Teenagers and young people can get tangled up in drug offences in five major ways, with some more serious than others. They can be using drugs, have drugs on their person, be growing or making drugs, be trafficking drugs, or conspiring to do any number of these things.
Using illegal drugs is illegal
Using illegal drugs is against the law in Victoria – that is, smoking, injecting, snorting or drinking a drug. It is also illegal to give a drug to someone else, for example blowing smoke into someone’s face, injecting someone else, or otherwise having another person ingest drugs.
Possession of illegal drugs
Possessing drugs – having them on your person or locker or bedroom, for example – is illegal, even if you aren’t going to use them, they are a friend’s, or you didn’t know they were there. If the latter is true, you will need to prove that they were not yours/you didn’t know they were there.
More than one person can be charged with possession, since if the drug is accessible to more than one person, everyone has possession of it in this context. If someone in your home has drugs that you are not aware of or have access to, you shouldn’t be accused of possession, but you can see how it gets tricky.
Growing marijuana or poppies
Cultivation of an illicit substance refers to growing pot or poppies that produce opium. Cultivation could apply to any part of the production process – planting, growing, tending, guarding, harvesting or manicuring plants, and extracting active substances from plants. This might include making marijuana butter for edibles or extracting oils in another way.
Trafficking illegal drugs
Trafficking drugs typically means you are transporting drugs to sell, but there are some specific circumstances – the amount being handed over matters. If you give a friend a joint, versus selling a drug dealer a pound of marijuana, the penalties must be different, however, if you give a friend a pound, you’re in the same amount of trouble. This is because that amount of marijuana would not be reasonably supposed to be for personal use, but for selling.
Anything that seems like it is for selling – a lot of one drug – is trafficking. The drugs do not have to be delivered for a trafficking charge to be laid. If your charge lays in the grey area between personal use and trafficking, you can argue your case in court. Large quantities of any drug, however, will be considered to be for trafficking purposes.
Conspiracy – for anything to do with illegal drugs
Conspiracy has a broad application, but is used when the police can prove that someone was intending to (conspiring to) do any of the illegal activities listed above. You don’t actually have to have done anything – the intention to do so is all that is required.
Drug charge penalties
Penalties for drug offences vary, and always require legal assistance, especially for young people. When young people go through the justice system, their penalties may differ due to their age, at the discretion of the judge. They may get a caution, drug treatment, or fines or prison.
What to do if your child has been caught with illegal drugs
Contact Vanessa Ash immediately – your child needs a lawyer.