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Offences Involving Ecstasy (NSW)


This section includes maximum penalties and sentencing statistics for New South Wales offences involving ecstasy. It  also covers the likely penalties for the more common first drug offences. Other popular street terms for MDMA, or “ecstasy” are E, eckys, Ills, Molly, Pills, Rolls, Wigs, X, XTC, pingers, vitamin e, vitamin x .

Self-administration of ecstasy

Ecstasy (also known as MDMA) is a prohibited drug. Under section 12 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, it is an offence to administer or attempt to administer a prohibited drug to oneself. The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of 20 penalty units and/or two years imprisonment.

Which court will hear your matter?
This matter is a summary matter and will be dealt with in the Local Court.

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?

To convict a person of using a prohibited drug, the police must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • The substance is ecstasy / MDMA; and
  • The accused administered ecstasy / MDMA to themself; or
  • They attempted to administer ecstasy / MDMA to themself

Self-administering includes any means of introducing ecstasy/MDMA into a person’s body.

Administration of ecstasy to others

According to section 13 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, it is an offence to administer or attempt to administer ecstasy / MDMA to another person. The maximum penalty for this charge is a fine of 20 penalty units and/or two years imprisonment.

Which court will hear your matter?
This matter is a summary matter and will be dealt with in the Local Court.

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?

To convict you of this charge, the prosecution must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • The substance is ecstasy / MDMA; and
  • The accused administered the ecstasy / MDMA to another person; or
  • They attempted to administer the ecstasy / MDMA to another person

Administering / attempt to administer includes any means of introducing ecstasy / MDMA into a person’s body.

Possession of ecstasy

Under section 10 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, it is an offence to possess a prohibited drug, including ecstasy. The maximum penalty for this charge is a fine of 20 penalty units and/or 2 years imprisonment.

Which court will hear your matter?
This matter is a summary matter and will be dealt with in the Local Court.

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?

To convict a person of this charge, the prosecution must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • They had ecstasy / MDMA in their possession, and
  • They knew it was in their possession, or knew of its likely existence and nature, or believed that it was ecstasy / MDMA

What is “deemed supply”?
If a person is in possession of a trafficable quantity of ecstasy / MDMA, it is presumed that they possess the ecstasy / MDMA for the purposes of supply, unless they can prove that it was only for personal use.

Supply of ecstasy

The maximum penalty for the charge of supplying a prohibited drug (Section 25 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act) is a fine of 2000 penalty units and/or 15 years imprisonment.

Which court will hear your matter?

Where the amount of ecstasy / MDMA exceeds the commercial quantity (0.125kg), this matter is strictly indictable which means that it can only be finalised in the District Court.

Where the amount of ecstasy / MDMA does not exceed the commercial quantity but is more than a small quantity (0.25g), the matter is a Table 1 offence. This means that either the DPP or an accused can elect to have the matter dealt with in the District Court. If no election is made it will be dealt with in the Local Court.

Where the amount of ecstasy / MDMA does not exceed the small quantity (0.25g), this matter is a Table 2 offence which means that the DPP can elect to have the matter dealt with in the District Court. If no election is made it will be dealt with in the Local Court.

What are the relevant drug quantities?

The amount of ecstasy / MDMA a person supplied will also affect the penalty they receive. The quantities for ecstasy / MDMA have been classified as follows:

Traffickable quantity Small quantity Indictable quantity Commercial quantity Large Commercial quantity
0.75g 0.25g 1.25g 0.125kg 0.5kg

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?
To convict a person of this offence, the prosecution must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • They supplied ecstasy / MDMA, or
  • They knowingly took part in the supply of ecstasy / MDMA.

Supply ecstasy on an ongoing basis

Under section 25A of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, it is an offence to supply a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis. The maximum penalty for this charge is a fine of 3,500 penalty units and/or 20 years imprisonment.

Which court will hear your matter?
This matter is strictly indictable which means that it cannot be finalised in the Local Court. Strictly indictable matters usually go to the District Court, except for offences that are extremely serious such as murder, which go to the Supreme Court.

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?

To convict a person of supplying ecstasy on an ongoing basis, the prosecution must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • They supplied ecstasy / MDMA to another person or persons.
  • Ecstasy / MDMA was supplied on three or more separate occasions during any period of 30 consecutive days.
  • The supply of Ecstasy / MDMA was for financial or material reward.

Manufacture and production of ecstasy

Under section 24 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, it is an offence to manufacture or produce a prohibited drug. The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of 2000 penalty units and/or 10 years imprisonment.

Which court will hear your matter?
Where the amount of ecstasy / MDMA exceeds the indictable quantity, this matter is strictly indictable which means that it cannot be finalised in the Local Court. Strictly indictable matters usually go to the District Court, except for offences that are extremely serious such as murder, which go to the Supreme Court.

Where the amount of ecstasy / MDMA does not exceed the indictable quantity, this matter is a Table 1 offence which means that either the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) or an accused can elect to have the matter dealt with in the District Court. If no election is made it will be dealt with in the Local Court.

Where the amount of ecstasy / MDMA does not exceed the small quantity, this matter is a Table 2 offence which means that the DPP can elect to have the matter dealt with in the District Court. If no election is made it will be dealt with in the Local Court.

What are the relevant drug quantities?
The amount of ecstasy / MDMA you supplied will also affect the penalty you receive. The quantities for ecstasy / MDMA have been classified as follows:

Traffickable quantity Small quantity Indictable quantity Commercial quantity Large Commercial quantity
0.75g 0.25g 1.25g 0.125kg 0.5kg

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?
To convict a person of manufacturing or producing ecstasy / MDMA charge, the prosecution must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • The substance is ecstasy / MDMA; and
  • The person manufactured or produced the ecstasy / MDMA; or
  • The person knowingly took part in the manufacture or production of the ecstasy / MDMA.

A person will be found to have taken part in the manufacture or production of ecstasy, if they take part or participate in any step of the process, or if they cause any step to be taken in the process. This includes arranging finance for a step in the process or providing the premises in which that step takes place.

To establish that a person knowingly took part, the prosecution must prove:

  • They had actual knowledge, or
  • They had a belief, or
  • They were aware of the likelihood that you were dealing with ecstasy / MDMA

Importing and exporting ecstasy

Ecstasy is a border controlled drug. Under Division 307 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act, it is an offence to import or export border controlled drugs. The maximum penalty for importing or exporting ecstasy depends on the quantity imported.

There are three different quantity ranges under the Criminal Code Act 1995. The table below shows the maximum penalty for each of the different quantities.

Quantity Maximum penalty
Importing or exporting a border controlled drug 10 years imprisonment and/or 2000 penalty units
Importing or exporting marketable quantities of a border controlled drug 25 years imprisonment and/or 5000 penalty units
Importing or exporting commercial quantities of a border controlled drug Life imprisonment and/or $750,000

 

The following table shows what amount of ecstasy / MDMA is considered a marketable quantity and commercial quantity.

Marketable quantity Commercial quantity
2.0 g 250.0g

 

Which court will hear your matter?

This matter is strictly indictable which means that it cannot be finalised in the Local Court. Strictly indictable matters usually go to the District Court, except for offences that are extremely serious such as murder, which go to the Supreme Court.

What are the elements the prosecution must prove?

To convict a person of an importing or exporting ecstasy, the police must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

  • The substance is ecstasy / MDMA; and
  • They imported or exported ecstasy / MDMA

If the police are seeking to convict a person of importing or exporting a marketable or commercial quantity of ecstasy / MDMA, they must also prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the quantity imported or exported was a marketable or commercial quantity.

If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Armstrong Legal.

Michelle Makela

This article was written by Michelle Makela

Michelle has over 15 years experience in the legal industry, working across commercial litigation, criminal law, family law and estate planning.  Michelle has been involved in all practice areas of the firm and in her personal practice has had experience in litigation at all levels (State and Federal Industrial Tribunals, the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, Federal...

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