Manufacture a Prohibited Drug

Manufacture a Prohibited Drug

The offence of Manufacture a Prohibited Drug is contained in section 24(1) of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 and states:

A person who manufactures or produces, or who knowingly takes part in the manufacture or production of, a prohibited drug is guilty of an offence.

In NSW it is an offence to make or take part in the making of illegal drugs.

A person can be charged with this offence if they cook, prepare, produce, or manufacture illegal drugs, or if they participate in any part of cooking, preparing, producing or manufacturing illegal drugs.

The common ways to defend this charge are:

• To maintain your innocence if you did not commit the act;
• To argue that you did not manufacture or produce prohibited drugs or that you did not take part in manufacturing or producing prohibited drugs;
• To argue that, even though you did take part in manufacturing or producing prohibited drugs, you did not knowingly do so;
• To argue that the substance manufactured or produced was not a prohibited drug; or
• To raise necessity or duress as the reason for your conduct.

The maximum penalty for this offence is 15 years imprisonment or 2000 penalty units for all drugs except cannabis. If the drug is cannabis, the maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment or 2000 penalty units.

In NSW, a court can impose any of the following penalties for a manufacture prohibited drugs charge.

• Prison sentence
• Home Detention
• Intensive correction order (previously periodic detention)
• Suspended sentence
• Community Service Order (CSO)
• Good behaviour bond
• Fine
• Section 10

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