governor under section 14(2)(a) of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard Act, 2021 to have command of the Coast Guard;
“commissioned officer of the Coast Guard” means a person granted a commission by the Governor under section 14(1) of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard Act, 2021 [Act 2 of 2021] and carrying rank and precedence within the Coast Guard in a rank specified in Part A of Schedule 1 to that Act;
“constructive possession” includes the power to control the storage, use or distribution of any substance;
“consume” includes eat, drink, smoke, sniff, inhale, absorb, suck, chew, inject, use and destroy;
“contravene” and its grammatical derivations include “fail to comply”;
“controlled drug” means a drug listed in Schedule 1;
“Convention state” means a state that is a party to the Vienna Convention or the Treaty of San José;
“corresponding law” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2);
“customs and border control officer” means a public officer appointed under section 6 of the Customs and Border Control Act (2024 Revision) and includes any police officer or other person assisting the Customs and Border Control Service in any assigned matter;
“Customs and Border Control Service” means the Customs and Border Control Service established under section 3 of the Customs and Border Control Act (2024 Revision) and includes any officer authorised to act on its behalf;
“designated country” means a country or territory outside the Islands designated by an Order made under section 34(1);
“Director-General of Civil Aviation” means the Director-General of Civil Aviation appointed under section 11(1) of the Civil Aviation Authority Act (2015 Revision);
“drug trafficking” means doing or being concerned in any of the following, whether in the Islands or elsewhere — (a) producing or supplying a controlled drug where the production or supply contravenes paragraph (c) or (f) of section 3(1) or a corresponding law; (b) storing a controlled drug where possession of the drug contravenes paragraph (d) of section 3(1) or a corresponding law; (c) importing or exporting a controlled drug where the importation or exportation is prohibited by paragraph (a) or (b) of section 3(1) or a corresponding law; or (d) manufacturing or supplying a scheduled substance within the meaning of section 4 where the manufacture or supply is an offence under that section, and includes a person doing the following (whether on the Islands or elsewhere), that is, entering into or being otherwise concerned in an arrangement whereby — (i) the retention of control by or on behalf of another person of the other person’s proceeds of drug trafficking is facilitated; or (ii) the proceeds of drug trafficking by another person are used to secure that funds are placed at the other person’s disposal or are used for the other person’s benefit to acquire property by way of investment;
“drug trafficking offence” means any of the following — (a) an offence under paragraph (c), (f) or (m) of section 3(1); (b) an offence under section 3(1) of attempting any of the matters mentioned in paragraph (a); (c) an offence under section 4 (manufacture and supply of scheduled substances); (d) an offence under section 11 (assisting in or inducing commission outside the Islands of an offence punishable under a corresponding law); (e) an offence under section 19 (using ship or aircraft for illicit trafficking); (f) an offence under section 12(1) of the Customs and Border Control Act (2024 Revision), in connection with a prohibition on importation or exportation having effect by virtue of section 3; (g) an offence under section 321 of the Penal Code (2026 Revision) of conspiracy to commit any of the offences in paragraph (a), (c), (d), (e), or (f); (h) an offence under section 319 of the Penal Code (2026 Revision) of attempting to commit any of the offences in paragraph (a), (c), (d), (e) or (f); (i) any offence at common law of inciting another to commit any of the offences in paragraph (a), (c), (d), (e) or (f);or (j) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of any of the offences in paragraph (a), (c), (d), (e) or (f);
“enforcement officer” means — (a) a constable; (b) a customs and border control officer; (c) an officer of the Coast Guard; or (d) any other person of a description specified in an Order made by the Cabinet for the purposes of Schedule 4;
“exported”, in relation to any cash, includes its being brought to a place in the Islands for the purpose of being exported;
“external confiscation order” means an order made by a court in a designated country for the purpose of recovering payments or other rewards received in connection with drug trafficking or their value;
“hard drug” means any substance or product specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1;
“internal waters”, in relation to the Islands, means Cayman Islands waters landward of the baselines for measuring the breadth of its territorial sea;
“lawful administration” with respect to a drug means administration of the same by any person to themselves or another in accordance with a prescription issued by a practitioner authorised in that behalf;
“Maritime Authority” means the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands established under section 3 of the Maritime Authority Act (2013 Revision);
“Minister” means the member of Cabinet responsible for health matters;
“non-commissioned officer of the Coast Guard” means a person appointed by the Commandant under section 14(5) of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard Act, 2021 and carrying rank and precedence within the Coast Guard in a rank specified in Part B of Schedule 1 to that Act;
“officer of the Coast Guard” means a commissioned officer of the Coast Guard or a non-commissioned officer of the Coast Guard;
“practitioner” means the C.M.O. and any person authorised by the C.M.O in writing to import, export, produce, store, deal in, supply, distribute, dispense, issue a prescription for or administer controlled drugs for medicinal or research purposes, limited to the extent of such authorisation;
“prescription” means a lawful authorisation by a practitioner for the administration of any drug;
“realisable property” means any property held by — (a) a person against whom proceedings have been instituted for a drug trafficking offence; and (b) another person to whom that person has directly or indirectly made a gift that is tainted within the meaning of section 70 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (2025 Revision). Provided that property is not realisable property if an order under section 30 is in force in respect of the property;
“scheduled substance” means a substance specified in Schedule 3;
“ship” includes any vessel used in navigation;
“territorial sea”, in relation to the Islands, has the meaning given by the Cayman Islands (Territorial Seas) Order 1989 [UKSI 1989/2397];
“to produce” with reference to any drug includes to prepare, manufacture, refine, process or cultivate such drug or any harmful or potentially harmful ingredient thereof;
“Treaty of San José” means the Agreement Concerning Cooperation in Suppressing Illicit Maritime and Air Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in the Caribbean Area, signed in San José on 10th April, 2003;
“vessel” includes any ship, aircraft, hovercraft, vehicle or thing in which anything may be carried, stored or secreted; and
“Vienna Convention” means the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances signed in Vienna on 20 December, 1988.
In this Act — “corresponding law” means a law stated in a certificate purporting to be issued by or on behalf of the government of a country outside the Islands to be a law providing for the control and regulation in that country of the production, supply, use, export and import of drugs and other substances — (a) in accordance with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs signed at New York on 30 March, 1961; or (b) in pursuance of a treaty, convention or other agreement or arrangement to which the Government of that country and His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom are for the time being parties.
A statement in a certificate referred to in subsection (2) to the effect that an act constitutes an offence against the law mentioned in the certificate is evidence of the matter stated.
For the purposes of this Act — (a) a payment or other reward received by a person at any time in connection with drug trafficking carried on by that person or by another person is that person’s proceeds of drug trafficking; (b) the value of a person’s proceeds of drug trafficking is the aggregate of the values of payments or other rewards referred to in paragraph (a) received by that person.

Defined Terms

authorisedauthorised possessioncashCayman aircraftCayman Islands watersCayman shipChief Executive OfficerC.M.O.Coast GuardCommandantcommissioned officer of the Coast Guardconstructive possessionconsumecontravenecontrolled drugConvention statecorresponding lawcustoms and border control officerCustoms and Border Control Servicedesignated countryDirector-General of Civil Aviationdrug traffickingdrug trafficking offenceenforcement officerexportedexternal confiscation orderhard druginternal waterslawful administrationMaritime AuthorityMinisternon-commissioned officer of the Coast Guardofficer of the Coast Guardpractitionerprescriptionrealisable propertyscheduled substanceshipterritorial seato produceTreaty of San JosévesselVienna Convention

Cross References