Media Release
Embargoed until 1 a.m. (AEDT), Tuesday 17 March 2015
A major sentencing research study released today reports that almost a quarter (24%) of large commercial drug traffickers and 20% of commercial cultivators have gambling problems.
The study analysed sentences for high-level drug offences over the past 5 years and also found that methamphetamine (ice) was the most common drug trafficked in commercial quantities (42% of all charges) and MDMA (ecstasy) was the most common drug trafficked in large commercial quantities (also 42% of charges).
The report, Major Drug Offences: Current Sentencing Practices, discloses new information about sentencing practices for three major drug offences:
- cultivating a commercial quantity of narcotic plants (a commercial quantity of cannabis plants is 25 kg or 100 plants)
- trafficking in a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence (for the most common non-cannabis drugs, a commercial quantity is 500 g in non-pure form)
- trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a drug of dependence (for the most common non-cannabis drugs, a large commercial quantity is 1 kg in non-pure form).
Council Chair Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg said gambling problems were reported to be a particularly significant issue among offenders convicted of minding commercial cannabis crops.
'The report provides evidence that suggests that principals and organisers of commercial-scale marijuana cultivation operations prey upon people with gambling debts, offering money to pay off the debts in exchange for a crop-sitting role,' he said. 'Sadly, in trying to get out of their debt troubles, such gamblers end up in more serious trouble, being jailed for serious drug cultivation offences.'
Many (51%) of those sentenced for cultivating a commercial quantity of narcotic plants were crop-sitters (also known as ‘house-sitters’), or had a relatively low-level role in the operation. Principals (organisers or owners) accounted for 39% of those sentenced. Where imprisonment was used, crop-sitters received a median (mid-point average) sentence of 2 years in prison, compared with 3 years for principals.
For the offence of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of drugs, the study found most people sentenced were not ‘Mr Bigs’. Only a quarter (24%) of offenders sentenced for this offence were organisers or principals of a trafficking operation. The largest group (42% of offenders) had a secondary but significant role to the principal, such as ‘lieutenant’ or ‘right-hand man’. These offenders often directed key steps in the supply chain, such as wholesaling, manufacturing or sourcing the drugs. About 1 in 10 (11%) of offenders sentenced for this offence played minor roles, such as being a courier or guarding the drugs.
The report also found that over 90% of those sentenced for major drug offences pleaded guilty, which Prof. Freiberg said 'likely reflected the strength of the case against them'.
| Offence | Median* total effective term of imprisonment – all cases |
|---|---|
| Cultivating a commercial quantity of narcotic plants | 2 years and 6 months |
| Trafficking a drug of dependence - commercial quantity | 4 years and 6 months |
| Trafficking a drug of dependence - large commercial quantity | 7 years and 10 months |
(*The median is the statistical mid-point or middle value - half of the sentences imposed are below the median and half above)
'This is the most detailed insight yet into how major drug offences are sentenced in Victoria,' said Prof. Freiberg.
'The report is an innovative and useful tool for practitioners, judges and policy makers alike. It allows them to drill down into the detail and see which types of sentences are being imposed on particular kinds of offenders and allows a more detailed comparison between sentencing statistics and individual cases.'
