Drugs are one of society’s most threatening menaces, and one of the SA Government’s biggest challenges.
A ‘drug’, for the purposes of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 1992 means any substance listed in schedules attached to the Act; or, any plant (including portion of a plant) from which such a substance can be manufactured.
The list includes many drugs not commonly known. These are all referred to as ‘dependence-producing substances’. Some, such as cocaine, morphine and opium (these are only examples – the list is lengthy) are referred to as ‘dangerous dependence-producing substances’. There are also ‘undesirable dependence-producing substances’ – commonly known drugs such as amphetamine, cannabis, heroin, mandrax, etc, and many more. Different considerations apply to them.
The Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 1992 is referred to below as the ‘Drugs Act’. Read some of the finer details of the act:
A. Police officials
It is a criminal offence to:
obstruct any police official in an exercise of search, seizure, intercepting, questioning, etc. in terms of the Drugs Act;
refuse to comply with any requirement or request made by any police official in the exercise of his powers;
refuse to answer any question put by a police official in the exercise of his powers;
furnish to a police official any information which is false or misleading.
B. Entrapment
Everyone has seen a Hollywood movie where the cop plants a bag of white powder in someone’s car and then arrests him for possession of drugs.
Well, only in the movies.
It is a criminal offence to place any drug in the possession of any other person, or at his premises, or in his vehicle, vessel or aircraft with the intention that he be charged with an offence.
C. Manufacturing
The first schedule to the Drugs Act lists substances which can be used for making drugs.
It is a criminal offence to manufacture any of the substances listed in that schedule.
The same if you supply any of the substances to anyone, knowing (or even suspecting) that it is to be used in, or for the manufacture of, any drug.
D. Use and possession of drugs
It is a criminal offence to use, or to have in your possession any dependence-producing substance.
The same if you use, or have in your possession any dangerous dependence-producing substance, or any undesirable dependence-producing substance, unless:
you are a patient and you lawfully (i.e. with proper prescription, etc.) acquired the substance from a doctor, dentist or pharmacist, and you use that substance for medicinal purposes under the care or treatment of the doctor or dentist; or
you lawfully acquired the substance for medicinal purposes from a doctor, dentist, pharmacist or animal vet in order to treat a patient or animal under the care of that doctor, vet or dentist.
E. Dealing in Drugs
‘Dealing’ is a wide concept. It includes any act in connection with transhipment, importation, cultivation, collection, manufacture, supply, prescription, administration, sale, transmission or exportation of a drug.
It is a criminal offence to ‘deal’ in any dependence-producing substance.
With regard to dangerous dependence-producing substances or any undesirable dependence-producing substances, it is also a criminal offence10 to ‘deal in’ them: except, if you lawfully acquired the substance for medicinal purposes from a doctor, dentist, animal vet or pharmacist and administer that substance to a patient or animal under the care or treatment of that doctor, dentist or animal vet.
F. Duty to report
If the owner, occupier, manager, or supervisor of any place of entertainment has reason to suspect that any person uses, possesses or deals in any drug he must report it as soon as possible to a police official on duty at the place of entertainment or at the nearest police station. It is a criminal offence if he fails to do so.
If any stockbroker (or the like kind of trader) has reason to suspect that any property he acquires in the course of his business, represents the proceeds of crime, he must (regardless of any client confidentiality) report his suspicion to the South African Narcotics Bureau as soon as possible.
He must also, on request, furnish such information as he may have available regarding the person from whom the property was acquired.
It is a criminal offence not to comply with these duties.