The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 3.2: Drug offences 147 This issue was also considered by the High Court in relation to drug offences in Momcilovic v The Queen [2011] 245 CLR 1. The High Court held that the Victorian offence of trafficking was not inconsistent with the similar Commonwealth offence and was therefore not invalid. Import and export of border-controlled drugs Division 307 of the Criminal Code provides for offences relating to the import and export of ‘border- controlled drugs’. Section 300.2 defines ‘import’ to include ‘bring into Australia’. Import into Australia occurs when the goods are landed or brought within the limits of a port with the intention of landing them. Goods are not imported simply by bringing them within the three-mile limit of Australian territorial waters (Barwick CJ in R v Bull [1974] HCA 23; applied in Pong Su (Ruling No 7) [2005] VSC 7). The Criminal Code Regulations 2002 (Cth) lists border-controlled drugs and plants and sets out ‘marketable’ and ‘commercial’ quantities relevant to the various offences. The ‘Border-controlled drugs and quantities’ table below lists common border- controlled drugs and sets out quantities. Sections 307.1 to 307.4 of the Criminal Code relate to importing and exporting border-controlled drugs and plants. The applicable penalty where a commercial quantity is involved is imprisonment for life or 7500 pu, or both. Where a marketable quantity is involved, the applicable penalty is 25 years’ imprisonment or 5000 pu, or both. There is a further tier of offence applying to any quantity with a penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment or 2000 pu, or both, provided there is a commercial purpose. In addition, there is an offence that applies to any amount of a border-controlled drug or plant that is not determined with a penalty of two years’ imprisonment, or 400 pu, or both. Border-controlled drugs and their marketable and commercial quantities Border-controlled drugs Marketable quantity (grams) Commercial quantity (kilograms) 15 Amphetamine 2.0 0.75 30 Cannabinoids (other than a cannabinoid of a kind that can be obtained from a plant that is not a cannabis plant) 2.0 2.0 31 Cannabis (in any form, including flowering or fruiting tops, leaves, seeds or stalks, but not including cannabis resin or cannabis fibre) 25000.0 100.0 32 Cannabis resin 20.0 50.0 35 Cocaine 2.0 2.0 72 Gammabutyrolactone (GBL) 2.0 1.0 76 Heroin (diacetylmorphine) 2.0 1.5 81 4-Hydroxybutanoic acid (GHB) 2.0 1.0 89 Lysergide (LSD) 0.002 0.002 91 Mescaline 7.5 7.5 99 Methamphetamine 2.0 0.75 100 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) 0.5 0.75 101 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) 0.5 0.5 126 Opium 20.0 20.0 149 Psilocine 0.1 0.1 150 Psilocybine 0.1 0.1 151 Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) 2.0 5.0