Parliament on 27 September 2022 passed legislation in both houses closing a “loophole” in legislation which reduced the seriousness of charges for drug traffickers who were found with pure quantities of drugs. Under previous laws, people charged with trafficable quantities could only be charged with a basic offence carrying with it a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The Controlled Substances Act provided no specification for what constituted a commercial quantity of drug in its pure form.
This was recognised earlier this month when the Court of Appeal overturned convictions of two people charged with trafficking large commercial quantities of fantasy from China.
The changes to the law will be applied retrospectively, therefore meaning that anyone before the Courts, or has committed offences in the past would not be able to take advantage of the loophole. Therefore, offenders will face the potential of life in prison of trafficking a pure form of drugs in a large commercial quantity.
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