What constitutes dealing?

[DigitalLove]

Not sure if this is HR so feel free to close this if required mods.

As someone who hangs around the cbd in melbourne often on weekends, I am increasingly getting suss of the randoms searches police have been conducting. Especially with the upcoming festival season I would very very much like not to get searched and have enough gear on me to ruin my life.
My friends have bandied around rules like '10 pills = dealing' or '1 gram of powder' etc.

These are less than the sort of amounts I'd be carrying around for a night out let alone a 3 day festival, will be willing to lower what I take around with me. Not asking how to avoid the cops, just there is always a risk I will get searched and I would rather not go to jail or whatever for it.

 

[missmeyet?]

You are correct..you should always assume that you will be searched when you leave your home.

That being said I'm pretty sure this is a legal question and is not allowed here.

Can't you just look up the laws in your area on the internet? Here in the US you can find what the law is for any area.

 

[laugh]

You are correct..you should always assume that you will be searched when you leave your home.

that is quite disturbing. i dont ever want to live in a society like that.

 

[One Thousand Words]

I would say ten pills is close to a trafficking amount. I know few people who would consume more than 4-5 in a night on the town. Technically you can be done for dealing if you are carrying pills for your partner. As a rule less than 0.75g MDMA is considered personal use. More than this and you have to work harder to create a case for personal use, although I would like to think carrying a single bag of 1g would look better than 10 pills in separate bags.

 

[Sweet Jones]

You can google 'traffickable amounts for cannabis in victoria' for instance, you will easily find a reliable source that probably has a table for most other common recreational substances too

As for what constitutes dealing, if I go to my friendly neighbourhood dealer and buy two points of MDMA, and give one of those to a good mate, then I am now also a dealer

I was under the impression that the 'personal amount' limit for MDMA was somewhere around 3g (obviously don't take this as advice). But how you carry stuff around would make a difference too. Eg if you're carrying 7g of marijuana in one bag vs the same amount in 7 bags it is going to look different to the person who searches you. Plus you should never carry scales and gear on you at the same time.

 

[orphu]

I was having a chat with a mate of a mate who is in STAR force a couple of weekends ago and the takeaway message was that all those figures (at least below commercial supply) are just guidelines. For example if you act like a shithead when pinched with 3 pills, in separate baggies or not you will be treated like a shithead, phone searched, reason found or fabricated to search your residence and charged with possession with intent to supply. But on the other hand if you are polite and cooperative (helps if you are visible off tap but under control) then those same 3 pills could just as easily be dropped down the nearest drain as you watch, followed by "think you better call it a night mate, don't let me catch you out here next weekend." To a large degree it is not what you carry but how you carry yourself, also helpful to buy your local STARY a beer or two.

 

[footscrazy]

Found this here; from 2011.

Table 1: Thresholds for trafficable quantities of heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA, by drug type and jurisdiction

It hasn't come through on the table, but the amounts for Vic, Qld and ACT are based on the amount of pure drug (excluding inert material), whereas the rest are for the total weight of the drug, no matter how impure it is.

This site suggests that other factors can also weigh in to whether you're charged with trafficking (from NSW though):

The police can charge you with ‘trafficking’ if you sell illegal drugs or offer to sell them for someone else (even if you don’t go through with the actual sale)

You can also be guilty of trafficking if:
You get the drugs ready to be sold (e.g. by cutting them or putting them in plastic bags);
You arrange to meet a buyer;
You make drugs that you are planning to sell in the future.

 

[DigitalLove]

Sweet thanks for the advice guys, this is all good stuff. Usually carry all my stuff in one bag (because you know, it's mine), so should be easy to make a case if ever. Thank you so much

 

[catching fish]

If you get caught with drugs that have been divided up into various bags or if you have scales with you as well it is much easier for them to throw dealing or trafficking charges at you rather than possession. Reading that table and the massive differences between the states just reminded me of how ridiculous our drug laws are.

 

[babylonboy]

Yes Tasmania. "24 grams of meth? Yeah that's just my persies".

 

[ayjay]

Really it's worth checking out your relevant state legislation. For example in Victoria it's the Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, which you can access here - latest version 10/2/2013.

The Act contains the definition of the various offences, the applicable penalties, and lists the various drugs prohibited and/or controlled. Part V sections 70-80 detail the offences. Schedule 11 Part 3 details the various quantities. Incidentally - in Victoria these quantities are NOT for pure drug as Footscrazy suggests but for "mixture of substance and drug of dependence".

I'm not a lawyer but have received plenty of advice in these matters over the years.