Controlled Drugs

Controlled drugs in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of controlled drugs.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Policeman
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• controlled drugs in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• controlled drugs in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

English Legal System: Controlled Drugs

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Controlled Drugs : Dangerous drugs that are subject to criminal regulation. In the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 these are grouped in three classes: A, B, and C. Class A is the most dangerous and includes opium and its natural and synthetic derivatives (e.g. morphine and heroin), cocaine, and Ecstasy. Class B includes amphetamine and (as at October 2001)*cannabis, and C — the least dangerous class – includes anabolic steroids and benzodiazepine antidepressants. It is an offence to possess a controlled drug or to supply or offer it to another; possession of drugs of classes A or B is an *arrestable offence. In the case of an occupier or someone concerned in the management of premises, it is an offence (1) to allow the smoking of cannabis, cannabis resin, or prepared opium on the premises (but it is not an offence to allow the premises to be used for injecting heroin or consuming any other controlled drug); (2) to prepare opium for smoking; and (3) to produce or supply a controlled drug on the premises. The defendant is liable on a charge of possession for the minutest quantity of the drug and without proof of *mens rea, unless he can prove that he did not believe or suspect that it was a controlled drug. Under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986, the Crown Court must impose a *confiscation order when a person who has benefited from drug trafficking is sentenced for a related offence. The amount of the order is the proceeds of the offender’s trafficking or, if less, the amount realizable from his property. Imprisonment follows any default. The Act also penalizes those assisting in the retention of drug trafficking proceeds or disclosing information likely to prejudice a drug trafficking investigation. Under the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 there is an automatic seven-year minimum sentence on third-time dealers in Class A drugs. However, judges may give a lesser sentence if the court considers the minimum would be unjust in all the circumstances.

See also repeat offender.