What are the penalties for possessing different weights of drugs in NSW?

Stigma and Discrimination
Written By NUAA Admin

We hope this guide makes it easier for everyone to know the legal risks they’re taking when they possess drugs in NSW.  

This guide has been created by a Users News journalist who has brought together information about drug possession from the NSW Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, and from several NSW legal services’ websites. The information is current as of 19/12/22.  

This table contains some of the most common drugs and the quantities that will get you different penalties in NSW:  

Weight categories and their maximum penalties:

Small Quantity:

2 years prison and/or a fine of $2,200.

Traffickable quantity:

2 years prison and/or a fine of up to $11,000

Indictable quantity:

15 years prison and/or a fine of up to $220,000

Prohibited plant or prohibited drug name:

Common names:

Alprazolam

Xanax, Kalma, benzos, benzodiazepines

5g

15g

25g

Amphetamine

Speed

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

Buprenorphine

Subutex

4g

12g

20g

4-Hydroxybutanoic acid, 1,4-Butanediol and Gamma butyrolactone

GHB, G, Juice, 1,4B, GBL

10.0g

30.0g

50.0g

Cannabis leaf (excluding oil, resin extracts and tetrahydrocannabinol and its homologues)

Cannabis

30.0g or 5 plants

300.0g

1kg or 50 plants

Cocaine

Coke

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

Codeine

Codeine

5.0g

15.0g

25.0g

Dexamphetamine

Dexies

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine and its derivatives

DMT

0.8g

3.0g

5.0g

Fentanyl

Fent

0.0025g

0.0075g

0.0125g

Heroin

Heroin

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

Ketamine

K, Ket

2.5g

7.5g

12.5g

Lisdexamfetamine

Lisdex, Vyvanse

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

Lysergic acid and its derivatives

LSD, acid

0.0008g (800 μg)

0.003g

0.005g

Mescaline

Cactus

3.0g

11.25g

18.75g

Methadone except in oral liquid form

Methadone powder

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

Methadone in oral liquid form

Methadone Syrup, Biodone Forte

200ml

600ml

1L

Methylamphetamine

Meth, Methamphetamine, Crystal, Ice

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

3,4-Methylenedioxymethylamphetamine

MDMA, Ecstasy

0.25g

0.75g

1.25g

Methylphenidate

Ritalin

1.0g

3.0g

5.0g

Psilocin, psilocybin and its derivatives (WARNING: See dot point #9 below)

Magic Mushrooms, Shrooms

0.04g

0.15g

0.25g

4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine

2C-B

0.08g

0.3g

0.5g

Amyl Nitrite

Poppers, Jungle Juice

Nitrous Oxide

Nangs

Disclaimer: The detailed source table can be found here. For ease of reading, our table has simplified some wording and excluded the columns for higher quantities.  

Here’s a bunch of other things people who possess drugs in NSW need to know:   

  1. If you are carrying more than one type of drug and/or have more than the “indictable quantities”, then you REALLY need to do your own research because the penalties add up. 

  2. If you are caught with drugs, you should consider hiring a specialist drug lawyer. Drug laws and penalties are overly complicated, and a good lawyer might be able to save you a LOT of trouble (and a costly criminal record). 

  3. The penalties listed in the table above are just the ‘maximum penalty.’ In many cases, if you are caught with a “Small quantity” the court will impose a lesser penalty after considering all the facts and circumstances of your case.  

  4. The most common penalty for drug possession is a fine, with the average fine amounting to $300. The second most common penalty is a good behaviour bond.   

  5. If you are caught with less than 15g of cannabis, NSW police have a discretion to just give a warning without charge.  

  6. Police in NSW can issue an on-the-spot penalty notice fine of $400 to anyone caught possessing no more than the ‘small quantity’ of a drug. However, we can’t find much evidence of police doing this other than at music festivals. 

  7. It is illegal to possess equipment for use in the administration of a prohibited drug, except it is not illegal to possess injecting equipment. The police may seek to use this evidence to prove a charge of “self-administration”, however, it is very difficult to prove unless you admit it. 

  8. If you have an amount greater than the “traffickable” quantity, it is “deemed drug supply” even in the absence of any evidence of you supplying a prohibited drug. However, if you are found with a “small quantity” but there is evidence of you supplying others, then you may be charged with drug supply.  

  9. Some people mistakenly believe that only the weight of the pure drug counts. The truth is that if you’re in possession of 10 grams of a substance, even if only 25% of it is pure, the relevant quantity will still be 10 grams. This means if you have 25 grams of fresh wet Psilocybe subaeruginosa magic mushrooms, which, when dried, would weigh only about 2.5 grams and may only contain 1.93% psilocybin (which is equivalent to 0.048 grams of psilocybin, which is just over a “Small Quantity”), you may be charged as if you had 25 grams of pure psilocybin, which is a “Commercial Quantity” that could have you facing 20 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $385,000 — it is not theoretical, this recently happened to a mushroom user named Daniel. Similarly, for LSD, which often comes on blotter paper tabs, or diluted in water, you may be charged as if the tab or water was 100% LSD. For powders, such as cocaine, which is on average only 27% pure in Australia, you will be charged as if the powder is 100% cocaine.  

  10. Police will often weigh the drug inside the package they found it. Such packaging commonly includes resealable plastic bags and even the capsule shell. Packaging does not form a part of the weight, so make sure you get a legal representative to request that the police weigh the drugs in a laboratory to get an accurate weight of the drugs.  

  11. If you get caught importing drugs, different penalties and thresholds may apply. 

  12. To learn more about penalties for drug offences, and more information about finding a lawyer, visit: https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/criminal/offences/drug-offences/  

  13. To learn more about the law and your rights — and what to do if you’re caught or stopped by police, visit: https://nuaa.org.au/the-law-and-your-rights   

Sources:  

Related articles:

NUAA Admin
Previous

Police grabbed me for “walking with the intent of committing a crime” — I was running for a piss! | Pat’s story about being stopped regularly
Next

Keeping safe over Christmas | Sione’s tips