Charged with Possessing Drugs?
Most common misunderstanding we have about drug possession charges is that some of us believes that as long as the drugs is not mine, I am not doing anything wrong. You need to understand the meaning of “Possession”, you can be in possession of someone else’s belongings. So, if the police finds you with drug or drugs in your house or property that your friends may own, maybe some cannabis, weed, methamphetamine, ice, green, MDMA or whatever drug it is, then you could be charged with s.9 of drug misuse act!
Defence to Possessing Drug Charges
Prosecution must need to prove that the person who is possessing the drug has the knowledge of it. The principle of this rule most likely came from Lockyer v Gibb [1967] 2 QB 243. It was stated that, “it is quite clear that a person cannot be said to be in possession of some article which he or she does not realise is.”
Charged with Trafficking Drugs?
It is not necessary that there has to be a profit to consider an act as business. You can be charged with trafficking if you are buy and selling drugs just to meet your own drug use consumption.
Here is a great document from Legal Aid Queensland about Drug Offences – Click Here
Relevant Act
Drugs Misuse Act 1986 (QLD)
Section 9 Possessing dangerous drugs
(1) A person who unlawfully has possession of a dangerous drug is guilty of a crime Maximum penalty could 25 years of imprisonment.
Section 9D Trafficking in relevant substances or things
(1) A person who carries on the business of unlawfully trafficking in a relevant substance or thing as defined under section 9A(2) , for use in connection with the commission of a crime under section 8, commits a crime.
Penalty—
Maximum penalty—20 years imprisonment.
Brisbane, Queensland.
Medicine or Drugs without Prescription
Do you have medicine which requires prescription but some how you are in possession of such medicine? What could be the consequences?
For example, let say you got some Cialis with Tadalafil.
According to Section 34 Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 (Qld)
34 Offence to buy or possess S4 or S8 medicines or hazardous poisons
(1) A person must not buy or possess an S4 or S8 medicine or hazardous poison unless the person—
(a) buys or possesses the medicine or poison in the authorised way; or
(b) has a reasonable excuse.
Maximum penalty—200 penalty units.
Tadalafil is Schedule 4 medicine according to Poison Standard.
The penalty unit value in Queensland is $137.85 (current from 1 July 2021). Click Here to Know More about current information on Penalty Units.
So what it means is, if you have medicine which is schedule 4 or which requires to have prescription, you could be penalised to be in possession of it.
You might think you have reasonable excuse, but it has to be extreme. According to he same act,
Example of a reasonable excuse—
A person becomes responsible for the affairs of the holder of a
substance authority who is critically ill, dies, is imprisoned or becomes bankrupt.
