DRUG MISUSE AND TRAFFICKING ACT 1985 – SCHEDULE 1

In NSW, when you are charged with possessing or supplying a prohibited drug, the seriousness of the offence is generally determined by either the amount of drugs that you had in your possession or the amount of drugs that you were intending to supply during the commission of the offence.

When you are charged with a drug offence, the quantity will generally be in the following categories, in order of least serious to most serious:

1. Less than small quantity
2. Small quantity
3. Traffickable quantity
4. Indictable quantity
5. Commercial quantity
6. Large commercial quantity

Depending on the type of drug, the amount of what constitutes a specific quantity varies.

If you were found to have possession of a prohibited drug which was more than the ‘traffickable quantity’ for that particular drug, the police may charge you with supplying a prohibited drug under the ‘deemed supply’ principle as seen in Section 29 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW). The onus will then be on the defence to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that you did not intend to sell or supply the prohibited drug.

The following table outlines the different categories and quantities that each type of drug will be classified as when you are charged with a drug offence.

Drug Quantities Table