After reviewing Australia's drug laws that distinguish between drug "users" and drug "traffickers" based on a threshold amount for the possession of each type of drug, this monograph reports on a study that examined whether Australian threshold drug quantities place drug "users" who are not "traffickers" at risk for the more severe sentencing reserved for "traffickers."
All Australian States and Territories have adopted legal thresholds that specify quantities of drugs over which offenders are presumed to have possessed the drugs "for the purposes of supply" and are liable to sanctions as "drug traffickers" (up to 15 years imprisonment in most States). In spite of the known risks from adopting such thresholds, particularly the unjustified conviction of a drug "user" as a drug "trafficker," research on this issue is limited. The study reported in this monograph used data on patterns of drug user consumption and purchasing in evaluating Australian legal threshold quantities in terms of the risks posed of prosecuting a "user" as a "trafficker." The results indicate that some, but not all, drug users are at risk of being charged and prosecuted as "traffickers." At particular risk are consumers of MDMA ("ecstasy") and drug users who are residents of New South Wales and South Australia (because of their lower threshold amounts). The monograph suggests that prosecutors be required to prove trafficking intent or intent to prepare for trafficking based on evidence such as the possession of a scale, multiple bags, telephone records, etc. Another recommendation is that threshold quantities be elevated to exceed the maximum quantities identified for personal use in accordance with purchase and use patterns for each drug type. 3 tables