Week 7 - Drugs Flashcards
Drugs -possession
when considering possession alone what do you need to prove it?
Physical control of it (i.e on person or in house where they live)
And
Knowledge of its presence (need to know about it)
Drugs possession
Example
Physical control of it (i.e on person or in house where they live)
And
Knowledge of its presence (need to know about it)
Examples…
X keeps drugs under his bed. Whilst x is out of house does he have possession of the drugs?
Yes.
Has physical control of the drugs at his home address and
Knows about them
Drugs possession example
X arranges for drug dealer to send him tablets by post. Post arrives. X is out. Tablets posted through letterbox. Possession?
Yes.
Whilst x doesn’t know they have arrived , he has requested them.
And it is his house (control)
possession example.
Someone hides drugs in X’s house without x knowing. Possession?
No.
X does not know they are there. So does not know they have control of it.
Drugs possession example.
X has headache and picks up tablets he thinks are asprin rom housemates bedside table and takes them to work with him. they are in fact ecstacy tablets. Possession?
Yes.
Knows has possesion of the tablets.
and has control of them.
tough luck!
Irrelevant that he doesn’t know they are ecstasy. It is the knowledge that he has possession/control of something
(same if someone put a wrap in a cig packet and asked someone to look after the cig packet… knows he has the cig packet and knows it contains something even though he thinks its just cigs )
Possession…
Issue re quantity…
If the quantity is visible tangible and measurable it can be possessed.
If it is too small to know about it then it cannot be possessed.
So to have possession of a controlled drug
You need to prove ‘possession’ AND that the def knows he is in possession of something which is a controlled substance
.
Pwits.
Does drug paraphernalia prove an intent to supply?
No.
Need more… i.e money / bank evidence of cash deposits accross different accounts
Pwits.
3 ways to commit the offence?
To Supply or offer to supply drugs
To be concerned in the supply of drugs
To be concerned in the making to another of an offer to supply
‘To be concerned’ means to provide some kind of identifiable assistance such as telephoning a contact etc
Supply…
Must be for a benefit/gain…
X has a controlled drug
X hands the drug to Y
Does Y benefit from this?
If yes = supply
If no = no supply
When an OFFER is MADE to supply drugs, the offence is complete.
It doesnt matter whether the defendant acrually has got any drugs
It doesnt matter if the defendant intends to carry out the offer or not
It doesn’t matter who the offer is made to.
THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS THAT THE OFFER WAS MADE!
S5 defence to POSSESSING a controlled substance
When someone has taken possession of the drugs to prevent another from committing an offence with it (i.e possession)
This defence only applies to POSSESSION (not supply or any other offence)
E.g
When teacher or parent finds child in possession of cannabis or something which appears to be a controlled drug.. providing that person takes all reasonable steps to either:
Destroy it or
Take it to someone lawfully entitled to posses it (police stn) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after taking possession of it
Then they can use the s5 defence.
Same applies to if someone finds what they beleive to be a drug. If they take possesion solely to take it to police. Defendant must prove this was their intention at time of taking possession. Will not be defence to supplying!
S28 defence to possession
S28 defence… allows for where defendant did not KNOW, SUSPECT, HAVE REASON TO SUSPECT that he had possesion if something which was a drug or supplied something which was a drug…
I.e
X stopped by Y who asks X to drop off a letter for him in exchange for £10.
The letter has drugs inside.
X doesnt know the letter contains drugs.
X agrees to deliver it and Takes the letter.
X knows he has possession if the letter and that it has something inside it = possession
HOWEVER S28 allows for X to show he neither knew or suspected that the envelope contained a drug not that he was suppying it to another.
If X knew Y was a drug dealer or he was offered a disproportionate reward for delivering it (say £1000!) then he may not be able to use this defence.
The test for ‘reason to suspect’ is an objective one.
If X was too intoxicated to see the reason to suspect then this defence will not apply.
Travel restriction orders
Criminal justice and police act 2001
Allows courts to impose travel restrictions on offenders convicted of drug trafficking offences (and had sentence of 4 years or more).
Restriction orders prohibit offenders from leaving uk at any time from beginning of their release from custody up to end of fixed period -minimum of 2 years, no maximum period
S23 drugs search warrant
How long does it last?
1mth from date of issue
