What it does
The Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) (the Act) establishes a comprehensive prohibition-based regime for controlling prohibited drugs and plants while carving out limited exceptions for medical, scientific, and emerging industrial uses. At its core, the Act criminalises a wide spectrum of conduct ranging from personal use to large-scale commercial trafficking.
Part 1 supplies an extensive interpretation framework. Section 3 defines over 40 key terms, including “prohibited drug” (any substance listed in Schedule 1 other than a prohibited plant), “prohibited plant” (cannabis cultivated by any means, opium poppies, and any plant declared by Ministerial order), “cultivate”, “supply”, “traffickable quantity”, “commercial quantity”, and “large commercial quantity”. Sections 4–7 contain deeming rules: admixtures are treated as the pure drug (s 4), “use” and “administer” are broadly defined to capture any method of introduction into the body (s 5), “take part in” extends liability to financiers, landlords, and managers (s 6), and possession is deemed where a drug is in a person’s “order or disposition” (s 7). Relationship provisions (ss 8, 8A, 8B) ensure the Act does not disturb authorisations under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966, the Hemp Industry Act 2008, or the Poppy Industry Act 2016.
Part 2 creates the substantive offences. Division 1 lists summary offences (ss 10–21) carrying a default maximum of 20 penalty units or 2 years’ imprisonment (s 21). These include simple possession (s 10), possession of administration equipment (s 11, with needle-syringe exemptions), sale or display of waterpipes and ice pipes (s 11A), possession of tablet presses or encapsulators (s 11B), possession of manufacturing instructions (s 11C), self-administration (s 12), administration to others (s 13), permitting administration (s 14), forging prescriptions (s 15), obtaining prescriptions or drugs by false representation (ss 16–18), and advertising premises for unlawful administration (s 18A). Section 18B deals with Schedule 9 substances. Aiding and abetting provisions (ss 19–20) apply both inside and outside New South Wales.
