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

The prohibited drugs that were located at the premises were 67.1 grams of amphetamine, and 161 ecstasy tablets. 802 In
offender CAS bedroom, police also found $900, a set of scales, and a large bag of ammunition that was “secreted under the
bottom draw of the bedside tables.” 803
Charges laid following police action
Offender A was charged with a total of 61 offences including allowing his premises to be used as drug premises, organising
drug premises, a large number of supply offences, drug manufacturing, possession, and supplying drugs on an ongoing
basis. The Crime Commission restrained the money in the accounts noted above, and other property, including the two boats
that were also in his name.
Offender B was charged with being found on drug premises and with several supply offences. The charge of being on drug
premises was put on a schedule of offences to be considered by the court for the purposes of sentencing offender B in
relation to the supply offences. Offender B received a two year prison sentence for one of the supply offences, and a 250 hour
community service order for another supply offence.
Offender C was charged with allowing her premises to be used as drug premises and supply. Offender D was charged with
organising drug premises, and supply offences.
The charge laid against offender C of allowing her premises to be used as drug premises was put on a schedule of offences
to be taken into account in her sentencing for the supply offence. Offender C received a 300 hour community service order for
this supply offence. The charge laid against offender D for organising drug premises was also put on a schedule, and he was
sentenced to three years imprisonment for a supply offence.
8.6.4. Are drug users and user/dealers being targeted by the Drug Premises Act
In parliamentary debate, and in submissions to our discussion paper, concerns were expressed that the Drug Premises Act may not target
high level drug suppliers, but may instead target user/dealers involved in drug premises as a consequence of their own drug use.
It was evident from our examination of 80 court transcripts relating to the use of the Act in Cabramatta that 25 of those charged with
an offence under the Drug Premises Act had a history of drug use and/or a history of drug addiction. However, it must be noted that in
some circumstances, a prior history of drug use will not become apparent at court. 804 It may be that the number of people involved in
drug premises in Cabramatta who are also drug users is higher than our analysis of court transcripts suggests. A health professional
from Cabramatta who put in a submission to our discussion paper stated that most of those she knew of who had been charged on
drug premises in the area were either street dealers, or people who “deal enough to maintain their own needs”. 805 In a focus group we
conducted, a Cabramatta detective described the type of drug supply operations targeted by the Act as “on the street, a house that may
be dealing to addicts, nearly all of them are addicts themselves”. 806
We have also found some evidence in event narratives where it was explicitly stated that people arrested on drug premises were dealing
drugs to support their own addiction. For example, on one occasion, police obtained a drug premises search warrant for a house in a LAC
in the Northern Region “as a result of police surveillance and numerous intelligence reports”. 807 They arrested the occupier of the house, a
42 year old male, as he walked in through the back gate of his house. When police searched him, officers found 5.6 grams of heroin, and,
according to the event narrative, he “stated that he … intended to sell half and self administer the other”. The man also told police that he
had been obtaining this quantity of heroin two or three times a week for the past two months to “finance his own habit”. 808
Inside the house, police found numerous unused and used syringes, two sharps containers, five vials of methadone and three grams of
cannabis, and some stolen property that the man told police he had received as payment for supplying heroin. The man later admitted
that he allowed his premises to be used by between six and ten people a day to administer heroin. 809
802 COPS event narrative 4, State Crime Command, Drug Premises Incident 1.
803 COPS event narrative 3, State Crime Command, Drug Premises Incident 1.
804 Usually, this type of information emerged in discussions on sentencing or penalties, but may not emerge if, for example, the defendant pled not
guilty.
805 Submission, Health Professional, received 30 August 2003.
806 Focus group, Cabramatta police, 2 July 2003.
807 COPS event narrative, Northern Region, Incident 6, 10 January 2002.
808 Ibid.
809 Ibid.
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 147