Produces or Manufactures a Controlled Drug

Question 1

What is the act, section and punishment for ‘produce or manufacture a controlled drug’

Answer 1

s6(1)(b) Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.

Class A: Life imprisonment
Class B: 14 years
Class C: 8 Years

Question 2

What are the elements of ‘produce or manufacture a controlled drug’

Answer 2

1a) Produce
OR
1b) Manufacture

2) Any controlled drug

Question 3

Explain the following element of produce/manufacture controlled drug:

Produce OR Manufacture

Answer 3

Produce:
To ‘produce’ means to bring something into being, or to bring something into existence from its raw materials or elements.

Manufacture:
Manufacturing is the process of synthesis; combining components or processing raw materials to create a new substance.

Produce/Manufacture:
The words ‘produce’ or ‘manufacture’ in s6(1)(b) broadly cover the creation of controlled drugs by some form of process which changes the original substance into a particular controlled drug. - R v Rua

Completion:
The offence is complete once the prohibited substance is created, whether or not it is in a useable form.

Guilty Knowledge:
Proving guilty knowledge will involve proof that the defendant:
- Knew about the importation/exportation, and
- Knew the imported/exported substance was a controlled drug, and,
- Intended to cause the importation/exportation.

It is not necessary for the Crown to establish knowledge on the part of the accused. In the absence of evidence to the contrary knowledge will be presumed, but if there is some evidence that the accused honestly believed on reasonable grounds that their act was innocent, then they are entitled to be acquitted unless the jury is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this was not so. - R v Strawbridge.

Useable Amount:
In any drug offence the quantity of drug involved must be measurable and useable.

The serious offence of possessing a narcotic does not extend to some minute and useless residue of the substance. Police v Emerali

Question 4

Explain the following element of produce/manufacture controlled drug:

Any Controlled Drug

Answer 4

Means any substance, preparation, mixture or article specified or described in schedule 1, 2 or 3 of this Act and includes any controlled drug analogue. - s2 Misuse of Drugs Act 1975

Question 5

Explain cannabis preparation

Answer 5

Under s29B Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 cannabis is ‘prepared’ when it has been processed so that it is unrecognisable as cannabis plant.

Whether something is ‘recognisable’ as cannabis plant is a question of fact.

It is up to the prosecution to prove that the substance contains THC.