Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...

Figure 21: State-wide drug charges laid against persons found on drug premises, under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, and the Poisons and
Therapeutic Goods Act, 1 July 2001 to June 30 2003.
150
120
121
Cultivation
Manufacture
Number of charges
90
60
80
Possession
Supply
28
30
20
3
4
6
0
0
Inner Metro
Greater Metro
21
12
1
Northern
0
22
1
11
Southern
0
13
5
9
Western
3
Source: NSW Police Data extracted from the COPS database, July 2003.
Type of charge
There are several limitations on this data:
• police are required to weigh drugs in the container, such as a foil or bag, in which they are found. Therefore, the drug
weights below are likely to be an over-estimate of the actual quantity of the prohibited drug seized 770
• drug types are based on police assessments and may not be accurate 771
• some data on drug weights and types 772 was not included in event narratives. In other cases, police did not record drug
type they suspected it was. We have directly transcribed the information provided by police. There are some instances in
which a drug find is described, for example, as “28 foils” or “white rock substance” rather than as a known drug type. These
are listed in the tables below as “other quantified measurements (not in grams)”.
Quantities of cannabis found on drug premises are also included in the tables below, though the use of premises for the supply of
cannabis and its derivatives cannot be the basis for obtaining a drug premises search warrant, or for laying charges under the Act. 773
Charges for offences relating to cannabis and its derivatives can nonetheless be laid under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act against
people found on premises.
In the Appendix of this report, we have set out data on the drug seizures made from each identified drug premises in NSW over the review
period.
8.5.5. Prohibited drugs seized on drug premises in NSW
The table below shows the quantities of particular types of prohibited drugs that were seized on drug premises over the two year
review period. 774
770 In the NSW Police Service Handbook, police are advised that the exhibit officer “estimates the weight of the container and assesses the net weight
of the drug.” Police are also advised to weigh the empty drug bag and take its weight into account, and if an assessment of the drug weight is
not able to be made, police are instructed to “seek help from a more experienced officer”. NSW Police Service Handbook, “Prohibited Drugs and
Plants”, p. 18.
771 Information about drugs seized in Property Seizure Exhibit Forms, for example, is recorded before a drug has been sent for analysis (though
drugs are not always sent for analysis).
772 Missing or incomplete data on drug types or quantities was checked in respect of those LACs we audited. Police were usually able to provide the
additional information we requested, and this has been included.
773 Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act, s. 3. If police only find cannabis on premises, however, they may lay charges for cannabis-related offences
that are contained the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, such as the possession, supply or cultivation of prohibited plants in section 23 of that Act.
774 Drugs located in uses of the Act by the State Crime Command are included in this graph.
138
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001