Other Offences involving drugs Flashcards
Cultivating prohibited plants offence
9 Cultivation of prohibited plants
(1) Except pursuant to a licence under this Act, or as otherwise permitted by regulations made under this Act, no person shall cultivate any prohibited plant.
(2) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, every person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section commits an offence against this Act and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years.
(4) It shall be a defence to a charge under subsection (1) of this section if the person charged proves that the prohibited plant to which the charge relates was of the species Papaver somniferum, and that it was not intended to be a source of any controlled drug or that it was not being developed as a strain from which a controlled drug could be produced.
Allowing premises or vehicles to be used offence
12 Use of premises or vehicle
(1) Every person commits an offence against this Act who knowingly permits any premises or [any vessel, aircraft, hovercraft, motor vehicle, or other mode of conveyance] to be used for the purpose of the commission of an offence against this Act.
(2) Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term—
(a) Not exceeding 10 years where a Class A controlled drug was the controlled drug or one of the controlled drugs in relation to which the offence was committed:
(b) Not exceeding 7 years where paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply but a Class B controlled drug was the controlled drug or one of the controlled drugs in relation to which the offence was committed:
(c) Not exceeding 3 years in any other case.
Obstruction of officers offence
16 Obstruction of officers
Every person commits an offence against this Act who wilfully obstructs, hinders, resists, or deceives any other person in the execution of any powers conferred on that other person by or pursuant to this Act.
The offence of obstruction in the Misuse of Drugs Act relates specifically to obstructing anyone who is executing powers pursuant to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
It should be noted that the offence of obstruction in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 is different from the offence of obstruction in the Summary Offences Act 1981.
Medicines Act 1981 offences
Often when search warrants are executed, Police find prescription medicines or medications that are in unnamed or unlabelled bottles or packets. You should be aware that there are offences relating to prescription medicines under the Medicines Act 1981, in particular sections 43, 44 and 45.
