[AG-Drogen] Threshold quantities for drug offences

[Maximilian Plenert <kontakt AT max-plenert.de>]

Spannend! Die Tabelle siehe Online Version

Threshold quantities for drug offences
http://eldd.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index99321EN.html

The EMCDDA has already published a Comparative Analysis on "The role of the
quantity in the prosecution of drug offences" in 2003.  That report examined
countries in detail, considering if their laws mentioned quantities, how they
were implemented (in law, in guidelines, judicial practice) and using what
measurement (doses, grams, value...). This was updated and supported with a
table in Annex 1 of the 2005 Thematic Paper "Illicit Drug Use in Europe;
Legislative Approaches". Both are available in the ELDD's Legal Reports 
section.

This Topic Overview aims to summarise the information and simplify comparison
between quantity limits for the four most common drugs. Separate tables are
given: quantities established for personal possession offences and quantities
established for supply offences.  Where available, weights are given as Total
Weight (TW) or Active Principle (AP), thus the latter will be adjusted for
purity / potency.

Regarding EU legislation, Article 4 of the "Council Framework Decision
2004/757/JHA of 25 October 2004 laying down minimum provisions on the
constituent elements of criminal acts and penalties in the field of illicit 
drug
trafficking" requires that maximum penalties for trafficking etc should be 
more
than a defined minimum "if the offence involves large quantities of drugs".

The offences listed in the "Threshold between:" column are not precise, but 
are
standardised terms to aid comparability in the table. These standardised terms
may be based on the wording of the offences, or the variation in penalty. 
There
can still be a considerable difference between two countries' offences or
penalties that are described using the same terms; details of each country's
exact definition can be found in the respective Topic Overview on Drug
Possession or Drug Trafficking.

In some countries, quantities are mentioned in the law as small or large, but 
no
quantitative limits have been set out in legislation or police/prosecutor
guidelines; these are interpreted by expert opinion and/or judicial precedent.

The two tables illustrate a number of points:

    * Quantities may be established at different legal levels; in laws, in
ministerial decrees, in prosecutor guidelines or sentencing guidelines.
    * Some countries draw up extensive lists of substances, others will only
apply a defined quantity limit to a few substances.
    * Different countries opt for different quantities for similar offences; 
eg
criminal prosecution for possession of cannabis resin will start with 0.25g in
Lithuania but with 6g in many German Laender.
    * Drugs are treated quite differently within each country.  For a given
offence, the established weight threshold of cannabis herb may be equal to 
that
of resin (Belgium), or twenty times more (Lithuania). The weight threshold for
cannabis may be three times (Cyprus) or ten times (Netherlands) that of 
heroin.
 The weight threshold of cocaine may be equal to that of heroin (eg Norway), 
or
ten times heavier (eg Lithuania).