Drugs and the law - Hot Topics 59 - Find Legal Answers

traffickable quantitiesA traffickable quantity of a drug is an amount deemedin law to be in a person’s possession for the purpose ofsupply. Some traffickable quantities are:> cannabis (leaf or heads) – 300 gm> heroin – 3 gm> amphetamines – 3 gm> ecstasy – 3 gm or 15 tabs> LSD – 0.003 gm or 15 tabs.Purity does not matter – only weight. Under the Act, onegram of a powder that is 10% heroin and 90% glucose istreated as one gram of pure heroin (section 4).Anybody found in possession of a traffickable quantityis presumed to be a supplier unless they can proveotherwise – for example, that the drug was intended forpersonal use, or disposal (section 29).the case of the sister’s stashA woman was found with ‘deemed supply’ quantitiesof cannabis and cocaine in her bedroom. She toldpolice that her sister had given them to her to lookafter, and that if the sister had not picked them upthe next day she would dispose of them. She wasfound guilty of possession, but not supply – becauseshe could prove that she was not in possession of thedrugs for the purposes of supply (R v Carey (1990) 20NSWLR 292).police directions in public placesPolice can legally give a ‘reasonable direction’ to a personin a public place who they believe on reasonable groundsis supplying, or soliciting supply of, or purchasingprohibited drugs. The direction must be ‘reasonable inthe circumstances for the purpose of stopping’ the supplyor purchase. It is an offence to fail to comply with thedirection without reasonable excuse (Law Enforcement(Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002, section 197).ongoing dealingSection 25A of the Act creates a special offence ofsupplying drugs on an ongoing basis. The offenceinvolves the supply of a prohibited drug (exceptcannabis) on three separate occasions within a 30 dayperiod. The acts of supply must be for some financial orother material reward. They do not all have to involvethe same drug.A charge of ongoing dealing could be laid where anundercover police officer buys drugs from the same streetdealer on three different days. The police are not obligedto arrest the dealer immediately after the first sale.The maximum penalty for ongoing dealing is a $385,000fine and 20 years jail, regardless of the weight of thedrug supplied or the value of the transactions. This isequivalent to the maximum penalty for the supply of acommercial quantity of drugs (250 grams of heroin oramphetamine, or 500 grams of ecstasy).The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has ruled that asentence for this offence of four and half years (with aminimum term of two and half years) is not excessive,even if the amount of drug supplied was only small andthe supplier was motivated by their own addiction ratherthan greed 3 .This offence is classed as wholly indictable, which meansit must be finalised in the District Court rather than theLocal Court. A person convicted of an offence under thissection (and other indictable offences) is not eligible tobe dealt with by the Drug Court.Large scale supplyHigher penalties apply for charges involving the supply of larger amounts of drugs. The Act divides trafficking offences into:> indictable quantities > commercial quantities > large commercial quantities. As with deemed supply, proof of possession of the relevant quantity is sufficient to establish that a person is guilty of that particular trafficking offence. The table shows the scheduled quantities.DRUG inDictable commeRciallaRGecommeRcialCannabis 1 kg 25 kg 100 kgleaf/headsHeroin 5 gm 250 gm 1 kgAmphetamine 5 gm 250 gm 1 kgEcstasy 5 gm/ 0.5 kg 2 kg25 tabsLSD0.005 gm/ 0.5 gm 2 gm25 tabspenaltiesThe maximum penalty for dealing with an indictablequantity of a drug is a $220,000 fine and 15 yearsimprisonment (10 years for cannabis).For a quantity of drugs in the commercial range, themaximum penalty is a $385,000 fine and 20 years jail(15 years for cannabis).For a large commercial quantity, fines of $550,000and life imprisonment (20 years for cannabis) can beimposed.[Note: penalties accurate as at 1 February 2007.]3. R v Smiroldo [2000] NSWCCA 120; available at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2000/120.htmlpossession, use and supply 11