Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...
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8.2. Levels <strong>of</strong> drug <strong>of</strong>fending<br />
Similarly, <strong>the</strong>re are no consistent definitions <strong>of</strong> what constitutes <strong>the</strong> various levels <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drug trade. There is also relatively little known<br />
about <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> different types <strong>of</strong> drug market participants. One notable exception is <strong>the</strong> research on <strong>the</strong> street level drug trade<br />
in Cabramatta. 717 Research is currently underway into <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> heroin importers in Australia, and it is <strong>the</strong> first <strong>of</strong> its kind. 718<br />
Supply in <strong>the</strong> illicit drug market is <strong>of</strong>ten conceived <strong>of</strong> as taking place at various levels. These levels are understood to reflect <strong>the</strong> stage or<br />
part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> illicit drug supply process that <strong>the</strong> drug market participant is involved in. Probably <strong>the</strong> most common model <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> structure <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> drug trade is three-tiered, separating drug supply into low, medium or high level. 719 One senior <strong>of</strong>ficer we interviewed for this review<br />
also spoke <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drug trade as consisting <strong>of</strong> three levels. 720 According to this <strong>of</strong>ficer, high level involved importation and organised crime<br />
syndicates, middle level was ad hoc in its structure and consisted <strong>of</strong> informal syndicates, and “low level … are your street dealers, which<br />
are <strong>of</strong>ten <strong>the</strong>mselves addicts”. 721<br />
Research conducted by <strong>the</strong> National <strong>Police</strong> Unit just over a decade ago found that within <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Police</strong>, and in law enforcement agencies<br />
across Australia, <strong>the</strong>re were discrepancies in how major players in <strong>the</strong> drug trade were defined:<br />
These discrepancies both within agencies and between <strong>the</strong>m indicate that <strong>the</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> “major player” is very flexible and can<br />
be extended by some <strong>of</strong>ficers to include street and area dealers. This apparent re-defining <strong>of</strong> seriousness may have significant<br />
consequences in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organisational goals set for each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> specialist drug enforcement agencies and may be reflected<br />
in <strong>the</strong> continued high rates <strong>of</strong> detection and apprehension <strong>of</strong> relatively minor drug <strong>of</strong>fenders by <strong>the</strong>se agencies. 722<br />
Interviews conducted for this review, and submissions received from <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Police</strong> to our discussion paper, suggest that this may still be<br />
<strong>the</strong> case. When interviewed for this review, <strong>the</strong> commander <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> Squad questioned <strong>the</strong> usefulness to operational police <strong>of</strong> defining<br />
particular levels <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drug trade. He also discussed <strong>the</strong> difficulties <strong>of</strong> determining what constitutes a particular level <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> illicit drug<br />
trade:<br />
Well, you can break [drug market participants] into three groups, you can break <strong>the</strong>m into four groups, you can break <strong>the</strong>m into five<br />
groups. Is <strong>the</strong>re one person who imports it who hands it to <strong>the</strong> person who receives it, who hands it <strong>the</strong> person who cuts it, to <strong>the</strong><br />
person who supplies it No, <strong>the</strong>re are a lot more “hands” in between. Three layers, I suppose, it’s a reasonably simplistic way to<br />
describe it. 723<br />
He also noted that <strong>the</strong> structure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drug trade differs according to <strong>the</strong> drug that is being supplied.<br />
8.3. How has <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> drug supply being targeted by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong><br />
<strong>Premises</strong> <strong>Act</strong> been assessed<br />
While <strong>the</strong>re is an absence <strong>of</strong> definitions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> various levels <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drug trade, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ways that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> Misuse and Trafficking <strong>Act</strong>,<br />
<strong>the</strong> principal drug legislation in New South Wales, 724 characterises <strong>the</strong> seriousness <strong>of</strong> different types <strong>of</strong> drug <strong>of</strong>fending is according to<br />
<strong>the</strong> quantity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> prohibited drug that is involved in an <strong>of</strong>fence. In that <strong>Act</strong>, graduated penalties relating to <strong>the</strong> quantity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> prohibited<br />
drug are set down: <strong>of</strong>fences involving larger quantities <strong>of</strong> prohibited drugs attract more serious penalties than those involving smaller<br />
quantities. 725 The table below sets out <strong>the</strong> quantities stipulated in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> Misuse and Trafficking <strong>Act</strong> that relate to prohibited drugs<br />
commonly found on drug premises.<br />
717 Lisa Maher, David Dixon, Michael Lynskey and Wayne Hall, Running <strong>the</strong> Risks, Heroin, Health and Harm in South West Sydney, National <strong>Drug</strong> and<br />
Alcohol Research Centre University <strong>of</strong> New South Wales NDARC Monograph No. 38, 1998.<br />
718 This research is being conducted by Lorraine Beyer.<br />
719 This model appears to have wide currency. <strong>NSW</strong> <strong>Police</strong> also used this model in its submission to our discussion paper, and several senior police<br />
who we interviewed for this review also referred to <strong>the</strong> drug trade in this way.<br />
720 Interview, former crime manager, Cabramatta LAC, 21 August 2003.<br />
721 Ibid.<br />
722 P. Green and I. Purnell, Measuring <strong>the</strong> success <strong>of</strong> law enforcement agencies in Australia in targeting major drug <strong>of</strong>fenders relative to minor drug<br />
<strong>of</strong>fenders, National <strong>Police</strong> Research Unit, Payenham, 1995, p. 35.<br />
723 Interview, Commander, <strong>Drug</strong> Squad, 30 September 2003.<br />
724 Supply, possession, and a number <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong>fences relating to prohibited drugs are contained within <strong>the</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> Misuse and Trafficking <strong>Act</strong>.<br />
725 Peter Zahra, Robert Arden, Mark Lerace and Beverly Schurr, <strong>Drug</strong> Law in New South Wales, Second Edition, Federation Press, Sydney, 1999, p. 3.<br />
132<br />
<strong>NSW</strong> Ombudsman<br />
<strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Powers</strong> (<strong>Drug</strong> <strong>Premises</strong>) <strong>Act</strong> <strong>2001</strong>